Xuanmiao Temple

Xuanmiaoguan is located in Guanqian Street of Suzhou city. It was founded in 276, the second year of Xianning in the Western Jin Dynasty. It was originally named "Zhenqing Taoist temple" and renamed "Xuanmiaoguan" in 1264, the first year of Yuan Dynasty. In the early Qing Dynasty, in order to avoid the taboo of Emperor Kangxi Xuanye, it was renamed "yuanmiao Temple". At its peak, Xuanmiao temple had more than 30 temples, which was the largest Taoist temple in China at that time. There are gate, main hall (Sanqing Hall), auxiliary Hall (Miluo Pavilion) and 21 auxiliary halls. The gate of the mountain is majestic and towering, with the "yuanmiao Temple" bestowed by Emperor Kangxi. In 1179, the main hall of Sanqing, rebuilt in the sixth year of Chunxi reign of the Southern Song Dynasty, has 9 rooms in width and 6 rooms in depth, with a height of about 30 meters and a construction area of 1125 square meters. It is the largest existing Song Dynasty wooden building in the south of the Yangtze River. In the hall, there are three statues on Xumi seat, which are 17 meters high and gilded with clay sculptures. In the middle of the statue is the Yuanshi God, and on both sides are the Lingbao God and the moral God, commonly known as Sanqing. The statue is tall and solemn, which is the top grade of Taoist statues in Song Dynasty. In the three Qing Dynasty, the moral God, also known as the supreme Laojun, is said to be Laozi Li'er. There are stone sculptures of Laojun, painted by Wu Daozi of Tang Dynasty, praised by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, and written by Yan Zhenqing. They are copied by Zhang Yundi, a stone Carver of Song Dynasty. They can be called "four unique" steles. They are one of the only two steles of Laozi in China. On the West gable of Sanqing hall, there are 60 big blue stone six sided columns, each of which is engraved with a statue of heaven. A total of 360 statues of heaven are engraved, which coincides with the number of anniversaries.

Bus: 1, 102, 146, 178, 202, 502 to Guanqian Street (East, West or leqiao), then walk to Xuanmiaoguan in the middle of the street

Xuanmiao Temple

Xuanmiao temple, located in Guanqian Street of Suzhou City, was founded in 276 A.D. in the second year of Xianning in the Western Jin Dynasty. At its peak, Xuanmiao temple had more than 30 temples. It was the largest Taoist temple in the Western Jin Dynasty. There are Shanmen, Sanqing hall, Miluo Pavilion and 21 auxiliary halls. In 1179, the main hall of Sanqing, rebuilt in the sixth year of Chunxi reign of the Southern Song Dynasty, has 9 rooms in width and 6 rooms in depth, with a height of about 30 meters and a construction area of 1125 square meters. It is the largest existing Song Dynasty wooden building in the south of the Yangtze River. There are a large number of ancient steles of various dynasties preserved in the temple, among which there are stone carvings of Laojun, painted by Wu Daozi of Tang Dynasty, praised by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, and written by Yan Zhenqing. They are copied by Zhang Yundi, a stone Carver of Song Dynasty, which can be called "four unique" steles. They are one of the only two steles of Laozi in China at present.

brief introduction

Xuanmiao temple is a famous Taoist temple located in Suzhou, a famous tourist city in Southeast China. It was founded in 276 ad. it was originally called "Zhenqing Taoist temple", and later renamed "Kaiyuan Palace" and "Tianqing Temple". In 1295 ad, the emperor of Yuan Dynasty ordered it to be changed into Xuanmiao temple. Xuanmiao temple has a history of more than 1700 years, so it is called "the first ancient temple in Jiangnan". Xuanmiaoguan is located in the center of the ancient city of Suzhou. Its main hall, Sanqing hall, was built in the Southern Song Dynasty. It is the only Southern Song Dynasty wooden temple building in Suzhou. It has a long history and a grand scale. It has an important historical value in the history of Chinese architecture. In 1982, it was listed as a national key cultural relics protection unit. Now Xuanmiao temple has been renovated, with seven halls, zhengshanmen hall and Sanqing hall in the Middle Road, Wenchang hall, doumuge hall and Shouxing hall in the East Road, leizun hall and God of wealth hall in the west road. There are many precious cultural relics in the temple. Taoist culture has profound connotation. It is a rare complete Taoist temple complex in China. Sanqing hall still retains the style and features of architecture in Song Dynasty. Xuanmiao Temple used to be the religious and cultural center of Suzhou in history, but now it is the main place for Taoist activities in Suzhou. Due to its superior geographical location, numerous cultural relics and rich Taoist cultural connotation, Xuanmiao temple has become one of the famous tourist attractions in Suzhou.

