WANGU Temple

WANGU Temple

Wangu temple, the eighth batch of national key cultural relics protection units

Located at the foot of Zhongtiao Mountain in the southwest of Yongji, Shanxi Province, it was built in the third year of Zhengguang in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Its original name was "Yaoya Temple". It was burned by the fire and rebuilt in the Sui Dynasty. It was renamed as Wangu temple, which means "forever solid for ten thousand years". At that time, it was called "the first Zen forest in Zhongtiao".

brief introduction

The pines and cypresses in the temple are quiet, solemn and peaceful. Tang Dynasty poet Geng taboo looked down at the river here. Suddenly, he left the famous poem "the clouds are open, the villages are quiet in the middle of the night, and the peaks are clear on the moon.". Along the stone path at the foot of the mountain, you come to the gate of Wangu temple, which is known as the first Buddhist temple in Zhongtiao. In the past, this place may be tall and majestic, but now it only leaves a shadow wall standing silently on the roadside. At this time, he turned to the left and saw the bell tower and Drum Tower standing on the cliff. In ancient times, temple bells also played a role in telling the time for the people around them. Walking up the twenty-eight steps of the bell tower (it was restored in 1999 to commemorate the millennium, so there are twenty-eight steps in total), facing the mountain wind and listening to the song of mountain birds, it seems that the pure and melodious bell rings in my ears. Behind the bell and Drum Tower is the Grand Hall of wei'e. According to the inscriptions of the past dynasties outside the hall, the Buddha, which was built in the middle of the hall by the cliff, is about five feet high and covered with gold powder. People can't see the head of the Buddha standing in the hall. Four people can play cards on the feet of the Buddha, and there are statues of Ten Thousand Buddhas on the wall. Only a big fire during the reign of Tongzhi left only the walls and niches around the main hall. The newly renovated Guanyin hall is of extraordinary momentum, comparable to the Mahatma hall, but it's really a pity that it's not able to see the style of the Mahatma hall. On the south side of Daxiong hall is a stone step, which stands for 64 hexagrams. It has green cypresses on the left and bamboo shadows on the right. Visitors first, not only can stay away from the noise of the city and miscellaneous, intoxicated, but also can let the thinking horse gallop in the tunnel of time and space. At the foot of the mountain is the heat wave, but inside the temple is the cool wind, refreshing. No wonder the Wangu temple in shengxia is still full of visitors. "The water flows out from the stone roots, and the wind comes from the top of the mountain" is Su Dongpo's real description of this place.

At the end of the ladder, you can see the Duobao pagoda, which is called sister Pagoda with Yingying pagoda of Pujiu temple. It is said that the original four treasures of "Jade Buddha, vase, relic and golden Sutra" were used as pagodas, so it is called "Duobao pagoda". It has long been lost due to historical changes. The railings around the base of the pagoda are carved with dragon patterns and lotus patterns, which reflect the delicacy in the simplicity of the pagoda. The tower is octagonal circular saw shaped, with 13 stories high, and each layer decreases regularly from bottom to top. The tower is decorated with exquisite brick arches and dense eaves. Wind chimes are hung in the eaves. The wind chimes sound like fairy music in the clouds. Liu Shiqi, a poet, once wrote a good sentence: "the bamboo and bamboo trees are green and shady, and the wind chimes on the tower are beyond the sky.". At this time, if you climb the eighth floor, stand on the outer eaves of Wangu temple, and look at the mountain full of Qingcui, you can't help but have the impulse to embrace. Listening to the voice that seems to be hidden and visible under the tower makes people "suddenly feel that the six roots are quiet and floating, if they are outside the Six Harmonies".

On the east side of the ancient pagoda, the two-story three Buddha cave, which is built along the cliff from east to west, is the famous "Wuliang hall" all over the country. The "paradise" in the lower three caves is interlinked, spacious and bright, with three Buddha statues inside. The upper three caves are even more unique and novel. Although they are all built with bricks, the top shape is dome caisson type. The brick carvings on both sides of the cave are "double dragons playing with pearls" in the middle. The dragon is entangled with clouds and is lifelike. It is decorated with colorful auspicious clouds and is ready to move. The wisdom and unique skills of the working people in ancient China are displayed incisively and vividly.

Scenic spots

Shanmen Wangu temple is at the foot of Zhongtiao Mountain, six or seven kilometers southeast of Yongji County. As soon as you get out of the county and cross the railway, you can see a brick tower standing at the foot of the mountain opposite. When you come near, there is a beautiful stream at the foot of the mountain. You can hear the sound of gurgling water from a distance. Walking up the valley, it's not far to the gate. The bamboo grove near the mountain gate is luxuriant and the persimmon forest is continuous. This is a famous spring stone scenic spot since ancient times. The mountain gate faces south. After entering the gate, there is a west facing front hall. Taking this as the first floor, five Buddha halls are built successively on the hillside. All the buildings are made of brick.

There is no population on the west side of the front hall, only the east gate is open. There is an altar in the center of the hall, on which there are four Buddhas. However, all of them have been damaged. It is not clear what they are. The second floor is the main hall, which is a magnificent building. On the left side of the stone steps in front of the hall, there is a stele (written by Wang Qian) in February of the 28th year of Wanli (1600). There are also two Scripture buildings on the left and right sides of the hall, which seem to be relics of the Ming Dynasty. On the right side of the hall, there are also two broken stones of the Sutra building, and a lotus seat under the Sutra building, which looks like something from the Song Dynasty.

