Jianzhen Memorial Hall

Jianzhen Memorial Hall

Jianzhen memorial hall is located in the ancient Daming Temple in Yangzhou city. It was built in 1973 to commemorate monk Jianzhen who made great contributions to the cultural exchanges between China and Japan. Referring to Jianzhen's main relic in Japan, the Golden Hall of Tang zhaoti temple is designed by Liang Sicheng, a famous architect in China. It is elegant and simple, preserving the architectural art style of Tang Dynasty.

In the front is the hall with a plaque; in the middle is the stele hall with a horizontal monument; in the back is the hall, which is built in the style of Tang Dynasty temples. In the middle of the hall is the statue of Jianzhen nanmu, which is made by imitating the dry lacquer Jiafu statue created before Jianzhen's death, with a calm and resolute look. On the East and west walls are decorative cloth paintings of Jianzhen's journey to the East. They are Dayan Pagoda in Xi'an, Qixingyan in Zhaoqing, akiwaku in Jiuzhou, Japan, and golden hall of tangzhaoti temple in Nara, showing people Jianzhen's life and experience.

In September 2016, Jianzhen memorial hall was selected into the list of "the first batch of Chinese 20th century architectural heritage".

Construction history

Jianzhen Memorial Hall in Yangzhou was built in memory of Jianzhen, a famous monk of legal science in Tang Dynasty.

Jianzhen was a very famous Buddhist leader in Huainan area at that time. He worshipped Daoan, the founder of the Tang Dynasty, as his teacher. He was invited to travel to Japan to preach Buddhism. He set up an altar at Dongda temple in Nara to preach precepts. He also founded Tang zhaoti temple and became the first ancestor of the Tang Dynasty.

Jianzhen was a friendly envoy. He had traveled to Japan six times for ten years. Although he was blind, he was determined. He not only preached Buddhism diligently, but also brought the culture of painting, calligraphy, sculpture, medicine, craft, printing and architecture to Japan. In fact, he was a cultural delegation in the form of a monk group. He made the long cherished wish of friendship between the Chinese and Japanese people since the Wei and Jin Dynasties come true.

In 1963, on the 1200th anniversary of Jianzhen's death, China and Japan agreed to hold a grand memorial ceremony. Zhao Puchu, chairman of our Buddhist Association, and Yingrun otaku, leader of Japanese Buddhism, on behalf of the Jianzhen Memorial committees of the two countries, agreed to build a memorial hall here, which was started in 1973 and completed in 1974.

Design ideas

The memorial hall was designed by Liang Sicheng, a famous architectural expert in China. After accepting the task, he went to Japan to visit Nara tangzhaoti temple and some other ancient buildings in Japan. After returning home, he studied the construction style of Tang temples in China and carefully designed the memorial hall, reflecting the spirit agreed by China and Japan in 1963: not only from the meaning, but also the building itself should become a friend of China and Japan Good symbol.

The memorial hall is divided into two groups. One group is the Qing style courtyard composed of four pines hall. The memorial hall is in the South and the hall is in the north. It is surrounded by a veranda. There are four ancient pines in the patio. The veranda is suspended with cloud plates and wooden fish. The house is exquisite and elegant. The other is a Tang style courtyard, which is surrounded by a memorial Pavilion, a memorial hall, and a super hand corridor. Jialan Fanghui is planted in the garden. Among them, cherry blossom was given by elder takamoto Morimoto of tangzhaoti temple in Nara, Japan, when master Jianzhen went back to visit relatives in 1980. The two groups of memorial halls, one of Qing style and the other of Tang style, are divided into two parts, but they are located on the same central axis and combined into one.

monument

The monument was designed by Liang Sicheng overnight. After his successful design, he happily told Professor Chen Congzhou that most of China's traditional monuments are vertical, with smooth surface and ceiling decorated with frame. The Jianzhen monument is horizontal, with prominent frame around and inscriptions in the middle. On the front is Guo Moruo's "Tang Jianzhen monk monument" and on the back is Zhao Puchu's memorial hall Articles written at the foundation laying ceremony. This will break the traditional pattern, innovate on the basis of tradition, and have a sense of the times.

The base is decorated with a lotus seat as the base, and the lotus seat is used to support the stele. Because the lotus is unique and sacred, "it does not dye when it comes out of the mud, and it does not wash the clear ripples, but it does not demon." it is hollow and straight, and it does not branch or vine. Moreover, the silk length of the lotus symbolizes all living beings in the Buddhist world, so the lotus has always become a symbol of Buddhism. On the lotus seat, there is a flower pattern with the theme of rolled leaf grass. Liang Sicheng felt that the word "Tang" was not well reflected when he was about to finish the design. Chen Congzhou immediately proposed to use the grass as the decoration, because it was a unique grass of the Tang Dynasty, symbolizing the age of Jianzhen's life.

The main hall completely imitates the style of Jintang, the main building of Japan's zhaoti temple, but the shape changes from seven to five. The Jintang was designed by Jianzhen himself at that time, which maintains the architectural style of the prosperous Tang Dynasty in China, and blends the characteristics of Japanese architecture at that time. The Memorial Hall imitates Jintang, and its intention is to reflect the characteristics of the integration of Chinese and Japanese cultures.

Location of Memorial Hall

Facing south, the memorial hall is five rooms wide and four rooms deep. On the tall platform around, there are thick eaves columns for two people to embrace. The columns are drum shaped, with triple capitals and brackets. The lines are round and flying. The sitting statue in the center of the main hall is Jianzhen dry lacquer clip statue. It is made by Liu Yu, a sculpture artist in our city, according to the Japanese zhaoti temple's "shadow of the great monk". The stone lantern in front of the hall was presented by master Jianzhen Xiang when he returned to his hometown. It has been more than ten years since the abbot of the temple, elder Mori Xiaoshun. Standing in front of the lantern, we can't help but think of Mr. Guo Moruo's praise for Jianzhen: "Jianzhen sails blindly in the East China Sea, showing his sincerity. Sacrificing oneself for others and preaching art, the Tang Dynasty is full of Nara City.

Memorial Gallery

Address: No.8, pingshantang Road, Jianzhen Road, Hanjiang District, Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province

Longitude: 119.412785

Latitude: 32.421708

Chinese PinYin : Jian Zhen Ji Nian Tang