Yuantong Temple

Yuantong Temple

Yuantong Temple, located in Yuantong street in Kunming, is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Kunming, with a history of more than 1200 years. It is also the largest temple in Kunming. It was built in the Nanzhao period of the Tang Dynasty and was initially named butuoluo temple.

Yuan Dynasty Dade five years (AD 1301) built Yuantong Temple, the Yuan Dynasty emperor "given the seal Book Jia.". It took 18 years for the extension project to be completed in 1319 A.D. In the Ming Dynasty, Yuantong Temple was expanded and a new reception hall was built on the top of the mountain.

Yuantong Temple was rebuilt many times in the Qing Dynasty.

Brief introduction to temples

Kunming, Yunnan Province, is the center of politics, culture, religion, commerce and communication. It has Qiongzhu temple, Huating temple, Taihua temple, Caoxi temple, Yuantong Temple and other Buddhist temples. Among them, Yuantong Temple, built in the 8th century, is one of the earliest Guanyin Bodhisattva temples in China. With a long history, magnificent buildings and convenient transportation, it is the largest Buddhist temple in Kunming Buddhist activity places.

According to Li Yuandao's inscription on the creation and repair of Yuantong Temple, the temple was built in the period of Nanzhao Mongol of Tang Dynasty (738-902 A.D.). Luofeng, the king's Pavilion of Nanzhao, sent his son fengjiayi to build Tuodong city. At that time, Jiaolong was in trouble in Chaoyin cave of Yuantong mountain. Yimouxun began to build a temple called "butuoluo Temple" to subdue Jiaolong. After that, the temple was destroyed by soldiers and burned. In the early years of the Yuan Dynasty, only the ruins were left.

In the fifth year of Dade in the Yuan Dynasty (1301, xinchou year), Zuo Cheng axisi, the provincial governor of xingzhongshu in Yunnan Province, built a large-scale construction project to "revere the Dharma and build a solemn Dharma body". After 19 years of painstaking efforts, the temple was built in the seventh year of yuanyan (1320), and the abbots fo RI and Yuan Zhao were invited to name it Yuantong Temple.

Constant repair

Yuantong Temple in the Yuan Dynasty has a unique style, with its unique scenery, solemn temples, magnificent pavilions, rugged rocks, waterside pavilions, winding paths, stone steps, stone paths, stone bridges and stone railings. It is also known as "a well-known Buddhist temple, a quiet scenic spot". In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were constant repairs, and most of the existing temple buildings were built in the Qing Dynasty.

According to the newly compiled general annals of Yunnan, the temple was rebuilt during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty. In the seventh year of the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, Wu Sangui expanded the temple on a large scale, rebuilt the octagonal pavilion in front of the temple and the waterside pavilions around it, built the "Yuantong Shengjing" memorial archway, and moved the mountain gate to the street. During the period of the Republic of China, it was repaired many times. After 1949, the government paid for the renovation and the temple took on a new look. Yunnan Buddhist Association and Kunming Buddhist Association work in the temple.

architectural style

Entering the gate of Yuantong Temple, on the next slope stands the Yuantong Shengjing square, which was built in 1668, the seventh year of Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty. The hall is spacious. Now it is dedicated to a statue of Sakyamuni, two meters high and made of pure copper. It is one of the four copper Buddha of Sakyamuni presented to the Chinese Buddhist Association by the Thai Buddhist community in 1984. Yunnan Buddhist Association has built a Buddhist hall for the bronze Buddha presented by Thailand. Empty through the vestibule corridor, there is a pool. In the middle of the pool is the octagonal pavilion built during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, surrounded by stone corridors, connected by stone bridges between the north and the south, with glazed cornices and exquisite carving skills. A thousand handed Avalokitesvara is worshipped in the pavilion. The couplet on the front begins with "Guan" and "Yin", which means "Guan is free from any intention, where it comes from, where it goes, where it is free from the sound, whether it is empty, whether it is color or mellow. In the side couplet, the words "round" and "Tong" are used as the leading words: "the ten directions of perfection show a thousand hands and eyes to help cross, reach the three generations, and sail with great compassion. There are more than 100 pairs of stone lions on the stone railings of the stone corridors around. There is a bridge in the north of the pavilion, which leads to the main hall. Daxiong hall is a double eaves Xieshan style palace. The roof is empty flower ridge and glazed top. The pottery dragon is eager to fly. The eaves are golden and Danxia, and the brackets are flying. The inside of the hall is decorated with carved beams and painted buildings, and the red lacquer is engraved with gold.

