Kaihua Temple

Kaihua Temple

Kaihua temple is located 17 kilometers northeast of Gaoping City in Jincheng, Shanxi Province. Founded in the five dynasties after the Tang Dynasty Tongguang years (AD 923-926), initially known as Qingliang temple. In the sixth year of Xining in the Northern Song Dynasty (1073 A.D.), after the construction of the main hall, it was renamed "Kaihua Temple".

Kaihua temple is the most valuable building, and Daxiong hall is the main building in the temple.

On January 6, 2017, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences announced the latest archaeological findings of the Buddha Pavilion site of Kaihua temple in Mengshan, Taiyuan. It is said that the Giant Buddha and Buddha Pavilion in Mengshan is the largest cliff Buddha and Buddha Pavilion in China during the Northern Dynasties. The height of the Giant Buddha is the second largest Buddha in the world, and the carving age is the earliest large stone Buddha statue in the world.

geographical position

Mengshan Kaihua temple is located in Mengshan, 20 kilometers southwest of Taiyuan. It was founded in 551 (the second year of Tianbao in the Northern Qi Dynasty). Together with Longshan Tongzi temple, it was founded by Emperor Wenxuan of the Northern Qi Dynasty. Kaihua temple is divided into two courtyards, the front (lower Temple) and the back (upper Temple). The back yard is beside the cliff of the Inner Mongolia mountain in Kaihua valley. The building is tall and magnificent. According to the mountain situation, there is a 63 meter high giant Buddha statue carved on the cliff of the Inner Mongolia mountain. The front yard is built for the distant view of the Giant Buddha. One kilometer southeast of the back yard, the two courtyards are facing each other across the mountain stream. Due to the destruction of Kaihua temple, only Mengshan cliff Buddha in the backyard and LIANLI twin towers in the front yard are left.

Reconstruction years

Kaihua temple was built in the period of Zhuangzong in the late Tang Dynasty and rebuilt in the Northern Song Dynasty. Originally named qingliangruo ("Ruo" is a Buddhist term), it was renamed Kaihua temple in the Song Dynasty. In 1073, a Daxiong hall was built in the sixth year of Xining in the Northern Song Dynasty. It was repaired repeatedly in yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Daxiong hall is the main building in the temple, and Kaihua temple is also the most valuable building. It is a famous ancient temple in Shanxi Province.

Well preserved

Kaihua temple, once in the second courtyard, has a rigorous and appropriate layout. In front of the temple stands a two-story pavilion type gate. The main hall is located in the center of the courtyard. The East and the west side halls face each other, and the later is Yanfa hall. The left and right wings cross each other, and the spring water trickles down the east wing, which is fresh and pleasant. The existing Daxiong hall is a legacy of the Song Dynasty. The hall is magnificent, simple and thick, showing the architectural style of the Song Dynasty.

The painted patterns of the Song Dynasty are still preserved on the beams. The four walls of the hall are full of murals, which were completed in the third year of Shaosheng (1096) of the Northern Song Dynasty. The content of the murals is the story of Buddhism. The buildings are magnificent, the characters are vivid, the costumes are colorful, the lines are smooth, and full of artistic beauty. It has extremely important research value and high artistic value. The steles inside the temple and the three stone tombs outside the temple are well preserved. 　

Layout structure

The main hall of Kaihua temple is three rooms deep and three rooms wide. It has a Xieshan style roof with "green mixed tiles". The front and back eaves open to the public. The front eaves have broken lattice windows, and the second eaves have five pavilions of eaves and bucket arches. The eaves and bucket arches are single copied and single raised. The back end of the bucket arch is filled. The big head is placed on the top of the Chinese arch and pressed under the raised end. This practice sets a precedent for later generations of Chinese wedges. The four eaves have three columns, and the beam structure is made in Song Dynasty. The painted patterns of ancient coins, pomegranates and Longya huicao on the beams and brackets in the hall are very consistent with those in the Song Dynasty's "Jianzao fashi". They are the most complete Song Dynasty painted patterns preserved in ancient Chinese architecture.

Murals in the hall

The Song Dynasty Murals in the main hall of the temple are the most precious, covering an area of 88.2 square meters. They were completed in the third year of Shaosheng (1096) of the Northern Song Dynasty and contain Buddhist statues and sutras. With strict composition, magnificent architecture, vivid characters, bright colors and smooth lines, it is the largest and best preserved mural of Song Dynasty in China. It is a rare cultural relic in China. The mural has been compiled by Shanxi Institute of ancient architecture protection and published as "Kaihua temple mural of Song Dynasty", which has been released at home and abroad. Kaihua temple has a stone tablet of merit and virtue of Kaihua temple in shelishan of Zezhou Prefecture, which was made in 1110 of Song Dynasty.

Main buildings

Main hall of Kaihua Temple

The most valuable building in Kaihua temple is the main hall built in Song Dynasty. The hall is three rooms wide and three rooms deep, with a single eaves and a mountain like roof. The whole hall is square, with a stable structure and a tall top, showing a powerful momentum.

The front and back eaves open in the open, and the second one is a large broken lattice window. The name and date of the benefactor are engraved on the eaves column, which provides the exact date of the building and clearly proves the cultural value of the building. The beam frame structure and fighting chess of the palace were all regulated by the Song Dynasty.

