Huangmei Wuzu Temple

Wuzu Temple

synonym

Huangmei Wuzu Temple generally refers to Wuzu temple

Wuzu temple, formerly known as Dongshan temple, or dongchan temple, later renamed Wuzu temple, is located on the Dongshan mountain of Wuzu Town, Huangmei County, Hubei Province. It is located on the south edge of the east end of the main vein of Dabie Mountain, across the Jiujiang river. Built in the fifth year of Yonghui (654) of Tang Dynasty, it is the Taoist temple of the fifth generation of Chinese Zen master Hongren. It is also the holy land where Master Huineng, the sixth patriarch, was granted "the ancestral court of the world".

Wuzu Temple occupies an important position in the history of Chinese Buddhism and is also a tourist attraction. In 1985, it was listed as one of the key monasteries in China. On May 25, 2006, Wuzu temple, as an ancient building from Tang Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, was approved by the State Council as the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relics protection units in China.

Historical evolution

Wuzu temple, built in the fifth year of Yonghui reign of Tang Dynasty (654), is the Taoist center of Hongren, the fifth generation Zen master of Chinese Buddhism.

Master Hongren opened a Taoist temple in Dongshan, opened a wide range of Dharma gates, and introduced qunping. It has attracted scholars from all over the world and has more than 1000 disciples. After Wu Zetian ascended the throne of Zhou Dynasty, she advocated Buddhism. In the first year of Jiushi (700), Hongren's disciples Shen Xiu, Xuan Yue and Hui'an were invited to the inner Taoist temple to provide for them, and they were given the title of national teacher. Since then, the higher the reputation of Hongren, the greater the reputation of Wuzu temple. In 848, Emperor Xuanzong built the wuzuzuzushi temple and changed it to Dazhong Dongshan temple, also known as wuzusi. Later, with the support of the emperors of Li and Tang Dynasties, Wuzu Temple continued to flourish and never declined.

From Zhenzong in the Northern Song Dynasty to Gaozong in the Southern Song Dynasty, Shijie, fayan, Biaozi, zongba and other famous teachers served as the abbot of Wuzu temple. They successively prospered the temples and built temples and pagodas. Especially when fayan lived in the mountains, he greatly promoted the ancestral court and the zongfeng. Among his disciples of French origin, foguo Keqin, fojian Huiqin and foyan Qingyuan were known as "three heroes" and "three Buddhas" at that time. They encouraged themselves, promoted Buddhism widely, and flourished in Zen, which made the reputation of Wuzu Temple even more shocking. In jingdezhong of Song Dynasty (1004-1007), Zhenzong changed the temple amount to Zhenhui temple. Yingzong wrote "Tianxia Zuting" in Zhiping (1064-1067) and Huizong wrote "Tianxia Chan Lin" in the first year of Chongning (1102) and gave it to Wuzu temple.

After the death of the Song Dynasty, Dongshan was destroyed by the war and was left out in the cold. It was not until the 19th year of Zhiyuan (1282) that the Buddhist monk Xing entered Dongshan again, swept the temple and rebuilt the civil engineering. In the second year of Huangqing (1313), master Han Wanqi invited him from the king of Shen to return Hongren's body to Dongshan. In the second year of Zhizhi (1322), the French Zen master made great efforts to support himself. He built the main hall and worshipped his ancestors. He also built the Sutra Pavilion and collected sutras. The Buddhist statues in Fancha Temple seem to be new and resplendent. Later, Wuzu temple was robbed and rebuilt many times.

In 1331, Emperor Wenzong gave the temple the name of "Dongshan Wuzu Temple", which is still used today.

architectural composition

The Wuzu temple in Dongshan, the whole Buddhist temple complex, is composed of three parts: upper, middle and lower according to the mountain trend. The whole building is like an ancient palace building, with equal layout of the central axis and distinct layers. The temple building area is nearly 50000 square meters. The four main halls, namely Tianwang hall, Daxiong hall, Pilu hall and Zhenshen hall, are built on the central axis according to the height of the mountain. The buildings are crisscrossed with brackets. According to records, at its peak, Wuzu temple had more than 1000 temples, nunneries, pavilions, buildings and pavilions.

Main buildings

The main buildings of Wuzu temple are Macheng hall, Notre Dame hall, thousand Buddha Hall, abbot, Chan hall, Liaofang, Hakka hall, Jietang, etc. Among them, the four palaces are the palace of the heavenly king, the hall of the great male, the hall of Pilu and the hall of true body. Tianwang hall and Daxiong hall are newly built and rebuilt in recent years. They are simple and powerful.

One day gate

Yitianmen is a four legged Qingshi gatehouse. It is 3.3 meters high and 2 meters wide. It crosses the ancient post road at the South and east foot of the mountain, and leads to the Trident road of Wuzu temple in the north.

Sakyamuni Duobao Buddha pagoda

On the small hill behind the Tianmen gate, there is the Buddha pagoda of Sakya Duobao, which was built in 1121. The pagoda is octagonal, with a height of more than 6 meters. It is exquisitely carved.

