Meishan Baoen Temple

Meishan Baoen Temple

Baoen temple is located in group 5, Gaofeng village, Yongshou Town, Dongpo District, Meishan City, Sichuan Province (originally belonging to Luoping Town, which has been withdrawn). It was built in the Tang Dynasty. The existing buildings were rebuilt in 1327 (the fourth year of the reign of emperor TAIDING of the Yuan Dynasty) and renovated in 1761 (the 26th year of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty).

Location overview

The temple faces south, covering an area of 635 square meters. The existing main hall is 13.65 meters wide in three rooms and 13.45 meters deep in four rooms, with a height of 8.3 meters. The single eaves rest on the top of the mountain. The beam type wooden frame, the eaves column slightly rises and the side angle, the column head is in the shape of inverted bell, the cross section of Mingjian column is nearly circular, and the column base is lotus petal basin type. On the beam is " The fourth year of TAIDING... " Inscription. The main hall of Baoen temple is a typical building of Yuan Dynasty, which retains many construction methods of Song Dynasty. It fully reflects the architectural art of the song and Yuan Dynasties and has high historical value.

In 2006, Meishan Baoen temple was designated as the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Construction history

Baoen temple was built in the Tang Dynasty. It was built by a king surnamed hermit to repay his mother's kindness. Another theory is that when a scholar of Tang Dynasty went to Beijing for an examination, he suddenly fell ill when he came to Heilong (now Qingshen Heilong Town, just a river away from Gaofeng Village). At that time, he stayed at Yuanwai's home, where there was only his daughter and housekeeper. Long Yuanwai's daughter takes good care of the scholar and has a long relationship with him. When the scholar got well, he rushed to take the exam. When long Yuanwai came home, he heard about his daughter's relationship with the scholar. He thought that her daughter had ruined the family tradition and was close to her daughter's suicide. After gaining fame in the capital, the scholar returned to Heilong. He wanted to marry the daughter of the dragon family, but he didn't want that the daughter had become a loess. The grieved scholar built the temple of repaying kindness to commemorate and repay the kindness of the daughter of the dragon family. But this legend should be said to be the nvlong temple in Qingshen county. According to the Daoguang stele, in the past, Benyu was the host of Baoen temple and Longnu temple. Benyu was the fourth generation disciple of Huiming monk in Longnu temple, "one monk managed two temples.". Later, Benyu was not in good health, so that one of the five generation disciples of monk Huiming "worshipped Benyu as a teacher to manage the temple (Baoen Temple) industry".

After the Tang Dynasty, Baoen temple had been destroyed, repaired in 1327 and overhauled in 1761. At present, the temple has only the main hall. After 1986, the government allocated special funds for rescue maintenance for many times. In 1991, the temple was listed as a key cultural relic protection unit in Sichuan Province. On May 25, 2006, the State Council announced it as a national key cultural relics protection unit.

Status quo of temples

Around Baoen temple is a piece of farmland, where rice is heading. There is a verdant yellow horned tree in front of the temple gate. The gate of the temple is very simple. When you step into the gate, there is nothing left for the benefactor temple. There are two stone tablets on the left side of the gate. The small one has been seriously weathered, and only a few words can be vaguely recognized. At the end, there is the word "the 25th of the 56th month of Jiaqing". I don't know why we need to engrave "the 56th month of Jiaqing" instead of directly talking about a certain year of Jiaqing. Jiaqing was ascended to the throne by Emperor Qianlong on the first day of the first month of 1796, and its year name was changed to "Jiaqing". If calculated from his accession to the throne, "the 56th month of Jiaqing" should be the August of the fourth year of Jiaqing (1799). Gao's handwriting is relatively clear, which tells the origin of Baoen temple and Longnu temple in Qingshen county. The monument was erected in 1838.

Baoen temple is a very typical Yuan Dynasty building in Western Sichuan, facing south and covering an area of 635 square meters. It also retains the architectural style of Song Dynasty in many construction techniques. Main hall wood structure, single eaves Xieshan roof, lifting beam beam frame, 12 rafters. There are 9 Dougong under the front eaves, 6 Dougong on the left and right eaves, and 3 Dougong on the back wall. In the Ming Dynasty (the outer room), fork was used to support the ridge. The structure of the bucket beam was exquisite and ingenious. There was an inscription on the beam, and the year number was " In the fourth year of TAIDING.

The eaves column of the main hall has a slight rise and side feet. The column head is in the shape of an inverted bell. The section of the forehead of the Ming section is nearly circular. The Pu Bai Fang is thin, and its lower edge is cut into an inclined plane. The lotus petal is a basin type column base. The joint of Shu column and beam is cut into the shape of a bird's beak The two slanting beams in the front and back eaves end at the back of the bucket arches.

Baoen temple is 13.65 meters wide, 13.45 meters deep and 8.3 meters high. The width of Mingjian is 6.85 meters, the height of eaves column is 3.7 meters, the height of eaves is 4.8 meters, the height of plain platform is 0.4 meters, and the width of front porch is 3.05 meters. The wing room is 13.45 meters wide and 4.7 meters deep. In the middle of the main hall, there are three famous Taoist deities, namely, Yuqing Yuanshi deity, Shangqing Lingbao deity and Taiqing moral deity. On the left and right sides are also some famous Taoist deities. There are two pillars on the left and right sides of the hall, on which there is a flying dragon.

Baoen temple is an extremely precious and rare example of architectural art of song and Yuan Dynasties in Sichuan Province.

Surrounding buildings

Next to Baoen temple, there is a baoben temple, also called Chunyang hall, which is modeled on its structure. The building age of baoben temple is unknown, and it was rebuilt in 1909, which is a typical courtyard building in Qing Dynasty. Baoben Temple faces south, covering an area of 580 square meters, with a height of 6.5 meters. The main hall is a wood structure with a single eaves, a mountain roof, a beam frame and four columns. It is 13.6 meters in length, 12 meters in depth and 3.25 meters in depth. There are two humps on the front eaves pillars. The front eaves pillars are 5.75 meters high, 9.2 meters high, the wing room is 13.5 meters wide, the depth is 4.45 meters, the corridor is 1.1 meters wide, the front hall is 5 rooms wide, 24.4 meters long, the depth is 5.56 meters, and the plain platform is 0.4 meters high. The front hall and wing rooms are equipped with walking buildings, which are relatively intact. The title of the hall is "the 13th year of tongzhi (1874)". The structure of the furnishings in the hall is very similar to that of Baoen temple.

There are three teachers and fathers in baoben temple. According to them, the construction of baoben temple is hundreds of years later than Baoen temple. The two temples were originally one family, but later they separated and managed their own business. Before liberation, they became monks in the temple. After liberation, they returned home. About 20 years ago, they returned to the temple. Baoben Temple used to be the site of Gaofeng village, and the three of them still live in this ancient temple.

All around Baoen temple and baoben temple are farmland. According to the father of the three teachers, few people visit here, and the government and relevant cultural relics management departments seem to have forgotten them. They are all old people. I don't know who will take care of these two ancient temples in a hundred years

Address: Gaofeng village, Luoping Town, Dongpo District, Meishan City, Sichuan Province

Longitude: 103.88189244064

Latitude: 30.417612716669

Chinese PinYin : Mei Shan Bao En Si