The Nanyue Temple

The Nanyue Temple

The Nanyue Temple

It is the largest ancient architectural complex in the south of the Yangtze River in China. It is known as "the first temple in the south of the Yangtze River" and "the Forbidden City of the South". According to the existing records, it was built in the Tang Dynasty. After six fires and 16 renovations and extensions in the Tang, song, yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, it formed a scale of 98500 square meters in 1882. Nanyue temple is divided into nine into four courtyard, surrounded by red walls, high turrets, Shoujian mountain spring, flowing around the wall, quite like the style of the Forbidden City in Beijing. There are eight Taoist temples in the East and Eight Buddhist temples in the West. It is a unique temple in China. On August 15 every year, a grand temple fair is held here. Many overseas Chinese from Southeast Asia, Japanese Buddhists, and good men and women who return to their hometown do not hesitate to travel long distances to worship here. Therefore, incense is always burning here all the year round.

General situation

This palace style ancient building complex is the famous Nanyue temple. It is located at the north end of Nanyue ancient town, under CHIDI peak. It is the largest temple in South China and among the five mountains, covering an area of 98500 square meters. The temple, which was first built in 725 A.D. in the 13th year of Kaiyuan in Tang Dynasty, has been rebuilt and expanded for six times in song, yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Historical heritage

The temple is the carrier of ancient sacrifice, which must attract the attention of the emperor. In addition to the regular sacrifice, the royal family's accession to the throne, birthdays, disasters, or national prosperity, war victory, floods, droughts and insect disasters, etc. have always held sacrificial activities. This kind of sacrifice, the emperor should personally participate in, written by the Han Lin Yuan Zhu Wen, sent the court officials to Nanyue special trip to sacrifice. The God that Nanyue worships is "Nanyue holy emperor", whose name is Zhu Rong, whose name is Ze Guang, and so on. In a word, "Nanyue holy emperor" is the largest Bodhisattva in Nanyue, tall, powerful, sacred and solemn, which means that God is observing, thinking and hinting. He has great wisdom, broad mind and vision that can not be achieved by ordinary people. He knows everything in the world clearly, thinks through the ages and predicts the future. Therefore, no matter the officials, the common people or even the emperor, they all revered him a little. This specific "need background" determines the future of Nanyue temple, which must maintain relative stability and sustainable development.

In history, Nanyue temple was destroyed by fire for many times, and it was rebuilt, repaired and expanded for many times. It can be said that the history of Nanyue temple is not only a history of sacrifice, but also a history of fighting against natural and man-made disasters. It is a link between the past and the future, carrying on the past and opening up the future. In addition to those skilled folk craftsmen, there are officials, squires, merchants, soldiers and even men and women who have contributed to the construction, restoration and management of Nanyue temple in history. There are not only ordinary people, but also great figures like Li Hongzhang, Zeng Guofan, Xue Yue, Tao Zhu and Chen Yi. They maintain the magnificence of this ancient temple with their faith and wisdom, financial and material resources The momentum and curl of incense. Among all the pious defenders, one is worth mentioning. He is Li Yuandu from Pingjiang County, Hunan Province. Li Yuandu, named ciqing, was named huting. In his later years, he was even called the detached old man, and became an official in Yunnan. In 1879, Wang Wenyun, governor of Hunan Province, invited Li Yuandu to Nanyue to preside over the renovation of Nanyue temple. It took three years to renovate the main hall of the temple which was burned down by the fire. In addition, the Xing temple, Yu Bei Pavilion, Yu Shu Lou, Zhu Sheng hall, and Zhi Shen temple were added and rebuilt, which made Nanyue temple have a large scale and continue to this day. Li Yuandu took the opportunity to build the temple and traveled all over the mountains and waters of Nanyue. He compiled 26 volumes of Nanyue annals with more than 400000 words, in which there is a record of "building the temple of Jianyue", which provides a "cultural key" for people to have a complete understanding of Nanyue temple.

Although Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism have different beliefs and pursuits, they have long lived in friendship, common development and common prosperity. Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism coexist in one temple, which is unique in China and even in the world.

Scenic spot description

Nanyue temple is divided into nine into four courtyard, including the main hall, bedroom, imperial library, Panlong Pavilion and other buildings. Surrounded by red walls, tall turrets, Shoujian mountain spring, flowing around the wall, quite like the style of the Forbidden City in Beijing. There are eight Taoist temples in the East and Eight Buddhist temples in the west, which can be called a unique temple in China. The four courtyards and nine buildings of Nanyue Temple maintain the essence of art since the Tang and Song dynasties.

The first entrance is the main gate, also known as the Lingxing gate, which is made of granite. In front of the gate, there are a pair of stone lions with majestic posture. Inside the gate, the emerald cypresses stand upright and the grass is green;

