Zhenru temple in Shanghai

Zhenru temple is located in Zhenru Town, Putuo District, Shanghai. Founded in Jiading period of Southern Song Dynasty, it is a famous Buddhist temple in Shanghai and a national cultural relic protection unit. After the founding of the people's Republic of China, the government allocated funds to repair the hall. The existing main structures such as beams, columns, Fang, Dou Gong and most of the components are the original objects of the Yuan Dynasty. It is one of the few and less preserved Yuan Dynasty buildings in China's Buddhist temples. Therefore, the Yuan Dynasty Hall of this temple is more valuable.

Zhenru Temple

synonym

Zhenru temple in Shanghai generally refers to Zhenru Temple (temple in Putuo District, Shanghai)

Zhenru temple, also known as Putuo Zhenru temple, is located at No. 399 Lanxi Road, Zhenru Town Street, Putuo District, Shanghai, covering an area of nearly 20 mu and a construction area of 1370 square meters.

Zhenru temple is a famous Buddhist temple in Shanghai, formerly known as "Wanshou Temple", commonly known as "big temple", and a national cultural relic protection unit.

Brief introduction to temples

Shanghai Zhenru temple is also called Putuo Zhenru temple.

Zhenru temple is located in the street of Zhenru Town, Putuo District, Shanghai, covering an area of nearly 20 mu, with a construction area of 1370 square meters. It is a famous Buddhist temple in Shanghai, formerly known as "Wanshou Temple", commonly known as "Damiao", and a national cultural relic protection unit. In Putuo District of Shanghai, there were many temples in history, but most of them have been destroyed. Among the remaining temples, Zhenru temple was the earliest and most influential. This temple was originally in the officialdom (now near Dachang), called Zhenru courtyard.

Historical evolution

During the Jiading period of the Southern Song Dynasty (1208-1224), monk Yong'an changed his courtyard into a temple. In 1320, monk Miaoxin moved it to the northeast of the intersection of Taopu and liyuanbang, and renamed it Zhenru temple.

The name of the temple comes from the explanation in the Buddhist Sutra "chengweizhilun": "truth means truth, which is obviously not false; for example, it means as usual, which means no change. It is said that this true Ru is always the same as its nature in all positions, so it is called true Ru. " There is a sentence in the couplet of the crossbeam in the temple, which says "the Buddha's day increases its splendor, and the people in the flourishing age realize the truth", pointing out the origin of the temple's name.

Prosperous period

After the relocation of Zhenru temple, a market appeared in front of the temple because of the strong incense. Yuansi got its name, Zhenru city. With the development of the market town, Zhenru temple in the north of the town is also expanding. In the late Qing Dynasty, there were Guanyin hall for sending children and Jialan hall in the East, Shiwang hall and pokesi hall in the west, Weituo hall, Erwang hall, Luban hall, God of wealth hall and North Hall in front of the temple, Dabei hall, Wenchang hall and Xijing hall behind the temple, forming a large-scale temple complex. In 1860, when the Taiping army moved eastward, most of the buildings except the main hall were destroyed.

After many repairs

Zhenru temple, built in the Yuan Dynasty, is a main hall of Zhenru temple with three rooms in width and depth. Its internal structure is extremely complex and has been repaired repeatedly in the past dynasties. Daoxin (1368-1398) and Falei (1488-1505) were rebuilt twice in Hongwu Period of Ming Dynasty. In 1894, Yang Yaowen and Gan Shilin, together with nian'an and nian'lun, the monks of shousheng'an temple in Shanghai, initiated a fund-raising activity to renovate the original hall.

Zhenru temple, the main structure of existing beams, columns, Fangdou arches and most of the components are original objects of the Yuan Dynasty. It is one of the few preserved buildings of the Yuan Dynasty in China's Buddhist temples. During the cultural revolution, religious activities were stopped, and Buddhist statues in the temple were destroyed.

Architectural style

In 1979, the Shanghai Municipal Commission for the preservation of cultural relics overhauled the temple and found that the bottom of the inner forehead of the temple was inscribed with the words "xunshiding was built on the 21st day of Yisi in Guiwei, the seventh year of the reign of Gengshen Yanyou". Therefore, the Zhenru temple was identified as a Yuan Dynasty building and listed as a protected building.

Layout structure

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, many side hall pavilions were successively built around the main hall of the temple: in the East, there are Songzi Guanyin hall and Jialan hall; in the west, there are Shiwang hall and pokesi hall; in the East, there are Dongyue Xinggong and Zhongxian Wangdian; in the west, there are Chenghuang Xinggong and dizang hall; in front of the temple, there are Weituo hall, Erwang hall, Luban hall, God of wealth hall and Beifang hall; in the back, there are Dabei Pavilion, Wenchang Pavilion and Xijing It is a large temple complex.

The main hall of the temple has been repaired. During the reign of Hongwu and Hongzhi in Ming Dynasty, monk Daoxin and Falei were rebuilt twice. In 1894, Yang, a merchant of Zhenru Town, raised 15000 yuan (1000 Wen) with nianan and nianlun, monks of Shousheng nunnery in Shanghai, and changed three single eaves into five double eaves. The original beam frame and other main structures still retain the style of Yuan Dynasty. The couplets on both sides are: "Buddha's Day is bright and prosperous, the group of people live in Xianwu Zhenru" in the East, and "Huang Fengxiang's collection of Wanxing's family name is among Renshou" in the West. According to Hong fuzhang's Zhenru Lizhi, the Weituo Hall of the temple was founded in the third year of yuanzhishun by Seng Siwen of Jiading state in Pingjiang Road, and rebuilt in the eighth year of Zhengde in Ming Dynasty.