Historical evolution

The most popular place in Suzhou is not the Buddhist temple, but the Taoist temple.

Xuanmiaoguan was founded in the Western Jin Dynasty with a history of more than 1700 years. Sanqing hall, built in the Southern Song Dynasty, is the largest ancient wooden building in the south of the Yangtze River. The statues of Sanqing (Shangqing, Yuqing and Taiqing), which are 17 meters high, are the best sculptures of Song Dynasty. There are some precious inscriptions in Xuanmiao temple, such as the portrait of Laojun painted by Wu Daozi of Tang Dynasty, the praise of Xuanzong and the calligraphy of Yan Zhenqing

In addition to Sanqing hall and Zhengshan gate, Xuanmiao temple also has auxiliary hall and 24 auxiliary halls built in previous dynasties. From the east gate, they are: Shenzhou Hall (yuan), Taiyang Palace (Qing), tianyiwang Hall (song), Zhenguan Hall (yuan), Tianhou Hall (Qing), Wenchang Hall (Qing), Zushi Hall (yuan), doumuge Hall (Qing) ）There are 14 halls, such as Huoshen Hall (Qing Dynasty), Sanmao Hall (Song Dynasty), Jichang Hall (Ming Dynasty), Guandi Hall (Yuan Dynasty), Dongyue Hall (Song Dynasty), pokesi Hall (Song Dynasty), and seven auxiliary halls of xijiaomen: leizun Hall (Yuan Dynasty), Shouxing Hall (Song Dynasty), Shuifu Hall (Qing Dynasty). After the Sanqing hall is the Miluo Pavilion, and behind it is the coir raincoat immortal Hall (Song Dynasty), the liver stomach Hall (Qing Dynasty), and the sazu Abbot hall. Most of the statues are from myths and legends, such as Sun God, Thunder God, fire god, Guandi, Wenquxing, Kitchen God, earth, eight immortals, Shouxing, Guanyin and so on. They reflect the local cultural characteristics and folk beliefs of Suzhou, and used to be the spiritual sustenance and entertainment places of urban and rural people. From the picture of Xuanmiaoguan building complex in the 13th year of Kangxi reign (674 AD), we can see that the whole building complex is magnificent, with Zhusi Lane in the East, dachengfang in the west, jiuxueqianhe in the north, and yellow light wall on both sides of Zhengshan gate in the south. It's really a museum of classical architecture with a small collection of temples of song, yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.

According to Daoguang's yuanmiaoguan annals, Xuanmiaoguan in the Qing Dynasty occupied an area of 55000 square meters in its heyday, with more than 30 pavilions. From south to north, there are zhengshanmen, sanqingdian and miluobaoge in the central axis. The other pavilions are distributed in 25 "sub courtyards" with their own courtyards, which are surrounded by the main pavilions on the central axis from East, West and North, forming a magnificent building complex. However, after the war between Xianfeng and Tongzhi, it gradually declined and failed to restore the old view. The magnificent Miluo pavilion was burned on August 28, 1912. In 1956, Sanqing hall, Zhengshan gate, East and West Hall walls were renovated and Guangting was cleaned up. In the same year, Sanqing Hall of Xuanmiaoguan was listed as a provincial cultural relic protection unit. Damaged after 1966, Sanqing hall and Zhengshan gate were rebuilt in 1981. In 1982, Sanqing Hall of Xuanmiaoguan was listed as a national key cultural relics protection unit.

