Xizhu Garden

Xizhu Garden

Wuzhou, located in zhutouling, north of Zhongshan Park, was founded in 1933 by Wei Miaozhen and her master Dachen. Xizhu garden is a Buddhist nunnery. There are six brick and wood buildings in it. The East and West buildings are restaurants and halls, the middle one is the main hall, and the back mountain is Guanyin hall, zushi hall and Gongde hall.

brief introduction

Xizhu garden is located in zhutouling, gangling Road, Wuzhou City. Wuzhou is the largest Buddhist temple in modern times. Built in 1933, there are six brick and wood structures, including gatehouse, Xizhu hall, Guanyin hall, Daxiong hall and wing room. It covers an area of 10000 square meters. In recent years, the maintenance is new. There are statues of Sakyamuni, Mitha, pharmacist and Bodhisattva in the main hall. There are 7173 volumes of the Tripitaka Sutra, as well as bronze tripods, bells and lighthouses. Dang Cheng, a master of Liurong temple in Guangzhou, Ju Zan, a master of Longhua Temple in Xishan, Guiping, and dao'an, a master of Guangxi Buddhist Association, gave the sermon first and later. Wuzhou City is the place of Buddhist activities, Wuzhou existing largest Buddhist holy land. In 1933, Liang Xiuzhen and her master Dachen founded the temple. At that time, Li Zongren and Zheng Jianmin contributed money to build the temple, which was completed in December of the next year. Master juecheng of Liurong temple in Guangzhou named the temple Xizhu garden. In the spring of the 24th year of the Republic of China, Dharma Masters Dachen and juecheng presided over the opening ceremony. Master Jue Guang, director of the Hong Kong Buddhist Association, and Miaozai, chair of Guiping Xishan, have been chanting scriptures here for a long time. There are 6 brick and wood structure houses in the park. The East and West seats are restaurants and halls, and the middle seat is the main hall. There are Sakyamuni, Guanyin Bodhisattva, and dizang Bodhisattva, which are places for believers to worship and chant sutras. Every Buddha's birthday, believers and good men and women come here to worship and chant scriptures. There are big iron bell, bronze bell, seven storey copper tower and Ming Dynasty bronze incense tripod in the hall. There is a set of Tripitaka on the upper floor. Xizhu garden has a certain position in Chinese Buddhist circles.

Human history

Xizhu garden was founded by Miaozhen (1896-1971) and her master Dachen in 1933. Miao Zhen, commonly known as Liang Xiuzhen, was born into a poor fisherman's family in Wuzhou. When she was 16 years old, her father died and was not buried, so she was a soldier of the GUI family. Zeng Qixin paid for her as a concubine. However, she was infertile after marriage. In 1929, the new GUI line failed to fight against Jiang, and Liang Xiuzhen left Hong Kong with her husband. When master Dachen of Guangzhou came to visit Hong Kong, Liang Xiuzhen went to visit master Dachen as a teacher and took the Buddhist name Miaozhen. After Miaozhen returned to Wuzhou in 1931, he advised Zeng Qixin to contribute money and got Li Zongren, Zheng Jianmin and others to contribute money to build the temple, which was completed in January 1935. Monk Xuyun, the abbot of Nanhua temple in Shaoguan, Guangdong Province, sent Shi Qingliang, a waiter, to serve as the Sangha instructor of Xizhu garden. In February, xizhuyuan Buddhist hall held an opening ceremony, presided over by master juecheng, marking the restoration of Buddhism in Wuzhou. Cai Hao, the county magistrate of cangwuzhou, who came to participate in the opening ceremony at that time, wrote a couplet in front of the main hall: "the palace of Lin is clear, the moon of Xijiang River is clear, and Zhuling is auspicious, and the clouds of Nanhai Sea are bright.". There is a couplet at the gate of xizhuyuan mountain, which says "Yuanshui flows around the empty gate and cuts the original shore of all living beings, Baiyun opens the way and Sancheng Buddhism is boundless.". On June 9, 1983, Xizhu garden held the opening ceremony of Buddha statues. Master Foyuan of Dajue temple in Yunmen, Guangdong, and master Zhichan of Xilai temple in Liuzhou presided over the ceremony, marking the new development of Buddhism in Wuzhou.

Architectural structure style

There are 6 brick and wood structure houses in the nunnery, the East and West seats are restaurants and halls, and the middle seat is the main hall. The appearance of the main hall is green tiles, yellow walls and red columns. On the ridge of the tiles, two ancient dragons are inlaid, and a spherical lotus is played, symbolizing the purity and compassion of the Buddha. The hall is magnificent and solemn, with three golden statues decorated with sandalwood in the middle, Sakyamuni in the middle, Amitabha Buddha on the left and Amitabha Buddha on the right. Then extend to the left and right corners for the Bodhisattva of dizang (sandalwood coated with gold) and the Bodhisattva of Guanyin (porcelain statue). The main hall is a place for worshippers to chant scriptures, live religious life and spread Buddhism. Upstairs is the Sutra collection building, where all kinds of Buddhist scriptures are collected. There is a set of rare Song Dynasty Shaqi edition of Dazangjing in the Sutra collection. The Sutra includes 7173 volumes of Buddhist works of Tianzhu and China, just like an encyclopedia of Buddhism. Master juecheng of Liurong temple in Guangzhou, master dao'an of Guangxi Buddhist Association, and master juzan, the director of Longhua Temple in Xishan of Guiping, have been here to give lectures. There is a Guanyin hall on the second hillside behind the main hall. It was built at the end of 1984 and completed in April 1988. Guanyin hall has green tiles, yellow walls and red pillars. On the ridge of the tiles, a pair of dragons are built to play with a spherical lotus, symbolizing the purity and kindness of Guanyin Bodhisattva. In the hall of Avalokitesvara, there is a Bodhisattva painted with gold. Guanyin, or GuanShiYin, is Amitabha's left flank servant. It is said that the victims only need to recite his name, "the Bodhisattva immediately watches his voice and goes to rescue and extricate himself", so it is called GuanShiYin. The couplet is written by he Xuzhong, a calligrapher in Wuzhou City, which says that "all living beings are free from the six paths to reach the shore, and the dew is scattered in ten directions to assimilate the three treasures to develop Bodhi.".

