Chongning Temple

Chongning Temple

Chongning temple was built in the eighth year of Liang Tianjian (509 AD) in the northern and Southern Dynasties. Xiao Yan, Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty, was devout in Buddhism and spent a lot of money to build temples and pagodas and shape Buddha statues. Liang Wu Emperor later claimed that he would not even be an emperor. He converted to Buddhism four times and became a monk. All of them were redeemed by the imperial court with a huge sum of money, so he was called "emperor Bodhisattva". Du Mu, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, said in his poem "480 temples in the Southern Dynasties, with many buildings in the misty rain", which shows the prosperity of Buddhism at that time. Chongning temple was built by Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty. It has a history of nearly 1500 years.

geographical position

Chongning temple, originally located in the north of Baicheng town and now in the east of the primary school, covers an area of six mu, which has been revived and abandoned repeatedly in the past dynasties. The temple was originally named as an nunnery. In 1464 A.D., sengcun Ding was rebuilt and changed into Chongning temple. There is a mountain gate in front of it, which houses the four heavenly kings and the stone Maitreya Buddha. Next to it is the main hall, which is separated by a garden. There is a huge bell beside it. The main hall has two corridors and five hundred Arhats. After the hall stone columns. In the north and west of the temple, there is the Buddha tower, Doumu Pavilion, and in the east there are more than 20 temples. The whole temple is tall and grand with extraordinary momentum.

Historical changes

In the 13th year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty (1500 AD), it was rebuilt again. It was one of the famous Buddhist forests in Kunshan at that time, with frequent ritual activities and a high status among the believers. According to the records of Baxi, "the ancient temples in the ten dynasties of Fu, with one side of incense, are blessed for the country and the people.". In the third year of Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1725 AD), Shanmen was rebuilt and a stele was erected, which is called "rebuilding Shanmen".

For thousands of years, Chongning temple has experienced war. In the 1930s and 1940s, when the Japanese invaders invaded China, Kunshan was devastated in both urban and rural areas. The Chongning temple in Bacheng was also destroyed by Japanese artillery fire. Only the Shanmen, houdian and doumuge were left. In August 1983, when the teaching building was built in Bacheng primary school, the last remaining rear hall was demolished. So far, all the buildings were destroyed, but the remaining steles have been preserved to this day. The inscriptions are slightly weathered due to their age. The old photos taken in 1928 show the style of the ancient temple.

Tourism value

Chongning Temple "surrounded by mountains, numerous bamboo trees, real secluded place.". (according to the records of Baxi), the temple is adjacent to the Bacheng Lake in the West and the ancient Yushan Mountain in the north. The ancient poem "the bell of Zen Temple" says: "the ancient temple is surrounded by white clouds, and the red world is separated by several layers. A monk gets up early in the morning and rings the Jingyang bell. It describes the daily life scene of monks ringing the bell in the morning, which is one of the "eight scenes of Baxi".

Shen Zhou, a famous painter of the Wumen School of painting in Ming Dynasty, wrote a poem in his night stay in Chongning Temple: "the fields are deserted, the water passes through, and the Xiaoye temple is empty. Buddha seat Zhuang Yan moss borrow green, monk window embellishment leaves remain red. The lamp is in front of the muddy wine in the third watch of the lunar month, and the boat relies on the wind and waves of the lake. There are only a few old people in the old house, and they are still missing each other. It depicts the quiet scene of the ancient temple at night.

In 1992, the people's Government of Baicheng Town, in line with the development needs of developing tourism, improving the investment environment and building a modern small town, submitted to the people's Government of Kunshan City the report on the restoration of cultural relics and historic sites and the reconstruction of "Bawang Temple". The plan is to restore the damaged cultural relics and historic sites, including Chongning temple, by the way of phased implementation and gradual improvement. Under the care and leadership of Kunshan municipal Party committee, Kunshan municipal government and Kunshan Religious Bureau, Chongning temple, a thousand year old temple, was rebuilt in the spring of 2002.

The ancient Chongning temple, which has been carefully restored, stands on the Bank of Yangcheng Lake. This ancient temple with the architectural style of Ming Dynasty, covering an area of more than 10000 square meters, restored the pattern of "One Pavilion, two chambers and three halls". The project lasted more than three years. On September 25, 2005, the grand completion ceremony and jade Buddha opening ceremony were held, and nearly 1000 people attended the ceremony. The ancient temple is reborn, and its landscape and pattern are better than those of the past. The plaque of "Chongning ancient temple" was inscribed by elder Yicheng, the current chairman of China Buddhist Association. In front of the temple, the bridge of consciousness, the temple of heavenly kings, the hall of great heroes and the Sutra collection building with flying eaves and brackets are located on the central axis of the courtyard of Shousi. The construction of jade Buddha Pavilion is a fine work of modern classical architecture and a vivid display of ancient architectural art in the new era. In the building with a total height of 15.8 meters, a width of about 10 meters and a depth of 9 meters, four precious Brazilian mahogany columns are held high, in which the Burmese jade Buddha with a height of nearly two meters is worshipped. On the roof above is a spiral figure of 396 Buddha statues. This is not only a display of the exquisite craftsmanship and wisdom of contemporary craftsmen, but also a manifestation of the profound Buddhist culture, which is rare in temples in the south of the Yangtze River. The main buildings in the East and west of the temple, or beams or doors, are carved or painted with Buddhist stories, with a total of more than 1000 pieces, which is also unique in temples across the country. On the west side of the temple, near the lake bank, there is a "Foguang villa" with simple, elegant and grand decoration. Here, the water and the sky are the same color, and the chants are heard, which not only shows the distant charm of Buddhism, but also makes the tourists rest and feel happy.

Now believers and tourists enter the ancient temple and look up at the inscription of the memorial archway: "if you want to plant, don't ask where else, think about going back to the next path and enter this gate", it will make you feel like a Buddhist. When walking out of the ancient temple, I read the couplets of the memorial archway: "the Suva has the lotus terrace in sight, the sea of bitterness is boundless, looking back is the shore", and the charm is endless.

Address: East Bank of Yangcheng Lake, Bacheng Town, Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province

Longitude: 120.84821670898

Latitude: 31.449753172226

Chinese PinYin : Chong Ning Si