Zhenqing Temple

Zhenqing Temple

Zhenqing culture square is located in the northeast corner of the intersection of Tuodong road and Baita Road in the center of Kunming City, covering an area of 2.13 hectares (32 mu). It is the largest existing ancient building complex in Kunming City, with more buildings of Ming and Qing Dynasties preserved. It is of great value to the study of Yunnan's architectural history, art history, religious history and the history of cultural exchange between Yunnan and the Central Plains. Zhenqingguan ancient building complex is mainly composed of three groups of ancient buildings: zhenqingguan, Yanlong temple and duleifu. It was announced as a municipal cultural relic protection unit in 1983, a provincial cultural relic protection unit in 1998, and a national key cultural relic protection unit in 2013.

history

Zhenqing temple was built in Yuan Dynasty, formerly known as Zhenwu temple. In the sixth year of Xuande in the Ming Dynasty (1431 AD), it was rebuilt and renamed "zhenqingguan". In the ninth year of Zhengtong in the Ming Dynasty (1444 AD), the front hall of zhenqingguan and the eastern and Western cloisters were added and rebuilt in the 54th year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1789 AD).

Zhenqing temple was the residence of Liu yuanran, a famous Taoist in Ming Dynasty, when he was banished to Yunnan. Liu yuanran "welcomed the Imperial Envoys" here. Hong Xichu (about 1425 A.D.) Liu yuanran was called back to Beijing. He asked that the Longquan Taoist temple he lived in Kunming should be renamed Longquan Temple, and Zhenwu temple should be renamed Zhenqing temple. After Liu yuanran returned to Beijing, his disciple Jiang rihe became the abbot of Zhenqing temple, and presided over the reconstruction and expansion of Zhenqing temple.

On April 9, a member of the public surnamed Ma, who originally lived here, accompanied by his family, came to see the restored Zhenqing temple in a wheelchair.

Architectural description

Zhenqing temple is composed of front hall, Ziwei hall, Laojun hall and other buildings. The three halls face south from north to North and are built on the same axis. On both sides of the central axis are the East-West corridors connecting the front hall and Ziwei hall. Ziwei hall is a three room civil structure building with a single eaves at the top of the mountain, covering an area of 320 square meters. The whole building retains the architectural style of the Ming Dynasty, and the hall worships the great emperor Ziwei (Ziwei means the sun). In the back of Ziwei hall is Laojun Hall (with East and West chambers on both sides). Due to many repairs in history, it still retains the architectural style of the Yuan Dynasty. The hall is dedicated to Taishang Laojun. Laojun is Laozi. His surname is Li ming'er,

Laodan, a thinker in the spring and Autumn period, is the founder of Taoism.

Ziwei Hall

In 1984, the government of Kunming and Panlong District funded the restoration of Ziwei hall. The restored Ziwei hall is three rooms wide, with civil engineering structure and single eaves. It covers an area of 320 square meters. It is a rare Taoist architecture in China, with the style of Ming Dynasty preserved.

Dulei Mansion

On the east side of the Ziwei Hall of zhenqingguan is dulei mansion, which was built in the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. Under the main ridge, it is inscribed with "the twelfth year of Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty, the second year of guiyourun, the sixth month of Jidan, the city official, the gentleman, the commoner, the good surname, the abbot Tong, and other renovations" (1873 A.D.). The gate has a single eaves, four corners are tilted, and the bucket arch bears the load. There are wooden couplets on both sides of the gate

One: "may heaven always produce good people, and may people always do good deeds.". The front title of the lintel is "Du Lei Fu" and the back title is "eternal sacred wind". There is a pavilion inside the gate, commonly known as "qingfengting". On the main ridge, there is "Jidan believer on June 16, the 21st anniversary of Jiaqing of the Qing Dynasty" In 1816, there is a delicate caisson with dragon carved on the top of the pavilion. At the back of the pavilion is the thunder temple. The whole building is of civil structure, with single eaves resting on the top of the mountain. There are carved stone railings and a pair of stone lions on the veranda of the main hall. The ancient architecture of duleifu retains the architectural French features of the early Qing Dynasty and the exquisite local style painting.

Dulei mansion is a subsidiary building of Zhenqing temple, which worships the God of thunder. The God of thunder, also known as Lei Gong and Lei Shi, is the God of thunder in ancient mythology. "Shanhaijing haineidongjing" said: "there are thunder trees in Leize, the Dragon ears and the head, drum its clothes.". Taoism believes that the God of thunder "dominates the disaster of heaven, holds the balance of things, takes charge of things and people, and takes charge of life and death", which is known as "the God of thunder".

To the north of the main hall of duleifu is the temple of fire, which is dedicated to the God of fire.

Yanlong Temple

Yanlong temple was built in 1881, which was funded by Yunnan Salt Merchants in the late Qing Dynasty. The salt shop of the Republic of China was also located here. Yanlong

The temple is located in the north of dulei mansion and faces south. It is composed of theater building, front hall, East and West Wing rooms of front hall, main hall, East and West Wing rooms of main hall, ear room and other buildings. The architecture of Yanlong Temple well preserves the architectural structural features of the area at that time. The architectural components are exquisitely carved, and the painted parts of the outer eaves are gilded. The craft level is high, and the exquisite local style painting is also completely preserved It is of high value.

