Hanshan Temple

Hanshan Temple is located in Gusu District of Suzhou city. It was built in the reign of emperor Xiaoliang of the Southern Dynasty (502-519 A.D.), and was originally named "Miaoli Puming pagoda courtyard". Hanshan Temple covers an area of about 13000 square meters, with a construction area of more than 3400 square meters.

Hanshan Temple belongs to Linji sect. In Zhenguan period of Tang Dynasty, Hanshan and xiqian, two famous monks at that time, founded Hanshan Temple. In more than 1000 years, Hanshan Temple was destroyed by fire five times (seven times in one word), and the last reconstruction was in Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty. In history, Hanshan Temple was one of the top ten famous temples in China. There are many historic sites in the temple, such as the stone inscriptions of Zhang Jishi, the stone statues of Hanshan and found, and the fragments of inscriptions written by Wen Zhengming and Tang Yin.

Hanshan Temple

Hanshan Temple is located in Gusu District of Suzhou city. It was built in the reign of emperor Xiaoliang of the Southern Dynasty (502-519 A.D.), and was originally named "Miaoli Puming pagoda courtyard". Hanshan Temple covers an area of about 13000 square meters, with a construction area of more than 3400 square meters.

Hanshan Temple belongs to Linji sect. In Zhenguan period of Tang Dynasty, Hanshan and xiqian, two famous monks at that time, founded Hanshan Temple. In more than 1000 years, Hanshan Temple was destroyed by fire five times (seven times in one word), and the last reconstruction was in Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty. In history, Hanshan Temple was one of the top ten famous temples in China. There are many historic sites in the temple, such as the stone inscriptions of Zhang Jishi, the stone statues of Hanshan and found, and the fragments of inscriptions written by Wen Zhengming and Tang Yin.

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Historical evolution

Before liberation

Hanshanzi, a monk in the early Zhenguan period of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty (627-649), came here to bind Mao for daily life. During the period of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, the famous Zen master Xi Qian (700-790) founded Jialan here, which was named Hanshan Temple.

At the beginning of Taiping's rejuvenation (976-983) in the Northern Song Dynasty, sun Chengyou, a festival envoy, rebuilt 70% of the pagodas. In the second year of Renzong Jiayou (1057) of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Duke of the state of Ying wrote Zhang Jishi, and the bridge was easily sealed as Fengqiao.

During the Shaoxing period of Emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty (1131-1162), it was called Fengqiao temple.

During the Hongwu Period (1368-1398), sengchang was built in Chongyuan. Hanshan Temple merged into three temples: Xiufeng temple, Huiqing temple and Nanfeng temple; an four Temples: Manjusri, Yungao and Shedu. Therefore, Hanshan Temple was still a jungle in the early Ming Dynasty.

After the revolution of 1911 to 1949, Hanshan Temple was also in a dangerous situation, with few cigarettes, cold door, no income and scattered monks. In the autumn of 1941, Gao Guanwu and others renovated the original Sutra house, which was renamed frost Bell Pavilion. During the Japanese occupation of Suzhou, Hanshan Temple was once reduced to a Japanese warehouse and stable.

After liberation

In 1949, the people's Republic of China was founded and managed by Suzhou Municipal Council of cultural administration.

In 1954, the former Changzhou reception Temple monk Yanlin came to the temple to help take care of the incense, Hanshan Temple had monks again. In the same year, song Hongzhao, a famous scholar in Suzhou, presented his ancestral building Hualan building to Hanshan Temple and built it in the southwest of the stele corridor, which was renamed "fengjiang building".

In 1958, the temples in Suzhou were under centralized management, and part of the statues were concentrated in Xiyuan JieChuang temple. Longqing Temple dragon Scripture was transferred to Hanshan Temple.

During the "Cultural Revolution" from 1966 to 1976, Hanshan Temple once became a prison for rebels to extort confessions by torture. Buddha statues, magic weapons, temples and pavilions were damaged, and the cultural relics in the temple were seized. Master XingKong took protective measures in advance to preserve the inscriptions, scriptures and Arhats.

On November 15, 1978, Zhao Puchu, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese people's Political Consultative Conference and President of the Chinese Buddhist Association, visited Hanshan Temple for the first time and guided the restoration work. Hanshan Temple began to be restored.

On the new year's eve of 1979, the first Hanshan Temple bell listening activity was held with the support of Suzhou Foreign Friendship Association. Since then, the number and scale of people have expanded year by year, which has become an annual traditional festival.

In July 1979, the ethnic and religious Department of Suzhou Municipal People's government was officially restored, speeding up the renovation project of Hanshan Temple. In the same year, he invited back the statues of Sakya, Kaya, Ananda, Maitreya, Weituo and Hanshan from Xiyuan temple.

In 1980, Hanshan Temple was approved as one of the first batch of national key open temples. In 1981, xinjinglou and Zhongfang were newly built.

In 1982, the people's Government of Jiangsu Province officially declared Hanshan Temple as a provincial cultural relic protection unit.

In 1990, Hanshan Temple completed the installation of 500 Arhats and rebuilt the buildings of Wenzhong Pavilion.

In the autumn of 1992, Hanshan Temple held the foundation laying ceremony of Puming pagoda, and the construction started in 1993. On October 30, 1996, the completion ceremony of the Puming pagoda and the opening ceremony of the Buddha statue were held.

In 2001, he completed the renovation of Hongfa hall, renovation of Shangke room and Zhaitang hall, and overhaul of the Sutra collection building. The stone tablet of Master Li XingKong's book "Night Mooring on the maple bridge" is on the south side of the clock room.