The second entrance is Panlong Pavilion, also known as Kuixing Pavilion. It was used to perform here. The pavilion is square, the platform foundation is about 2 meters high, and it is made of granite with cross passage in it. The attic is of wood and stone structure, with double eaves on the top of the mountain, covered with yellow glass, and decorated with brackets and painted carvings under the eaves. There is a huge gold-plated Panlong carved in the bucket shaped algal well, so it is also called Panlong Pavilion. To the North hung a banner: "from ancient times to the present." The column couplet reads: "climb to the top of the mountain, look down at the Dongting, sing the song that the river goes from the East; ask who is called a blessed land in the world, and the wind of long song comes from the south." Under the South eaves, there is a "Kuixing Pavilion" with a vertical forehead, and the column couplet reads: "there is a dragon in the pavilion, so why not fly lightning in the sky; Yue Chang gathers Phoenix, and they all come here to listen to Xiao Shao." There is a Bell Pavilion on the left side of the pavilion. There used to be a nine kilo iron bell cast in the first year of yuantaiding (1324 AD). There is a drum Pavilion on the right side. In the past, there was a big drum with a diameter of 2 meters. The two pavilions are of Xieshan style with double eaves. They are now renovated with bells and drums. In the south of the longitudinal line of the two pavilions, there are two hexagonal pavilions. In the East Pavilion is the stele of rebuilding Nanyue temple, which was written by Shang Fu during the Chenghua period of Ming Dynasty (1460-1487 A.D.), while in the West Pavilion is the stele of sacrificing Hengyue, which was written by fan Chunren of Song Dynasty. The East Pavilion was bombed by Japanese aircraft in 1944 and has been restored. The two steles in the pavilion are copies of the 1980s.

The third entrance is the three gates of Chengmen style. The middle of the gate is Zhengchuan gate. Inside the gate is the exquisite and unique imperial stele Pavilion. Inside the pavilion is a huge guituo stele erected in 1708 to rebuild Nanyue temple. The inscription is written by Kangxi himself;

The fourth entrance is the imperial stele Pavilion. Octagonal double eaves save spire, red column green tiles, cornice angle. The brackets under the eaves are exquisitely carved. The pavilion is surrounded by red walls, with an arch on each side and a huge tablet built in. It looks like a tortoise. It was said that it was a turtle in ancient times. The stele is 3.2 meters high and 2 meters wide. It is carved from a whole piece of blue stone. On the stele is a record of rebuilding Nanyue Temple written by Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. The full text of the stele is 297 characters in regular script. The stele was reset in 1985. There are two hundred ancient seal characters "Shou" written on the forehead, implying that Nanyue is "Shou Yue".

The fifth entrance is jiayingmen, which is now rebuilt, with Nanyue cultural relics storage center, Nanyue painting and Calligraphy Academy, and grand temple guest house;

The sixth entrance is the imperial library. Brick and wood structure, double eaves Xie hilltop, around the corridor, in front of the Dan long, embedded in the dragon. There are hollowed out panes on the four sides of the building. Its bucket arch is unique, with seven steps and three warps, which is rare in ancient times. Under the South eaves is the banner of "imperial library". The original five steles downstairs have disappeared.

The seventh entrance is the main hall. In front of the hall is a large terrace. The main hall stands on the stone steps of grade 17. The stone steps in the middle are inlaid with Han white jade dragon relief. The main hall is 7.2 Zhang high. It is a double eaves building on the top of Xieshan mountain. There are 72 stone pillars inside and outside, symbolizing the 72 peaks of Nanyue Mountain. The top of the hall is covered with orange glazed tiles. They are decorated with swords, big and small dragons, and figures among the eight immortals. There are four corners of the cornice with copper bells hanging down. Under the cornice, the window lattice and wallboard are all carved with various characters' stories or flowers, trees, birds and beasts. On the back wall are painted with large-scale Yunlong and Danfeng. Around the steps of the main hall, there are stone railings. On the capitals are carved lions, unicorns, elephants and horses. In the railings, 144 pieces of white marble are inlaid. There used to be a seat for the God of the mountains in the hall, and the rulers of all dynasties gave him a title. For example, in the early Tang Dynasty, he was granted the title of "King sitianhuo", in Kaiyuan, he was granted the title of "true king Nanyue", and in Song Dynasty, he was granted the title of "emperor sitianzhao". Today's "Nanyue emperor" was copied in 1983;

The eighth entrance is the bedroom official. Also known as Jin Shen Dian, Hou Dian. Brick and wood structure, double eaves Xie peak. It is connected with the main hall Danlong. In the hall, there are statues of the emperor and his wife after Jingming, and the emperor's parents, so it is also called the hall of the Virgin Mary. Under the eaves, there are rough brackets, and the ceiling is exquisitely painted.

The ninth entrance is houshanmen. Also known as the north gate, is the end of the central axis of Yuemiao. Brick and wood structure, single eaves hard peak, red walls and yellow tiles, roof decorated with a crown and animals. In the east of the gate is Zhusheng hall, which is dedicated to Zhusheng Zhenjun, also known as Zhusheng Niangniang. The gatepost couplet is: "note the quality of nature, only the good man knows the good place; life and death are created by oneself, not by heaven." The west is the temple. One door and two halls are connected and arranged in a row, with elegant decoration. Out the back door, you can climb the mountain. It is a group of folk temples, Buddhist temples, Taoist temples and palaces in one building complex.

Existing buildings

Rebuilt in 1882, it is an ancient palace like complex modeled after the Imperial Palace in Beijing. Therefore, it has the reputation of "Jiangnan Imperial Palace". The main building on the central axis is composed of Lingxing gate, Kuixing Pavilion, Zhengchuan gate (Zhengnan gate), yubeiting, Jiaying gate, yushulou, main hall, bedroom, North back door, nine entrances and four courtyards. There are eight Taoist temples in the East, Eight Buddhist temples in the west, and the architectural style of Confucianism on the central axis.

The temple is known as the "three wonders of Jiangnan" for its excellent wood carving, stone carving and clay sculpture. At the same time, 800 Jiaolong is the most distinctive feature, no matter the beams and columns, eaves of the temple, or the column base, God seat, or even the temple

Chinese PinYin : Nan Yue Da Miao