Longhua Temple in Yao'an

Longhua Temple

synonym

Longhua Temple in Yao'an generally refers to Longhua Temple (Longhua Temple in Yao'an, Yunnan)

Longhua temple is located in the northwest corner of Bazi, Yao'an. Its original name is living Buddha Temple, and its original site is Wofo temple.

Longhua temple, built in the reign of emperor Tianyou of Tang Dynasty (904-907 A.D.), has been in the world for more than a thousand years. This ancient palace style temple is divided into four chambers and four pavilions, covering an area of 4372 square meters.

Longhua temple was announced as a key cultural relic protection unit by the people's Government of Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture in September 1981. On June 25, 2001, the Longhua Temple in Yao'an, as an ancient building of the Tang Dynasty, was approved by the State Council to be listed in the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Brief introduction to temples

Yao'an Longhua temple, commonly known as the living Buddha Temple, is located at the West foot of Guanglu Town, 12 kilometers north of Yao'an County. The west mountain is shaped like a dragon circling around, with heavy mountain ridges and abrupt mountains, which is called Longhua mountain among the people. 　

Longhua mountain, lush, chestnut trees, tea trees, bodhi trees, green pines and cypresses, stands tall and straight, Longhua temple is in the precipitous jungle.

The original site of Longhua temple is called Wofo nunnery, which was built in 907-923 A.D. (i.e. the period of Mengzhao Shilong in Tianyou period of later Tang Dynasty). According to the stele of rebuilding Longhua mountain living Buddhist temple written by Cai Longsong of Guangshan County of Henan Province, the monk of Dali built an nunnery here, practiced commandments and built a temple. Later generations called it an ancient temple

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Prosperous in ancient and modern times

In the 13th century, Mongolian soldiers destroyed Dali, and Prime Minister Gao taixiang died. His daughter, Bodhi Tong, broke up her country and her brothers separated. She became a monk in Wofo nunnery. She planted bodhi tree seeds given by Indian monks at the back of the temple. Brothers Yibu gathered and died. Nine seeds grew well. Later, the nine brothers were unharmed and finally reunited. Elder brother Gao Changshou was granted the title of the general manager of military and civilian affairs in Yao'an road. He rebuilt the Sleeping Buddha nunnery, renamed the living Buddha Temple, and made Bodhi statues for worship.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there was a Buddhist temple set up by shangya Buddhist master. More than 700 monks gathered here, including Panlong, Guting, zongfeng and Zhenxu. Later, Zhicong and Mingzhuan came here, and Longhua Temple became one of the Buddhist holy places in western Yunnan. At the end of Ming Dynasty, monk Jikong came to Yao'an from Sichuan to give lectures, specializing in commandments. With the help of monks from various temples, he gave land rent to each mu of land, donated gold and silver, and expanded the temple. In 1638, Xu Xiake, a traveller, visited here and briefly described the local geographical environment and scenery. Monk Jikong, the then abbot of Longhua temple, offered him lunch and left him to rest in houxuan.

Reconstruction period

Longhua temple was destroyed by fire in 1717. Chieftain Gao yinghou and Abbot monk Jikong rebuilt it. In 1894, it was destroyed again, and Ma siliang and the abbot, monk Jue'an, rebuilt it. At the time of reconstruction, the base site remained unchanged and was restored as it was. However, the two fires did not involve Dabei Hall (Yuantong building) and houxuan, so Yuantong building and houxuan are still Ming Dynasty buildings.

Layout adjustment

Longhua temple building is solemn and majestic, with the central axis in the middle. It is an ancient palace building with strong local color.

The mountain gate is a archway style building. On both sides of the gate, there is a couplet inscribed by Yunlong of Qing Dynasty: "Buddha lives in the blissful world, the mountain opens the year of Tang Dynasty", and the banner is "Longhua ancient temple". There are two clay sculptures of hem and ha generals in the niches on both sides. Inside is a small rectangular courtyard, and you can enter the second courtyard from both sides. In the second courtyard, there is a rectangular flower stand with a tree, called Bodhi, but actually elm.

On both sides of the courtyard are bell and drum towers, with triple eaves, facing each other from left to right. The pavilions are towering, with fine carving and eye-catching color painting. On both sides of the steps is the middle chamber, or corridor (Hall). In front of it is a fence. Next to it is a pool, which is about 10 meters long and 5 meters wide. The pool water is quiet and you can see fish swimming. There are two flower beds on both sides of the pool. In the middle of the pool is a Buddha niche, in which is a Bodhi girl, who is Gao taixiang's daughter of Dali Prime Minister of Song Dynasty. On both sides, Zhao Heqing, a native of the Qing Dynasty, wrote a couplet: "the rise and fall of the Yuanduan period, the emperor and Marquis of the Yuan Dynasty, became a bubble, became a monk, became a monk, became a Buddhist and cast a golden body.". The banner is "Guozheng Bodhi". Like a line written in Sanskrit in the back niche. Along both sides of the pool and up the stairs is the main hall courtyard. The four corners of the courtyard are four flower beds, in which cinnamon, cypress and Magnolia are planted. There is a stele Pavilion near the pool in the courtyard, which is integrated with the female Buddha niche of Bodhi. There are steles on both sides of the pavilion. One of them is written by Yunlong, the acting governor of Yunnan Salt Transportation envoy. It records the legend of Longhua ancient temple and the historical traces of its destruction and construction. From both sides of the courtyard to the main hall, the corridor outside the hall is spacious. The edge is fixed with marble screen.