Architectural pattern

overview

Most of the buildings in Hanshan Temple were built in Qing Dynasty, mainly including Daxiong hall, sutra library, bell tower, stele Gallery, fengjiang tower, frost Bell Pavilion, etc. There is no strict central axis in the layout of Hanshan Temple. The ancient stone arch bridge in front of the gate of Hanshan Temple is Jiangcun bridge. The yellow wall between the bridge and the gate is called Zhaobi. There are two ancient camphors on both sides of the mountain gate. The classical pavilions in the yellow wall, with their cornices and corners, the fengjiang tower on the right and the frost bell tower on the left, all originate from the Night Mooring poems of Fengqiao. Behind the shrine is a majestic statue of a general, facing the main hall, holding a Vajra pestle, also known as the subduing magic pestle. It is Wei Tuo, ranking first among the 32 generals under the four heavenly kings.

The flower bed on the left side of the main garden of Hanshan Temple is inlaid with two long stone carvings. One is "Hanshi's trace" carved in chongjia period of Ming Dynasty; the other is "Miaoli zongfeng" written by Cheng Dequan, governor of Jiangsu Province in the late Qing Dynasty. Out of the main hall, you can see the pagoda and Abbot's room on the left, the famous bell tower listening to the "midnight bell" on the right, and the two-story building in front of you is the Sutra library. Looking at the roof from a distance, you can see the statues of Tang Monk and monkey king. On the back of the back wall of the hall stands a huge stele with characters such as Avalokitesvara, Wei Tuo and Guan Gong. The bell tower is next to Hanshi hall.

The layout of Hanshan Temple doesn't pursue the balance between the left and the right. The light wall and the mountain gate are basically in a line. The main hall and the Sutra library behind are not on the same central axis. The new Puming pagoda is on the north-south axis. There are many courtyards in the temple.

main hall

The main hall of Hanshan Temple is five rooms wide and four rooms deep, with a height of 12.5 meters. The single eaves rest on the top of the mountain, and the flying ridge stretches according to the angle. In the center of the terrace is a copper tripod with a hearth. On the front of the tripod is the word "serious" and on the back is the word "steel from all smelting". There is a religious legend here: once there was a dispute between Chinese monks and Taoists to see whose classics could stand the fire. The Buddhists put the Vajra Sutra into the fire of the bronze tripod, and the sutra was intact. In order to praise the past, the eight characters are engraved on the tripod to commemorate it. The plaque of "Da Xiong Bao Dian" is hung on the door and mast of the hall, and the couplets written by Zhao Puchu are hung on the court pillars of the hall: "the Buddha land is solemn for more than a thousand years, and the Hanshan Temple is outside the city of Gusu; the hundred and eight pestle people are alert, and the sound of Yan Fu's tide in the middle of the night." Xumizuo is carved and built with white marble, crystal clear and white. On the seat is a gold statue of Buddha Shiying, with a serene look. On both sides of the wall are 18 fine iron gilded Arhats cast in the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, which were moved here by Mount Wutai, the holy land of Buddhism.

Behind the Buddha statues, different from other temples, are stone carvings of Han Shan and Shi De in the Tang Dynasty, rather than Guanyin on the island. The portrait was created by Luo pin, one of the eight monsters in Yangzhou in the Qing Dynasty. The brushwork is bold and rough with smooth lines. In the picture, Hanshan's right hand points to the ground and talks and laughs; he is bare chest and belly and listens happily. Hanshan Temple is characterized by Hanshi hall, which is located in the Sutra building. On the roof of the building, the story of the characters in journey to the west is carved. It is the image of Tang monks and disciples returning from the West. The theme is very close to the meaning of the Sutra building. The statues of Hanshan and Shide stand in the hall. Behind the statues of Han and Shi are stone carvings of a thousand handed Avalokitesvara, on which is the seal script of Shi Kaiyu, the number one scholar in Suzhou during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. There are 27 stones embedded in the left and right walls of the hall, which is the King Kong Prajna paramita Sutra written by Zhang Jizhi, a calligrapher of the Southern Song Dynasty. Later, there are inscriptions and postscripts by Dong Qichang, Bi maokang, Lin Zexu, Yu Yue and others, with a total of 11 stones.

bell tower

The bell tower is located in the south of the Sutra tower, with a hexagonal pavilion with double eaves. Hanshan Temple's "No.1 Buddha bell in the world" is an ancient bronze bell imitating the Tang style, with a total weight of 108 tons, a height of 8.588 meters, and a maximum diameter of 5.188 meters at the bottom of the bell skirt. The main body of the bell is inscribed with 69800 words of the Mahayana Lotus Sutra, and a total of 70094 words on the clock face. There are nine beautiful pictures of flying sky and six milled skirt on the skirt.

Poem

In the stele Gallery of Hanshan Temple, an ancient temple in the south of the Yangtze River, there is a stele engraved with the well-known poem "Night Mooring on the maple bridge" written by Zhang Ji, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty: "the moon is setting, the crow is crowing, the frost is all over the sky, and the river maple is fishing and the fire is sleeping. Hanshan Temple outside the city of Gusu, the bell rings at midnight to the passenger ship. " This stele, written by Yu Yue, a famous scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, has become a unique one in Hanshan Temple. Hanshan Temple stele is about 3.5 meters high and 1 meter wide.

Since the publication of Night Mooring on the maple bridge, there have been many scholars who carved stone tablets for Hanshan Temple. According to records of Hanshan Temple, the poem "Night Mooring on the maple bridge"

Chinese PinYin : Han Shan Si