On the north side of the middle of the two halls, there are three halls of great scholars, which stand on the north side and face the south side. The hall has completely collapsed, even the roof is gone, the Lord is exposed in the wind and rain. In front of the hall, there are three stone inscriptions in August of the sixth year of Wanli (1578), "records of rebuilding WANGU Temple" (written by biqiu, the teacher of the western regions who built dacien Temple), and "the combined preface of the inscriptions on rebuilding Wangu temple in Zhongtiaoshan of dazonghe Zhongfu" (written by Liu Qi)

Zhu Gongshi, the governor of Hezhong Prefecture, the Minister of Gongde, and Zhu Gong, the governor of Hezhong Prefecture. Zhu Gong is Zhu Youqian. In March of the sixth year of Kaibao (973) and before that, the envoys attached to the pagoda of Wangu temple in the great Song Dynasty paid special attention to Yawei. The new Jili tower in Wangu temple, Zhongtiaoshan, Zhongfu, dazonghe, was written in April of the third year of Tiansheng (1025). Master Fuyan's TA Ming has been in full swing, and Xin Ji (1341) feels auspicious.

The third floor is the water and land hall. The entrance is on the east side. There are bell towers and drum towers on the left and right. On the walls of the hall, one statue of heaven is carved in each area, and a total of 42 statues of heaven are carved. Guangxu county annals volume one or two says: "there are thirty-six stone sculptures of the heavens, which are buried in the wall, like the name of Tanshi but not the painter. Therefore, it is said that it is the trace of Wu Zhou and Cao daoxuan, but it is not true, only the painting is exquisite and impressive."

The fourth floor is octagonal pagoda. The south side of the pagoda is inlaid with a stone forehead, on which the four characters "Duobao pagoda" are engraved in the 14th year of Wanli (] 586). The tower is built on an octagonal platform with entrances on all sides. The body of the tower is long and thin, and there are no false doors and windows on each floor. The eaves of the towers on each floor are made up of bricks and tiles on them. Only the first floor has brick arches. Its architectural form is completely the latest style, which fully reflects the architectural style of Wanli period in the late Ming Dynasty. In addition, there is the record of the restoration of the pagoda in Wangu (written by Wang Chongwen) in April of the 14th year of Wanli. We can know that the existing shape of the pagoda was completely built in this period. The above-mentioned song Tiansheng three years of the "new building relic tower", should be about the predecessor of this tower, the original is the nine storey brick tower built by Daozhen.

The fifth floor is the Tathagata hall, which is also made of brick, with three front rooms and two floors. There is a stone inlaid in the middle of it, which is inscribed with "paradise" Siyu, written by Wang Qian in the 19th year of Wanli (1591). Although the damage of this hall is relatively light, there is almost nothing in it. The only thing worth looking at is the round patio built by every uphill bucket arch. This architectural form is the so-called no beam hall. The construction form of the Dou Gong is the same as that of the eaves of the pagoda, which shows that the Tathagata hall and the pagoda were built at the same time. The upper floor is called the bhikkhu hall. On the left and right four stones are engraved with the story of Wang Bo's Sakya becoming a Taoist, which was created by fudeng in the 24th year of Wanli (1596). On the west side, you can see the sparkling Yellow River in the distance. On the other side, you can see Huashan in the light cloud and mist. Volume 101 of the unified annals of the Qing Dynasty records the evolution of the temple as follows. During the reign of emperor Dazhong of Tang Dynasty (847-859), the temple was first named Jianyuan, and then changed to its present name. In the Hongwu Period of Ming Dynasty (1368-1398), the five temples of Baishi, zanzan, Zhuxi, yungai and pure land were merged. Although the theory of Dazhong temple construction can not be confirmed, it is basically certain that the temple was built in the late Tang Dynasty from the perspective of the residual stone of Jingchuang and the stone carvings of Song Dynasty. Most of the existing buildings were built in the late Ming Dynasty, but few were rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty. Outside the gate stands the stele of rebuilding the water and land hall of Wangu temple in 1711, which indicates that the water and land hall was greatly renovated in the Qing Dynasty.

The scale of Wangu temple is the result of the reconstruction of fudeng Miaofeng in Wanli period. Miaofeng is a native of Puzhou. His biography is in Volume 15 of Yongji County annals by Guangxu. It is said that when he was young, he practiced in zantan temple in Zhongtiao Mountain. After three years of study, he was proficient. In addition to building Wangu temple in muyuan, he also built a copper hall in Emei Mountain and Wutai Mountain, and built Xiantong, Longquan and Yinchao temples in Wutai. Finally, he died in Xiantong temple and was granted the title of "real Buddhist monk protecting the country". On Mount Wutai, you can see the tomb tower of Miaofeng on the west mountain of Taihuai town. It's an octagonal five story brick tower. It looks magnificent. There is a stone tablet in front of the tower, on which is engraved his legend, entitled "the real record of master Miaofeng, the real Buddha granted by the emperor" (written by Su Weilin). According to this, we can know more about him. He was trusted by Empress Dowager Cisheng, the birth mother of Emperor Wanli of Ming Dynasty. He died in 1612 at the age of 73. Therefore, the period of his activities is basically the Wanli period. The so-called copper hall is still in the Xiantong Temple of Wutai Mountain. According to cloud, the Wuliang Hall of the temple is also from Miaofeng

Chinese PinYin : Wan Gu Si