Zhihua Temple

Zhihua Temple

Zhihua temple is located in the north of lumicang East Road, Dongcheng District, Beijing. In the early Ming Dynasty, Wang Zhen, the eunuch of Si Li, imitated the regulations of "Jialan Qitang" in Tang and Song dynasties in 1443. It was initially a family temple, and later named "Baoen Zhihua Temple".

The main buildings of the temple are bell and Drum Tower, Zhihua gate, Zhihua hall, dongxipeidian (Dazhi hall, cangdian), Tathagata hall, Dabei hall, etc. The roof tiles of the main buildings in the temple are paved with black Liuli ridge beasts. Although they have been repaired many times in the past, the beams, brackets and colored paintings still retain the characteristics of the early Ming Dynasty. The carving on the Sutra cupboard, Buddha statue and runner is simple and elegant. In 1961, it was listed in the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council.

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Historical evolution

Zhihua temple was built in 1444, the ninth year of Zhengtong reign of emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty. It was originally the family temple of eunuch Wang Zhen. Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty named it "Zhihua Temple of repaying kindness".

After the civil engineering change, Wang Zhen's family was destroyed, but the temple was preserved because of the imperial edict.

After the restoration of Yingzong, the Jingzhong temple was built for Wang Zhen in the first year of Tianshun (1457), and the statue was sacrificed. It was rebuilt during the reign of Kangxi.

In 1742, the statue of Wang Zhen was destroyed by an imperial edict, and the inscriptions praising him were removed. The temple was prosperous and declined, and the buildings in the temple were dilapidated during the reign of Guangxu.

In 1900, after the invasion of Beijing by the Allied forces of eight countries, the walls were destroyed, the Buddhist temples were closed, and the temples were destroyed.

During the period of the Republic of China, the temple became more and more dilapidated. There were only 199 rooms left in the temple, and they lived by renting houses.

In 1938, the bell and Drum Tower, Wanfo Pavilion, Zhihua gate and other buildings were repaired, but some temples were occupied as breweries.

In 1957, the temple was designated as a municipal cultural relic protection unit. In 1958, it was renovated with funds. In 1961, it was announced as a national key cultural relic protection unit.

In 1986, the State Administration of cultural relics allocated funds for the comprehensive renovation of Zhihua temple.

In 1987, the Beijing Municipal Government renovated the temple buildings. In 1990, Zhihua temple was designated as an exhibition window for private collection of cultural relics by Beijing Municipal Bureau of cultural relics.

In 1992, it was opened to the public. In 1994, the Beijing Museum of cultural exchange was established in the temple.

On October 8, 2012, Zhihua temple was temporarily closed due to the renovation of ancient buildings. The renovation is listed in the 2012 annual renovation plan of the medium and long term plan for the conservation and utilization of cultural relics in Beijing, and is one of the key projects supported by the municipal government's annual investment of 1 billion yuan in the special fund for cultural relics protection. The renovation project is also a large-scale renovation in the history of Zhihua temple. It mainly repaired the damaged parts of the Buddha Hall and the Wanfo Pavilion of Zhihua temple, rectified the displaced parts of the building structure, and repaired the spalling parts of the painting.

architectural composition

Zhihua temple is located in the north and faces south. Its layout has the characteristics of Ming Dynasty. Although it has been renovated many times, its architectural style still retains the obvious characteristics of the transition from Song Dynasty to Ming Dynasty. It is also one of the largest existing Ming Dynasty buildings in Beijing and an important example of studying Ming Dynasty buildings. There are hundreds of houses in the temple, covering an area of more than 2 hectares. There are 5 courtyards in the original middle road, the temple in the East and the Abbot's courtyard in the West. At present, there are still some buildings in the Middle Road, such as Shanmen, Zhonggulou, Zhihua gate, Zhihua hall, Wanfo Pavilion and Dabei hall. The East Cross courtyard is occupied by the primary school, and the West Cross courtyard is a folk house.

The gate is located at the southernmost side of Zhihua temple, with brick and imitation wood structure, arched gate, black glazed tiles and single eaves on the top of the mountain. It is three rooms wide and one room deep, with a width of 7.1 meters. On the forehead of the gate is a stone inscription "chici Zhihua Temple". There is a pair of stone lions in front of the gate. The original screen wall opposite the gate was demolished after liberation.

Inside the gate is the bell and Drum Tower, which is divided into the East and the west, with the same shape. The black glass tube tile top is 7.1 meters in width and depth. The lower layer is the arched gate with three steps on the Dougong, and the upper layer is the wooden barrier board with four steps on the Dougong.

In the north of the bell and Drum Tower is the Zhihua gate, also known as the Tianwang hall. The black glazed tube has a single eaves and tile top. It is three rooms wide and two rooms deep, with a width of 13 meters and a depth of 7.8 meters. Shan ang steps on Dougong three times. In the north and south, it is the gate lintel of barrier day board. In the south, there is a plaque "Zhihua gate" hanging on the lintel. There are two stone tablets in front of the hall. The original statues of Maitreya, Weituo and Vajra in the hall have disappeared.

Zhihua hall is located in the north of Zhihua gate. It is the main hall of the temple. It has a black glazed tube on the top of the hill and a ceiling at the mouth of the well. It is three rooms wide, 18 meters wide and 14.5 meters deep. It has five steps on the Dougong. At the back of the hall, there is a grey tile hanging on the hill and a rolling shed on the top of the building. Douba caisson, a splendid caisson at the top of the Ming Dynasty, was sold to the United States by monks in 1930s. In the center of the hall, there is a white jade xumizuo, on which there are gold and lacquer Buddha statues. There are 10 Arhats on the left and right, and there are also Buddha statues on the north side, which have disappeared.

