Two Buddhas in Laitan, Hechuan

Two Buddhas in Laitan, Hechuan

Laitan two Buddhas are located in Laitan Town, Hechuan, which is a rare gathering place of Buddhist Zen statues in China. In 1956, it was listed as the first batch of key cultural relics protection units in Sichuan Province. This line can also visit Hechuan fishing City, a famous ancient battlefield site.

Historical evolution

ancient

Two Buddha Temple, formerly known as Jiufeng temple, is located in yajiufeng mountain, Jiangxi Province, Laitan Township, Hechuan county. The building complex is covered with mountains and rivers, with heavy mountains and emerald green. The cornices and corners are hidden in the clouds and smoke, which is magnificent. The temple is divided into upper and lower parts. The upper part of the building group includes the spirit palace, Tianwang hall, Yuhuang hall, Weituo hall, Daxiong hall, guomu Niangniang hall and Guanyin hall. The lower part has only two Buddha halls, all of which are cliff sculpture areas. The upper temple covers an area of 5346 square meters, and the lower temple covers an area of more than 1800 square meters. According to the inscription of rebuilding Jiufeng temple in the 13th year of Zhengde of Ming Dynasty: "there are three great Buddhas in Shu, and Laitan town in dangliang is called Jiufeng, and it covers two Buddhas. The city is 80 li away. " In the second year of Tang Guangming (881), Huang Chao peasant army occupied Chang'an. Li Yu, the emperor of Fu Zong, fled to Chengdu for refuge. He once sent envoys to the two Buddhist temples to "pray", which shows that his Buddhist temple was famous in the late Tang Dynasty. In 1158, there were nine halls and nine monks living there. At the end of the Song Dynasty, after the war, the halls and corridors were bare. During the Ming Dynasty, after the monks raised funds to build it, its chaxiong was located in the east of Kawasaki, which is also known as Daci Temple in Chengdu and Chongyin temple in Chongqing. The emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty issued an edict to "abolish temples all over the world", and the two Buddhist temples were destroyed. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, although the two Buddhist temples were cultivated many times and developed in scale, the "suppression" of the peasant army in the early years of Jiaqing and the 11th year of Xianfeng (1861) damaged the two Buddhist temples.

modern

The existing buildings were partially rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. In the upper hall, hundreds of original Buddha statues were destroyed in the "Cultural Revolution". The lower two Buddha Hall is a three eaves Xieshan style building, and the whole hall is a cliff statue niche. The statues are concentrated on the three sides of Beiya, Nanya and Xiya. The total area of stone carvings is about 700 square meters, with a total of 218 niches. There are more than 1670 statues. The largest one is more than 12.5 meters high, and the smallest one is only 15 cm. The main seat Buddha (i.e. the two Buddhas) sits on the north side and the south side, with a height of 12.5 meters, a head height of 2.75 meters, a head circumference of 6.32 meters, a face width of 1.75 meters and a shoulder width of 3.6 meters. It has a bun on its head, a plump face, a bare chest strap, a kneecap left hand and a finger like right hand. The modeling adopts the expression technique of combining body with line and surface, which has the characteristics of integration of eastern and Western art. The rest of the Buddhas are surrounded by the main Buddha ring, arched and arranged in a unique way. Then there are the figures in religious stories, which are full of real social life interest and are the Sinicized expression of Western Buddhism after it was introduced to China.

Contemporary

There are 24 inscriptions in the upper part of Er fo temple, including 3 in Ming Dynasty, 19 in Qing Dynasty and 2 in Republic of China; there are 27 inscriptions in the lower part of Er fo temple, including 4 in Song Dynasty, 7 in Ming Dynasty, 14 in Qing Dynasty, 2 in cliff, 1 in statue and 11 in Republic of China, and 2 in Republic of China Block. Other cultural relics include: the stone square of "Great Buddha and Zen forest", about 8 meters high and 6 meters wide, with three rooms and four columns. The upper part is embossed with Shuangfeng Chaoyang and the lower part is embossed with Erlong Xizhu. It was built in the 15th year of Wanli period of Ming Dynasty (1587); one iron bell, 60 cm high, 40 cm caliber, helmet shaped, with inscriptions, was built in 1918; one stone incense stove, 60 cm long, 40 cm wide, 35 cm high, with reliefs on four sides The pattern was made in the reign of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty and engraved with an inscription.

In June 1955, Laitan two Buddha Temple was designated as a provincial cultural relic protection unit by Sichuan Provincial People's Committee.

Relevant information

Two Buddha Temple, the upper hall is located at the top of Jiufeng Mountain, covering an area of 5181 square meters, divided into three layers. On the central axis, there are Shanmen, Yuhuang hall, Daxiong Hall (the main hall of Buddha) and Guanyin hall. In the center of the hall, the original three clay statues with gold body are five meters high, vivid and shining. The eighteen Arhats with clay sculptures on both sides are colorful, with different expressions, vivid and daunting. Unfortunately, the cultural relics in the temple were destroyed during the cultural revolution. Only the four stone pillars in the main hall are about 13 meters high. They are made of the whole huge stone. They are tall, straight, spectacular and awe inspiring. They can be regarded as a masterpiece of architecture in the past dynasties. The stone relief of the Mountain Gate archway is exquisite and exquisite. It is a rare historical and cultural masterpiece.

The lower Hall of Er fo temple is close to the Qujiang River and is located on the cliff of Jiufeng Mountain. The rock carvings on the mountain are the concentrated expression of the cultural landscape of Laitan ancient town. They have profound artistic connotation of Er fo Zen culture and reflect the cultural and artistic crystallization of the ancient working people in Tang and Song Dynasties, leaving a good memory for modern people. It is the crown of Moyan statue in the temple. The 16 Arhats carved in the stone in the temple are the ancestor of the evolution of the 18 arhats-500 Arhats. The statue of the sixth patriarch of Zen is the only group of family portraits in the national stone carvings. The story of the three Buddha's parting faces is bizarre. The carvings of shancai boy and Feitian dragon girl are exquisite and beautifully decorated. These cultural relic landscapes have been highly appraised by experts and scholars at home and abroad. Mr. Ding Mingyi, a famous scholar, described it as a pearl buried underground; Dr. he enzhi, an American art historian, called it a treasure house of stone carving art. President of the Dunhuang Research Institute, Mr. Duan Wenjie, a famous stone carving expert, wrote an inscription "Lai Tan cliff statue, the essence of stone carving art in Song Dynasty", "Lai Tan's statue of Luo Han, the gem of stone carving art".

The eight famous "two Buddhas and eight sceneries" are: Jiufeng cloud deep, Buddha rock immortal trace, Longdong clear spring, building play stone, double pagodas to welcome boat, east gate of single tree, Jingpan Jiri, Hualiang Zuobo.

It is a rare gathering place of Buddhist Zen statues in China.

Transportation:

You can start from Chongqing and transfer at Hechuan to Laitan town. Take the highway from Chongqing to Hechuan by car, then go north to Hechuan

To Longshi, not to Longshi before the intersection right to Laitan. The whole process of cement pavement, about 90 km, 1.5 hours. Take no.508 bus from Chongqing railway station to Hechuan, then turn to Laitan bus, or go to Longshi first, call a motorcycle in Longshi, and spend 4 yuan in 10 minutes to Laitan.

Address: Laitan Town, Hechuan District, Chongqing

Longitude: 106.502172

Latitude: 30.159891

Tel: 023-42562800

Chinese PinYin : He Chuan Lai Tan Er Fo