The value of zhenqingguan ancient architecture community exceeds that of the individual ancient architecture. As an independent geographical and cultural unit, it brings a certain sense of historical vicissitudes to the urban landscape of Kunming and shows the rich changes of the times. It is a great supplement and embodiment to the image of Kunming as a famous historical and cultural City, and is one of the landmark buildings of Kunming as a famous historical and cultural city.

Boulevard square

On the west side of Yanlong temple, a new shady square was built, on which green bamboos were planted, and many strange stones were dotted. The green lawn is surrounded by rare trees such as cypress, Metasequoia glyptostroboides and Pistacia chinensis, which have been moved from a long distance, becoming another new green spot in the urban area. At the northwest end of the square, a white tower was rebuilt according to historical records and the prototype of the Yuan Dynasty White Tower in the old photo of Kunming taken by French Fang Suya in 1896. Its architectural style is Tibetan pagoda, which is the material evidence of the unity of Han and Tibetan Nationalities and cultural exchange in history. At that time, Wanqing temple was built in the original site, so it was named "Wanqing tower". In the autumn of 1911, the pagoda was demolished because of street expansion and road construction. There was a door opening at the base of the white tower, which was the passage for pedestrians and vehicles at that time, so it was also called "through the heart tower". On the East, South, West and north sides of the tower, there is a pot door carved with a Buddha statue inside. The top of the tower is a stone pagoda. In the south of the base of the White Pagoda, an ink stone inscription is inlaid on the east stone wall, which describes the history of the rise and fall of the white pagoda; in the glass frame on the West stone wall, there is an old picture of the White Pagoda of Yuan Dynasty in Kunming taken by French Fang Suya in 1896. From the photos, we can see that in the late Qing Dynasty, the White Pagoda of the Yuan Dynasty, which experienced the vicissitudes of life, stood on the stone paved street. The busy scene of shops on both sides of the street and people and cars passing through the pagoda reminds people to trace back the history of old Kunming, leaving a strong sense of historical vicissitudes.

Protection value

Zhenqingguan ancient buildings include the buildings from the Ming Dynasty, the early Qing Dynasty, the middle Qing Dynasty and the late Qing Dynasty. It is not only a real example of the architectural development history of Yunnan, but also a real carrier of religious culture and art development. It has a high value of original protection and research. However, due to historical reasons, zhenqingguan ancient buildings were gradually occupied by factories and residents since 1950s, causing great damage to its architectural style and layout. The ancient buildings were decayed, weathered and seriously damaged. By the end of 1990s, there were 14 enterprises and 493 households in this area. The living environment here is poor, the living conditions are bad, especially the fire hazard is serious. It is urgent to rescue and repair the zhenqingguan ancient buildings.

Maintenance protection

In order to better show the style of historical and cultural city, improve the level of urban tourism environment, and make the urban landscape reach a higher level, the CPC Kunming Municipal Committee and the municipal government decided to repair the zhenqingguan ancient buildings and build a Zhenqing Cultural Square integrating culture, architecture, greening, tourism and leisure. The construction project of Zhenqing Cultural Square is the key to the implementation of national historical and cultural city protection in Kunming The landmark project is the basic project for Kunming to build itself into a big province of national culture and tourism economy, and the popular project for Kunming to improve the living and living conditions of residents in zhenqingguan area. It is listed as the key construction project of the province and city from 2001 to 2002. At the same time, the construction of Zhenqing Cultural Square will also play a positive role in highlighting the status of business center of Panlong District, promoting the prosperity of regional economy and the development of tourism.

In order to fully reflect the original historical features of the ancient buildings in Zhenqing Cultural Square, this restoration project strictly follows the principle of "repair the old as old" of the ancient buildings restoration project, which not only makes the restored ancient buildings retain the original historical features, but also ensures that the restored ancient buildings have the necessary safety indicators, In order to ensure that the ancient buildings can be used as a place for people's culture, leisure, entertainment and tourism after restoration. After the restoration, the building area of the ancient building complex is about 4800 square meters, and the garden construction is 9000 square meters. According to the original geographical location, layout and historical and cultural connotation of the ancient building complex, it is restored to three courtyard scenic spots that can be easily managed

(1) The first courtyard of Zhenqing culture square is composed of Ziwei hall as the core and the East and West chambers of Laojun Hall (the courtyard is expected to need 10-12 couplets);

(2) The second courtyard of Zhenqing culture square is composed of the hall of thunder, the gatehouse, the pavilion of breeze, the hall of fire and the corresponding rooms;

(3) With the main hall as the core, Yanlong Temple combines the front hall, stage and North-South wing rooms to form the third courtyard of Zhenqing Cultural Square (the courtyard is expected to need 8-10 couplets).

In the new cultural square, in order to fully display the ancient buildings, in addition to the restoration of the original ancient buildings, the reconstruction of the collapsed ancient buildings and the necessary public health facilities, there is no need to add other buildings

Chinese PinYin : Zhen Qing Guan