Layout structure

In the center of the hall are the three body Buddhas of the Yuan Dynasty, namely the Dharma body, Ying body and Pao body of the Tathagata; in the middle is Sakyamuni Buddha, and on the right is Qingjing Dharma body piluzhana Buddha; the three statues are side by side, sitting in a knot, with a flame shaped aperture on their back.

There are twelve statues of Yuanjue and Dharma protectors on the left and right walls of the hall. On the left wall, there are nineteen bodies of the heavens, on the right wall, eighteen bodies of the heavens, as well as arhat, dizhi, Rengui, tanyue, Dharma protectors, donors and practitioners. Buddhism is spread from India. Most of the Indian statues take Tianbu as the official yamen, which is called the eight tribes of Tianlong. Some of them hold spears, some hold axes, some hold musical instruments, and some bow to listen to Dharma. They all stand in the clouds. The two columns in the center of the main hall are 15 meters high. They are surrounded by two green and red dragons. They have split whiskers and angry eyes. They dance their claws and open their teeth. They are made in the shape of desire and fight. Their craftsmanship is exquisite. They are the artistic crystallization of craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty.

The couplets in the main hall were written by Liu Hongxiang, Yunnan governor of the Qing Dynasty. They are very philosophical: "round as the full moon, beautiful sky, demons, secluded Buddhas, shining all over the world, aware of the road, stop talking about pearls and fire as eyebrows, green lotus as eyes, then enter the Buddha's field, is it not arhat; it means sailing all over the sea, reaching all the millions of beings, and Bodhi as a whole. It's not necessary to have a golden face and a horizontal chest to know that the wheel king is the Tathagata . The statue in the back hall is composed of Guanyin Bodhisattva, Manjusri Bodhisattva on the left and Puxian Bodhisattva on the right. Guanyin is the only male Guanyin statue in the forest of Yunnan.

The scale

The whole hall, with a construction area of more than 600 square meters, has the characteristics of Yuan Dynasty architecture. There is a bronze censer in front of the main hall, which was cast in Ming Dynasty; there are stone flower beds on the left and right, and 180 little lions carved on the column, with different images and exquisite carving. Domestic and foreign tourists come here to admire and marvel. From the side of the main hall up along the stone, is the new copper Buddha Hall. Built in 1985, the hall is dedicated to receiving and worshiping the bronze Buddha statue of Sakyamuni from Thailand. The bronze Buddha is of brick and stone structure, which combines the architectural styles of China, Thailand and India. It is a spire building with overlapping eaves. The doors and columns are in Indian style. A pair of stone unicorns guard the gate.

Wall relief or cattle or deer, or flowers or grass, or unicorn. Smooth lines and concise composition. There is a couplet written by Dao Shuren, a Dai and Li qunjie, a Naxi calligrapher and former vice president and Secretary General of China Buddhist Association, President of Yunnan Buddhist Association, which briefly describes the origin of Yuantong Temple: "the flood damages the duck pond in the Jiaolou Valley under the screen of Naxia; the tide sounds in Puji kunzhou in the front of Luofeng mountain.". Inside the copper hall sits the copper body of Sakyamuni, which is more than ten feet high and has a clear shape, reflecting the hardships of Sakyamuni's hard work of becoming a Buddha. There are four colored pictures on both sides of the statue, which narrate the whole process of Sakyamuni Buddha from practicing Buddhism to nirvana. The bronze wind bells are hung under the corner eaves of the copper hall. The breeze blows and the bell is quiet.