On both sides of the Guanyin hall are the ancestral hall and the Gongde hall, both of which are gray walls and tiles, keeping the simplicity of Buddhists. It was built in the end of 1988. In the ancestral hall, in the middle of the upper level, there are three patriarchal positions: dharma (Center), Xuanzang and Taixu; in the middle level, there are three patriarchal positions: Xuyun, juzan, Dachen, juecheng, guanben and Daoan. The third floor of Anfeng, Miaozhen, etc. Gongde hall is a Buddhist hall where Buddhists and their families and relatives repose the dead after their death.

The main component of Xizhu garden is the Linji sect of Pure Land Sect. Because the monks of Zen sect were invited as teachers, and a lot of Zen contents were mixed in, the characteristics of the sect were not very obvious. Xizhu garden had built purple bamboo forest, Lingshan Buddhist hall, Fumin Buddhist hall, and held Guanyin meeting and Buddha's birthday party. Before liberation, its influence was still relatively large. A few years ago, zizhulin was relocated to Baiyun Mountain for the construction of the East Ring Road, and a sizeable si'en temple was built by the Chinese Buddhist Association. Nanhua temple in Shaoguan and Liurong temple in Guangzhou all worship linjizong. Xizhu garden has direct Buddhist affinity with them.

Guanyin hall was built in 1988. The ground was broken at the end of 1984. During the construction period, 1076 believers (Overseas Chinese and female believers accounted for the majority) donated nearly 300000 yuan to help repair. Therefore, the project can be successfully completed in April 1988. Guanyin hall is located on the hillside behind the main hall, with a construction area of 292 square meters. There is a statue of Guanyin painted with gold in the hall. The banner "Guanyin hall" at the gate of the hall is written in gold; the couplet of the two side doors is written by he Xuzhong, a Wuzhou calligrapher: "Cihang will help all living beings to escape from the six paths and ascend to Jue'an; the dew will spread all over the ten directions to assimilate and convert to sanbaofa Bodhi."

Zushi hall and Gongde hall are located on both sides of Guanyin hall. They are built in autumn and winter of 1988. The ancestral hall is divided into three levels to house 22 ancestral lotus seats: the upper level is Dharma, Xuanzang and Taixu; the middle level is Xuyun, juecheng, guanben and xizhuyuan nuns, including dhachan, juzan and Daoan; the third level is xizhuyuan abbot, 13 famous monks.

Historical function

Since the completion of xizhuyuan Buddhist hall, its "human Buddhism" features are particularly strong. Its main performance is: (1) the construction of Buddhist cram school. In 1935, "xizhuyuan Buddhist cram school" was established. Shi Qingliang presided over the educational administration and teaching. A group of 40 junior and intermediate students were recruited, all of whom were young women. There were also several observers, most of whom were middle-aged female residents. The main contents of the course are Buddhist scriptures and Chinese cultural history. It was suspended in 1944 and resumed in 1988. More than 10 young women were recruited from all over the Xijiang River for training, teaching Buddhism, English and Chinese. (2) Actively participate in the Anti Japanese and national salvation movement. In 1939, the Sangha of xizhuyuan set up the "memorial tablet of the martyrs who died in the Anti Japanese War" in the park, chanting sutras every day to pray for the dead, and mobilizing the residents and believers to donate money for the Anti Japanese war. In 1942, master juzan gave a speech in Wuzhou, publicizing that anti Japanese war is "a kind and compassionate Bodhisattva behavior, which is completely in line with the Mahayana spirit of Buddhism", encouraging Buddhist monks to actively participate in the historical movement of patriotism, love of religion, anti Japanese and national salvation. (3) It is self-sustaining. Xizhu garden adheres to Huaihai's motto, "one day, one day, one day, one day, one day, one day, one day, one day, one after another, it has set up a mountain plantation, sewing group, towel group, etc. It not only solves the daily expenses of monks and nuns, but also helps the orphans and widows, the poor and the masses.

Best travel time

The four seasons of the year are tourism seasons. The best days of the year are the first day, the fifteenth day and the birthday of Guanyin. There are many pilgrims to the incense, which is very lively.

Address: gangling Road, Wanxiu District, Wuzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

Longitude: 111.31584890815

Latitude: 23.479390577147

Ticket information: None

Opening hours: 9:00-18:00

Chinese PinYin : Xi Zhu Yuan