The scale

The main hall is five rooms wide and four rooms deep. The pillars are majestic and spectacular. There are three Buddha sitting on the lotus terrace. On both sides are statues of Manjusri, Puxian, Dharma, jinnaro, Ananda and Kaya. They are relics of the Qing Dynasty, solemn and solemn. The niches are decorated with wood carvings, and many historical legends are vivid. Brick carvings are widely distributed in all parts of the building, which are rare in other buildings in the province. In addition to the main hall, two chambers, aisle, bell and Drum Tower, there are more than 100 large and small houses in Longhua temple, such as two ears, houxuan, Yuantong building, etc. Outside the temple, the ancient cypresses are towering and green. It is one of the best preserved ancient buildings in the county.

Every year on the eighth day of the second lunar month is the "Longhua meeting". During the three-day meeting period, people from Dayao, Yongren, mouding, Nanhua, Xiangyun, Binchuan, Panzhihua and other places come one after another, reaching tens of thousands of people a day.

Cultural value

Living Buddha Temple is a famous Buddhist temple in western Yunnan, belonging to Linji school. According to Ma siliang's "rebuilding the stele of living Buddha Temple in Longhua mountain" and "rebuilding the stele of living Buddha Temple in Longhua mountain" written by Yunlong, five days after the new year's day of Kangxi gengzi (1720 A.D.), due to the careless incense fire, all the guests in the hall were destroyed by the fire, leaving only the Yuantong first floor, a picture of great sorrow. Two years later, Gao Houde, the local official, and Ji Guang, the abbot, rebuilt the original site, which was more magnificent than before. On February 17, 1894, a fire broke out again in Guangxu. The bear fire burst into the sky. It can be seen in Yao'an city. Ma siliang and the abbot Jue'an spent money on reconstruction. It was not completed until 1921. In the meantime, Zhao Heqing's suggestion was adopted, and Gao's loyalty and filial piety were considered. On the Po Chuan pool, the female Buddha statue of Guozheng Bodhi was embedded.

Cultural relics protection

In 1981, the people's Government of Chuxiong Prefecture announced the temple as a key cultural relic protection unit. In 1993, Yunnan Provincial People's government announced it as a key cultural relics protection unit at the provincial level.

On June 25, 2001, the Longhua Temple in Yao'an, as an ancient building of the Tang Dynasty, was approved by the State Council to be listed in the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Folklore

At the beginning of the temple, there was a Luohan who, under the orders of the Buddha, disguised himself as a monk, traveled all over the world to investigate the practices of the monasteries in the Qing Dynasty. One day, he went to the living Buddha Temple to hang a bill for a temporary stay. When the abbot and other monks saw that he was sloppy, they ignored him and arranged for him at will. At the end of the new year, the toady monk said goodbye to the abbot and asked for someone to help him carry his luggage down the mountain. The abbot replied arrogantly, "at the end of the new year, all the monks are not free. Only the four-day king is free. If you can please move him, he will send you.". The toady monk said humbly, "yes, yes.".

The next morning, a statue of the king of heaven disappeared, and the leper monk disappeared. The monks awakened and were busy looking for the living Buddha. After a few days, it was found that the statue of the king of heaven was on Mount sipuguan. It turned out that he was led away by the leper monk in order to punish the living Buddha monks for their insults. When he arrived at Xipu pass, he stood here at dawn. People built a temple to worship the heavenly king. In the Ming Dynasty, master Jikong, the abbot of the living Buddha Temple, because the Tuzhu temple was mixed in the temple, which was contrary to the Buddhist law, and the incense was strong, and the temple production increased gradually, with more than 700 monks.

In order to expand the temple, he prayed to the king of Ming, who was worshipped in the temple, and asked for the Buddha to make it clear. He saw the Buddha in the air and said, "where Liang Fei is, he will move to.". Said a colorful beam, flying west. Master Jikong expanded and built a temple in Liangluo.

Address: Guanglu Town, Yao'an County, Yunnan Province, 675301

Longitude: 101.19876

Latitude: 25.593115

Chinese PinYin : Yao An Long Hua Si