The Suzhou municipal government has continuously allocated huge funds to renovate the main gate of Xuanmiaoguan and Sanqing hall. The statues in the hall have been restored to their golden body, which was celebrated in January 1999.

Most of the palaces of Xuanmiao temple have their own mountain gates and screen walls, and the square vendors and various operas are mixed in the temple. The abbot Hall of Guannei was the lower courtyard of Shangzhen temple on dome mountain. Until the beginning of the Republic of China, there were high taboos in Zhenfa Hall of Guannei, which mainly included forbidding to marry a family, forbidding to have no teachers and so on. For those who violate the rules, they will be punished seriously and dismissed seriously (commonly known as "sticking the rules"). The abbot is the master of Yiguan. On August 28, the first year of the Republic of China, Miluo Pavilion on the third floor of the building and Feilong building was burned. There were more than 380 golden statues in it. Taosha households of shifangzhuang outside changmenwai had planned to pay 10000 yuan to clear the garbage from the fire. Abbot Ni Yangyun was indicted for the fire and resigned. Since then, Abbot's prestige has been greatly reduced and the discipline has been relaxed. The abbot is in charge of two rooms and six halls. By the time of the northern expedition, there were five or six mountain houses and nearly 100 houses in the abbot hall. There are more than 10 accountants, clerks and incense workers, and 2 chefs. The other 12 rooms are divided into one to two and three halls, each of which is an independent Taoist temple. In 22, Sun Palace Abbot Xu Hemei went to Shanghai to set up Xuanmiaoguan branch. One year later, she stopped because of bad business. From the 1920s to the war of resistance against Japan, the ancestral hall, Zaojun hall, Baxian hall, Shouxing hall, Shuifu hall and Guandi hall were destroyed, rebuilt or collapsed by Japanese bombing. The hall of Sanqing was filled with calligraphy and painting stalls, and the roof was seriously trampled by enemy and puppet personnel. The machine room hall once opened casinos, and the Shenzhou hall and pox department hall were rented and sold for a long time. In the 6th, 32nd, 33rd and 35th years of the Republic of China, Dongyue hall, Zhenguan hall, leizun hall and Guanyin hall were successively repaired, but the rest of the halls were gradually dilapidated. Near liberation, zhengshanmen became a silver market. By 1949, there were 17 Zhengshan gates and halls (Sanqing, abbot, Zhenren, Ganwei, Yaowang, Dongyue, Huoshen, Sanmao, Tianhou, Zhenguan, Wenchang, ChanChang, Sanguan, leizun, Guanyin, doumuge and Taiyanggong). In 1952, there were 33 Taoists, 83 family members and 6 incense workers; there were 523.5 houses, 200 for their own use, and the rest were rented. According to the statistics in 1956, it covers an area of 51.72 mu, with 519 statues. In the same year, more than 600 shops and stalls around the square were moved out, and doumuge was transformed into a painting and calligraphy shop. Overall income in 1957: 454 yuan for house and land rent, 94 yuan for incense, 29 yuan for legal affairs and 343 yuan for others. In November 1958, the Taoist Learning Association directly took charge of the Sanqing and Xingxiu (originally belonging to Guanyin hall, which was moved into Huajia Xingxiu statue of Qingdian in 1956, hence its name) and the main hall of leizun and Huoshen. Except for a small number of Taoists living in the remaining hall, they were all managed by the Housing Authority, and 13 Daofang disappeared. In 1959, Dongyue hall was burned down. The Wuyue building in the hall is skillfully constructed, with four sides of the hall and the first floor of Zhongzhi. The whole hall of "great leap forward" was demolished. In 1964, the municipal government allocated funds for renovation. The Sanqing hall and the main mountain gate were painted and the square was covered with green trees and grass. Since the "Cultural Revolution", except for the statues of the Sanqing Temple (the heads of the "Yuqing" statues were cut off), other statues, Taoist Scriptures and scientific books were burned for several days and nights, and eight bronze statues were also destroyed. The Sanqing temple was once converted into a clay sculpture exhibition

Chinese PinYin : Xuan Miao Guan