Mani Hall

Mani Hall

Mani hall is located in Longxing Temple, Zhengding County, Hebei Province. The temple was built in the Sui Dynasty, and its current name was used only in the early Song Dynasty (1052). Although it was repaired in Ming and Qing Dynasties, its main structure is still similar to that of the Song Dynasty, and its general layout still retains the style of the Song Dynasty. The unique architecture of Mani hall is an isolated example in the sea.

Architectural features

Plane and elevation

The main hall is 7 rooms wide (about 35 meters) and 7 rooms deep (about 28 meters). The cross shaped plane is a narrow rectangle with a north-south central axis. The secondary spaces in the two directions of surface width and depth are narrower than those between shoots, and the layout is peculiar.

The roof of the main hall is the top of Xieshan (rebuilt by later generations) with double eaves. In the center of all sides, there are Xieshan style buildings (balatou house) with mountain flowers in front. The outer eaves and columns are built with closed brick walls, and the inner column network is composed of two circles of inner columns.

component

The timber of eaves column is thick, with side foot and rising. There is a PU Paifang on the forehead of the appendix, and the end of the forehead of the appendix is made in the style of cloud head. In addition, it is paved with 45 ° oblique arches.

Space features

There are doors and windows on all sides of the building, and only the walls of the Gongyan are slightly lit, so the lighting and ventilation in the hall are poor. Under the eaves, the bucket arches are grand, sparsely distributed and complex. The three-dimensional structure is magnificent and varied, which is rare in the early architecture of ancient China. Taking advantage of the changes of building volume and courtyard space, the axis is long but inflexible.

Artistic achievements

Mani temple is a collection of various arts. The exquisite statues can be called sculpture treasures. On the Buddha altar in the hall, five gold colored Buddha statues are worshipped. In the middle is the sitting statue of Sakyamuni Buddha, solemn and dignified, wise and refined. On the left side, disciple JIAYE stands with his hands clasping, sincere and serious. Anan, a disciple standing on the right, with his hands folded, is intelligent and devout, which shows the superb skills of craftsmen in Song Dynasty. The walls of the hall are also covered with murals with Buddhist stories as the theme. They are gorgeous in color, rigorous in structure and smooth in lines. However, the most eye-catching is the colorful sculpture behind the back wall of the inner groove of Mani hall, also known as the back sitting Guanyin. According to the inscription, the statue was remodeled in 1563 (the 42nd year of Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty), with a history of more than 400 years.

Instead of sitting on a lotus stand and holding a bottle in her hand, she sits in the middle of the mountain. The mountains are full of mountains, and the clouds are lingering in the mountains. Wearing a crown, the scarf droops from the front of the shoulder and floats outward around the arms. The head is slightly on the right side, the body is slightly forward, the left foot is stepping on the colorful lotus, and the right foot is bent on the left leg. Put your right hand around your knee and touch your left wrist. Her face was beautiful and calm. Under her long curved eyebrows, her eyes were slightly open and looked down. The statue is 3.4 meters high, well proportioned, elegant and dignified, with gentle female style. Integrating religious concepts with typical images in secular life, it is known as the most beautiful Avalokitesvara in the world. Through the whole picture, the quiet Guanyin and the magnificent and warm background form a unified and harmonious artistic whole, which fully shows the superb sculpture skills of ancient craftsmen.

Mani temple and Liang Sicheng

A world-class architect can visit a palace four times in different times. The value of that building can be imagined. In Zhengding, a famous national historical and cultural city, there is a national key cultural relic protection unit, Longxing Temple. The mani hall in the temple has such an extraordinary relationship with Liang Sicheng, the great master of Chinese ancient architecture.

In April 1933, Liang Sicheng, who was then the director of the French Department of the China construction society, came to Zhengding with admiration. "Although he was in the midst of war and chaos and time was in a hurry, his harvest was unexpectedly complete.". He marveled at the cross shaped plane architectural pattern of Mani hall in Longxing Temple and the mountain style buildings on each side, saying that he had only seen them in Song paintings. "The Dougong, which is exactly the same as the French style, and many beautiful structures, make us crazy."

The second time Mr. Liang inspected the mani hall was in November of that year. Together with his wife, Ms. Lin Huiyin, he corrected the old drawings in detail and made a detailed survey. He said that the mani hall "overlaps magnificently, which can be regarded as the best art, and it is also a new aspect in Chinese architecture." In his later writings and teaching, Mr. Liang listed the mani hall as a rare example in the real object in the "evolution of the appearance of wooden halls in the past dynasties", which made this life moving model forever in the architectural history.

In 1952, Professor Liang Sicheng, who was the director of the Department of civil engineering and architecture at Tsinghua University, came to Zhengding during his summer vacation and spent more than a month drawing the whole structure of Mani hall. Regardless of the heat, he went out early and came back late, drawing several large books. People say, Professor Liang, you really have to work hard! However, Mr. Liang pointed to the Dougong in the main hall and said, "what's my hard work? It's a kind of happiness to draw the magical structure of my ancestors. It's also an honor for modern Chinese to draw and preserve the national treasure for future generations. "

Mr. Liang visited mani hall for the fourth time in 1963. At this time, as one of the top ten chief architects in Beijing on the 10th anniversary of the founding of the people's Republic of China, he was full of talents. As for the building age of Mani hall, there is no record in historical literature. After thinking about the building form, Mr. Liang proposed that mani hall might have been built around 1050 in the reign of emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty. After all, the master is a master, and Mr. Liang's judgment at that time coincides with many ink inscriptions found during the later overhaul. The mani hall was built in 1052 ad, the fourth year of emperor Renzong's reign in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Address: Longxing Temple, Zhengding County, Hebei Province

Longitude: 114.58277144885

Latitude: 38.142618058127

Chinese PinYin : Mo Ni Dian