In front of the Zhihua hall, there are the East and west auxiliary halls. The East is Dazhi hall, and the west is Zang hall. They are of the same shape, with black glazed tiles and single eaves resting on the top of the mountain. They are three rooms wide and two rooms deep. Behind the Zhihua hall, there is a black glazed tile veranda with a top tower. The upper floor is the Ten Thousand Buddhas Pavilion, and the lower floor is the Tathagata hall. The Wanfo pavilion has three rooms in width and three rooms in depth. It has a single arch and seven steps on the Dougong. The upper and lower walls are decorated with niches. More than 9000 small Buddha statues were originally built. Therefore, the upper eaves list the Wanfo Pavilion, but there are many defects in the existing Buddha statues. The hall of the Tathagata is named for its service to the Tathagata. It has five rooms in width and three rooms in depth. The hall is built with brick walls on three sides, with partition doors and windows on the south. There are buildings in the northeast and northwest corner to go upstairs. The original platform in front of the hall was buried underground due to soil accumulation.

Dabei hall is located in the north of the Wanfo Pavilion, with black glazed tiles and single eaves on the top of the hill. It has three dougongs, three in width and two in depth, with a width of 16 meters and a depth of 8.6 meters.

Wanfa hall, located in the north of Dabei hall, is three rooms wide, with a hard hill and a rolling shed roof, which is the northernmost part of the temple.

Architectural Relics

Zhihua Hall

Facing south and North, it is the main hall of Zhihua temple, which is equivalent to the main hall of general temples. In the hall, there are white marble Sumi seats in Zhenghe and Zhonghe mountains. In the center, there are Sakyamuni Buddha, Amitabha Buddha and pharmacist Buddha. On both sides, there are eighteen Arhats sitting statues. They are all made of wood, lacquer and gold. Unfortunately, they have not existed. In 1972, the third Buddha moved to the Dajue temple in Xishan and also displayed in the hall of Daxiong. There was a plaque with Qianlong's imperial pen hanging in the hall. If you think about it carefully, it is either a coincidence of history, or the inspiration of Emperor Qianlong, or the intangibility of Buddhism. It is a memorable experience.

Tathagata Hall

Behind the Zhihua hall, it is the largest building on the central axis. The hall is dedicated to the Buddha statue, so it is named as the Buddha Hall. The hall has two floors, the upper and lower. Except for doors and windows, the four walls are decorated with niches. The niches are built with small painted Golden Buddha statues. It is said that there are more than 9000 statues, so it is also named the ten thousand Buddha Pavilion. Due to the special historical background of Zhihua temple, its painting and sculpture art not only shows a strong religious color (such as lunzang), but also has a strong secular social atmosphere.

Wanfo Pavilion

It is the highest place of Zhihua temple. From the distant mountain gate, bell and drum tower to the nearby Zhihua hall and Wanfo Pavilion, the roofs of all the halls are equipped with black glazed tiles, which symbolizes holiness and solemnity, power and nobility. The Royal temples and Chijian temples mainly use black glazed tiles, which can only be built in official kilns. The black glazed tile roof just corresponds to the name of Zhihua temple. The former uses wind to subdue demons, while the latter uses wisdom to transform all living beings.

Sutra plate

There is a Qianlong version of Dazangjing Sutra board in Zhihua temple, which contains 724 letters and more than 7240 volumes. It contains 1675 Buddhist scriptures and weighs 400 tons. It is one of the only two Chinese version of Dazangjing Sutra boards in the world, which can be called the most woodblock books in China. The other is the Koryo collection, which is collected in Haiyin temple, jiayeshan, South Korea. The temple enjoys the reputation of "Haidong Dunhuang" for its collection of Sutra plates.

Temple music

Buddhist music

In the early Ming Dynasty, Buddhist temples were divided into three categories: Zen, preaching and teaching, requiring monks to practice Buddhism. Zhihua Temple belongs to Zen temple. Under the Linji sect, the status of Zen monks is higher than that of music monks. At that time, the monks only took children under the age of 13 as disciples. After entering the temple, they had to study music for seven years. During the study, they had to practice listening and pronunciation every day. They had to practice playing and striking on a very narrow bench until they could play continuously for four or five hours in the cold winter or hot summer. Only when they were still full of rhyme and sound, and the words were correct and the tone was round, could they be regarded as qualified. After strict training, the music of Zhihua Temple seems to be completely spread to today. In the early days of Zhihua temple, the abbots were all Zen monks. Later, the status of music monks increased and they could also serve as abbots.

In 1446, Buddhist music was introduced into Zhihua temple. Its melody is mysterious, simple and elegant. Most of the tunes are the same as the song of the names of Buddhas, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas compiled in 1404.

Music history

With his unique position, Wang Zhen brought the palace music of Ming Dynasty out of the high walls of the palace and into his private temple. Because Zhihua temple has the common closeness of eunuch temple, the monks passed on the music from generation to generation according to the very strict way of "oral teaching and heart teaching" without contacting with the outside world, so the music of entering the temple in Ming Dynasty was relatively complete. Although it has been handed down for 500 years, because it still retains relatively complete traces of the Ming Dynasty, it can be called "the living fossil of Chinese music".

The music of Zhihua Temple

Chinese PinYin : Zhi Hua Si