On the right side behind the main hall, there are craggy Cliffs. In the Yuan Dynasty, it was called pankun rock. There is a zigzag path between the rocks, which is called Caizhi path. It can go straight up to Yuantong mountain. There are inscriptions on the cliff. In the first year of Yuanfeng, Yimou Xun of Nanzhao engraved the word "longevity" on the cliff; in the Ming Dynasty, Li Yuanyang's cursive poem "Yin Shi Ya Shi" said, "the iron pen curls up in the palace, and the curved cliff and stone are exquisite. He year off the Cang keel, so far scaly health autumn wind. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, fan Chengxun, governor of Yunnan Province, inscribed the three words "Na Xia Ping" on the stone wall, and Wang Jiwen, governor of Yunnan Province, wrote seven unique cursive poems on the cliffs: "the green Buddha's clothes come from Huguang mountain, and the old green moss is rooted in thousands of clouds. On the moon, the Dragon suddenly embraces the Pearl. Xu Hongxun, a calligrapher in the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, wrote a poem with seven rhythms: "Yuantong Temple has thousands of trees, and pines and cypresses are broken and connected. Or pavilion or tower or stone pedal, in the waist, in the foot, in the mountains. Looking forward to the mountains of kunshui, overlooking the thousands of households in chunchou. For the sake of happy monk Rao Yunzhi, I'd like to talk about Zen in my spare time. 」

Under the cliff of Luoshan, there is a stone Avalokitesvara stele, which was copied by the people of Qing Dynasty. In 1912, calligrapher Yao an and Zhao Songquan carved statues of Sanfeng immortal master, Jigong living Buddha and Master Lu Chunyang. There is a niche for the statue of Guanyin under the Putuo rock, but the niche is still there. The title is "there is a definite number of things". There are stone couplets on both sides: "President Qian Shan, ascend the second ministry together; governor Ten Thousand Buddhas, go to the temple altogether. Although the character is worn, it can be read. There are many other stone inscriptions, but most of them have been eroded. There are two caves, Youhe and Chaoyin, under the big stone cliff. The grotesque rocks in the cave are uneven and unpredictable. The rock falls into the water and touches the rock, making a dingdong sound, so it is called Chaoyin cave. It's said that there is a dragon hidden in the cave. Master Jue Zhao, a monk of Panlong temple, built an altar to chant scriptures, cursed the dragon and moved to the apprentice, and subdued the dragon. Therefore, there is a cursed dragon platform, which covers an area of about 2.5 square meters. Originally, there was a small pavilion, but now it has no existence.

Along the radial direction of Caizhi, go straight to the west, cross the mantra Jiaotai, and climb up to Yuantong mountain. At the stone level crossing, there is a small stone archway with a couplet on it: "be careful step by step, you must prevent the stone road from slipping; you can only know the height of the peak by looking at it layer by layer. On the stone wall, a poem by sun Jilu, a Jinshi in the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, is engraved: "the craggy milky stones lead to the sound of music.". Cang Jiao vomites Yin Qi, squats on the tiger and sings the wind. People from the mid air, the peak from the stone to the middle. Thousands of families, overlooking the sunset red. There is a reception hall on the top of Yuantong mountain, which was built in the Ming Dynasty. The inner sculpture is connected with Amitabha Buddha in the west, so it is called the reception hall. Today, there is no Buddha statue. The hall has been moved for other uses.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Japanese Zen monks and Jixian monks traveled to famous mountains and ancient temples, went to Luofeng mountain, and lingered in Yuantong Temple for a long time. They left a poem named "Shufeng embracing jade", praising Yuantong Temple, saying: "Luofeng is near the city of Yunnan, and there is a call to lean on Cuiping. After the rain, the monk's eyes are blue, and the Buddha's head is green in the clouds. The bird on the cliff opens up the natural danger, and the dragon in the ancient cave dives

Chinese PinYin : Yuan Tong Chan Si