The painted patterns on the beams and chess in the hall are very exquisite, which are completely consistent with those in the Song Dynasty's "Jianzao fashi". It can be said that it is the best example of architectural painting in the Song Dynasty, and it is also the most complete Song Dynasty painted pattern preserved in ancient architecture in China.

Kaihua temple murals the walls of the main hall of Kaihua temple are full of murals, with a total area of 88.2 square meters. It is the largest and unique treasure of the existing murals in Song Dynasty in China. There are murals on the East, West and North walls of the hall. There are also inscriptions written by Guo Fa, the painter. He not only recorded his own name, but also recorded the creation time of the murals. It was painted in June of the third year of Shaosheng (1096 A.D.) in the Song Dynasty. Unfortunately, he did not record the completion time. We can see from this huge art crystal 900 years ago that the painter Guo Fa is very proficient in figure, landscape and world painting. Boundary painting is a kind of painting with palace, terrace, house and other buildings as the subject matter, which uses boundary pen ruler to draw lines.

The preservation of murals varies from part to part. The east wall is seriously damaged. Some of the pictures have been blurred. Some of them have been painted by later generations. They are Buddhist stories in the form of comic strips. The other two murals are well preserved. Xibi is generally divided into three groups, and the composition is also in the form of comic strips.

Related allusions

In the middle group, there are pictures of narratives, such as the story of Buddha, the story of Huase bhiksuni, the story of humiliating Prince and the story of the Runner King sacrificing his life to Buddha. The story of Huase bhiksuni is the most wonderful. The story told in the Buddhist Scripture is that Huase bhiksuni suffered misfortune. Her husband was bitten to death by a poisonous snake, one child was drowned by a flood, the other was eaten by a tiger, and she was also taken away by robbers to become her wife. The robber was soon captured and executed by the government, and she was buried alive as the robber's wife.

Fortunately, she did not die. Later, she was enlightened by Sakyamuni, converted to Buddhism, and finally freed from suffering. The scene of execution ground in the mural shows the execution of Huase bhiksuni and her robber husband, but it gives Chinese local customs and content. In the painting, a white horse riding red robe and a green robe official were surrounded by a group of followers. The Chinese and the robbers were shackled, and the executioner pushed them to the pit. Two other executioners with shovel hands were preparing for execution. This section of the picture is only 20-30 cm square, but many characters in the picture have different expressions. The complex plot is vividly depicted, which can be compared with the exquisite scroll character sketches at that time. On the south side of Xibi is the story of Sutra "the prince Bensheng is mentioned by Xuge". The northern group is also the story of Buddhist scriptures, which depicts the stories of "good friend Prince Bensheng" and "bright King Shetou Bensheng". In the northern mural, there are stories such as "Mrs. Lu's skill", "all mention of becoming a monk" and "the change of the pure land in the west". In the lower part of the mural, there are portraits of men and women supporting each other. The inscription written by Guo Fa is also here. The scenes of giving birth to children, begging for fire, cutting flesh to save mother, blinding eyes, exile in a foreign country, reunion at home and so on are all so vivid. In the painting, the palace nobles, officials and scholars, monks and Taoists, farming, weaving, fishing and herding, merchants and peddlers, and even thieves and villains are all the features of social life in Song Dynasty. The figures are vivid, the paintings are neat, resplendent, and the artistic appeal is very strong.

Kaihua Temple relic tower

On the south slope of Kaihua temple, there is a stone relic pagoda, which is a Buddhist pagoda of Dayu. This tower was built in the third year of Tongguang (925 AD) of the late Tang Dynasty in the Five Dynasties. The wall behind the tower has inscriptions to prove it. All the towers are made of stone, with a square plane. A base is placed on the flat Xumi base. The upper and lower layers of the base are the inverted lotus petals. Lions and lion trainers are carved on the middle stone surface. On the south side of the tower is a square gate. On both sides of the gate are carved a gatekeeper, one holding a sword and the other holding a halberd. The upper part of the gate is carved with feitiankou. On the top of the tower is a four side slope type tower top, which is carved with a cornice, as well as tile ridges, hanging ridges, hanging beasts and so on. Its shape is simple and elegant, solemn and dignified.

Traffic routes

There are tourist buses in Gaoping, Jincheng, Shanxi. The price of tricycle is about 2 yuan. There are tourist buses to Kaihua temple in Fenghuang bridge, Gaoping.

Surrounding scenic spots

Nanjixiang temple, Qizi mountain, Changping battle site, Tiefo temple, Baiyun cave, beijixiang temple, Chongshou temple, Dongxia scenic spot, cuifujun temple, Dai Temple, Dinglin temple, Dongyue Temple, Fozi mountain, guqinglian temple, Gubao Xiangyu village, Haihui temple, huangweilingqiu, Jinfeng temple, jingdeqiao, Kaihua temple, Lishan, Lingchuan Hongye, Manghe, Xianweng temple, Xixia scenic spot, Yandi mausoleum, Yangtou Shanshiku, Yuhuang temple, Zisheng temple, Huangcheng Xiangfu, Longyan temple, Lishan National Nature Reserve, Manghe Macaque Nature Reserve, Qinglian temple, xiyagou.

Address: Shili mountainside, Gaoping City, Shanxi Province

Longitude: 113.04164781076

Chinese PinYin : Kai Hua Si