In the third year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, Lu Weigong was rebuilt. In the 40th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, Lu Weigong and Lu MaoGong donated money for the same practice. " The famous copper Maitreya Buddha in the hall was made in the Ming Dynasty. The inscription on the back of the bronze Buddha is "living in shanbiqiu in the year of Yiyou in the Ming Dynasty, huiwenmu casting." During the period of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Anti Japanese War, after several wars, most of the auxiliary halls and ancillary buildings were destroyed. Only one main hall (the main hall) with a length of 20 meters and a width of 20 meters was left.

Monumental relics

After liberation, the main hall existed alone, and the statue of Sakyamuni and the bronze Maitreya Buddha in Weituo hall in front of the temple were still there. In October 1950, the municipal government allocated funds for the maintenance of the main hall Buddha statues, and set up a fence for the protection of the steel Maitreya Buddha. In May 1959, it was designated as a municipal cultural relics protection unit. The main hall was rebuilt in 1963, and the single eaves style of the Yuan Dynasty was still restored. During the "Cultural Revolution", sandalwood, Sakyamuni and other Buddha statues and tongmaitreya Buddha were destroyed, and many precious stele relics were smashed.

In 1979, Zhenru temple was repaired, and at the bottom of the main hall's forehead Fang, there are still double hook inscriptions on the bottom of the main hall, which are the evidence of the construction age of the temple. There are few existing Yuan Dynasty buildings in Jiangnan area. Except Zhenru temple, there are only Sanqing hall in Suzhou, Xuanyuan palace in Wuxian and Tianning Temple in Jinhua. There are 16 wooden columns in Zhenru hall. The foundation of each wooden column is rammed with loess and iron slag layer by layer. It is 1.8 meters wide, 3 meters long and 1.8-2 meters deep. The foundation of each column is connected by wood, which is rare in ancient architecture and is an important feature of architecture in song and Yuan Dynasties.

Religious places

In all previous renovations, it was also found that the back and tenon of the columns, beams, brackets and other components had the name of the craftsman's brush and ink calligraphy at that time. Most of them were idiomatic sayings of Jiangnan craftsmen, which had research value. For this reason, the relevant departments plan to set up an exhibition hall of ancient buildings, which will not be open to religious places for a long time.

After 1991, in order to meet the needs of Buddhist activities, Zhenru temple was restored to a religious place, and a restoration Committee of Zhenru temple was established. Master Mingmin, vice president of the National Buddhist Association, was appointed as honorary director, and master Zhenchan, President of the municipal Buddhist Association, was appointed as director. In addition to the main hall, the restored Zhenru temple has also built a reclining Buddha Hall, Abbot's room, backyard, inner courtyard, outer courtyard, two corridors, and offices, with an area of more than 2000 square meters instead of more than 800 square meters. At the beginning of January 1992, three jade Buddhas and some scriptures donated by eminent monk Lin Xingren of Singapore entered the temple for collection. Among them, the reclining Buddha statue of Sakyamuni is 2.7 meters long and weighs 1.3 tons, and the two sitting statues are 2.2 meters and 0.8 meters high and 2.5 tons and 0.1 tons respectively.

Reconstruction period

Zhenru temple was first built in the Jiading period of the Southern Song Dynasty (1208-1223). It used to be Zhenru courtyard and was rebuilt by monk Yongan. During the reign of Yuan Yanyou (1314-1320), the monk Miao Xin asked for a new hall in the seventh year of Yanyou (1320) of Zhenru temple.

At the bottom of the existing main hall's forehead square, there is a hook engraved with the words "on the 11th of December, the seventh year of Guiwei's reign in the reign of Da Yuan CI Geng Shen Yanyou, when Xun was unable to do anything to build the Ding", which is when the main hall's beam was completed. In the thirtieth year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty (1397), the monk's appearance was restored and gradually declined. In hongzhizhong (1488-1505), monk Falei was rebuilt. At the end of the reign of Chongzhen (around 1643), monk Huiyun rebuilt the palace.

It began to decline in the late Qing Dynasty, and was rebuilt in 1895. After 1949, the Shanghai municipal government paid several times to repair the hall. The last renovation was conducted by Seng Miaoling in 1992.

Main building

The main buildings of Zhenru temple are Mountain Gate, Tianwang hall, Daxiong hall, Guanyin hall, etc. The Daxiong hall was built in the seventh year of Yanyou reign of the Yuan Dynasty. After more than 600 years of vicissitudes, it still maintains the architectural style of the Yuan Dynasty temples. It has great historical value and is listed as a national cultural relic. The statues and reliefs of Guanyin hall are exquisitely carved and dignified. There are four versions of dazhengzang, feiziji Tibetan scriptures and other Buddhist classics in the temple.

In addition, there is an ancient ginkgo tree in the temple, which is about 700 years old. The old trunk is dancing, and it is a beautiful scenery hidden between the fanchas.

Abbot of the temple

Master Miaoling, the abbot of Zhenru temple, is 89 years old. He was born in Dongtai, Jiangsu Province. He became a monk in 1942 and graduated from Shanghai Buddhist College. He is now the honorary president of Shanghai Buddhist Association and the honorary president of Shanghai Buddhism.

Address: No.5, houshanmen Road, Zhenru Town, Putuo District, Shanghai, China

Longitude: 121.401528316

Latitude: 31.249032709673

Tel: 021-6297158

Chinese PinYin : Shang Hai Zhen Ru Si