Tianwang Hall

Tianwang hall, the main hall of the temple, faces south. Built in the Tang Dynasty, it is a double eaves Xieshan style building. On the top of the hall door is a plaque inscribed with "Zhenhui Temple" granted by Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty. Maitreya Buddha is worshipped in the hall. A new statue of Veda Buddha is made in the back seat. There are four heavenly kings on both sides of the hall, holding pestle, pipa, umbrella, snake and wearing armor.

main hall

Daxiong hall, located behind Tianwang hall, was built in Dazhong period of Tang Dynasty. The hall was last burned in the fourth year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty. Only four cornerstones and xumizuo, the Great Buddha, remain. Restoration began in 1986 and took seven years to complete. With a construction area of 865.7 square meters, it is the largest Mahatma hall in central and southern China, and can be called "a unique branch" in the Buddhist jungle of China. Zhao Puchu, former vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese people's Political Consultative Conference and President of the Chinese Buddhist Association, inscribed the plaque of "Daxiong hall" in his own handwriting. The main hall is dedicated to three Buddha statues: Sakyamuni Buddha, pharmacist Buddha and Amitabha Buddha. On the pillars on both sides are carved with couplets such as "Avalokitesvara has great compassion, prays for thousands of answers, thousand hands of Tathagata incarnate everywhere in the bitter sea, often makes ferry boats", "mind is like Zen, nature is compassionate, nine turns back", "cassock moon night Sutra chants frequently, early realization of nihilistic Bodhisattva mirror platform" and so on. There are eighteen Arhats in the hall.

Pilu Hall

Pilu hall was first built in the Tang Dynasty (847-859). It was later built by the people of Macheng, so it is also called Macheng hall. It was repaired in 1985 and renamed Pilu hall. There are more than 200 cultural relics unearthed in Huangmei County, among which the most precious is the chime clock made of turquoise in Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty.

Real body Hall

Zhenshen hall, also known as zushi hall, is a hall dedicated to Hongren, the fifth patriarch. It is the main building of the whole temple and the only brick and wood palace style building in the ancient temple in the Qing Dynasty. Originally under the lectern, it was built in the fifth year of Xianheng (674) of the Tang Dynasty by Xuanyou, a disciple of Hongren, before his death. It was moved to the present site for reconstruction in the second year of Yuanyou (1087) of the Northern Song Dynasty. The building of this hall is ingenious and magnificent, with Bell Pavilion on the left and drum Pavilion on the right. The two pavilions have the same shape and are symmetrical with each other. They are connected with the main hall, with cornices and brackets, and bird statues engraved on the supporting angles. The central part is the main hall, and the plaque of "real body hall" is hung above the front door. There are golden dragons on the pillars on both sides of the front door, hollow erlongxizhu on the crossbeam of the front door, Jiulong roof on the roof, and carved bricks on both sides. In the middle of the back of the main hall is the "Fayu tower", where the real body of the five ancestors is hidden. There are hundreds of small stone Buddha statues and plaques on the upper layer around the tower wall.

Qichong piandian

On the east side of the main hall are the holy hall, Songbai hall, Yanshou temple, Ji Temple, Huayan Temple, Buddha Hall, guest hall, Zhaitang, Daliao, etc.; on the west side of the main hall are Changchun temple, Niangniang hall, abbot, prison room, warehouse, Xiaoliao, etc.

The goddess Hall

Notre Dame hall was built by Ruigong, the abbot of Wuzu temple, and Liao Hui, the disciple of Wuzu temple, in memory of Mrs. Zhou, the mother of Wuzu Hongren. On the west side of Notre Dame hall, there is a white lotus stream flowing through the mountain stream with a sound like a piano. There are "liuxiang" written by Su Dongpo and "Faquan" stone inscriptions written by Zhonggu in the Qing Dynasty.

The great pagoda of the five ancestors

It was built in 1932 as the burial place for the relics (ashes) of the five ancestors. (the real body of the fifth ancestor was destroyed in the 16th year of the Republic of China).

Cultural relics

lectern

It is said that Hongren, the fifth patriarch, and the abbot monks of the later dynasties all preached here. This platform is made of sandstone strips. Its front faces south and its back is connected with the ridge. The cliffs are thousands of feet in the west of the platform. When you climb up to the platform, you can see it as if you are in heaven.

Bailianchi

Bailianchi was built by Hongren, the fifth patriarch. The white lotus in the pool is also Hongren's handrod. Up to now, the white lotus is growing vigorously, graceful, green, white and fragrant.

Bo Mengshi

Bomengshi is a natural rock with a height of 6 meters and a diameter of 9 meters. The flat ground is abrupt and the shape is like looking at the moon. It is said that it was made from a bowl used by Hongren.

hand sink

When Hongren first built the temple, the sink was chiseled on a natural rock on Bailian peak, which was shaped like a foot basin. Whether it is sunny or rainy, there is only half water in the pool. It is neither dry nor overflowing.

Liuzu falling waist stone

The liuzu waist dropping stone is a rectangular shape, about 14 kg. It is engraved with five characters "liuzu waist dropping stone" and a poem entitled "block stone rope goes through the ancestral trace and Cao Xi's blood and sweat is collected here" by Huishan, a famous poet monk in the Qing Dynasty.

Jade seal of Wuzu Temple

The jade seal of Wuzu temple is carved from white marble. The body of the seal is square, 121 cm long and 121 cm wide, and weighs 2.45 kg. The seal is in seal style, engraved with "Tianxia Zuting Daman Zhenshen Baoyin".

Feihong Bridge

Feihong bridge was built in Yuan Dynasty. The bridge spans over two mountain valleys. It is 33.65 meters long and 8.45 meters high. It looks like a flying rainbow. There are archways at both ends of the gate, spring splashing under the bridge, waterfall flying cliff wall.

Six ancient and rare sandalwood trees

Green Sandalwood, commonly known as oil Park, a total of six, one of the largest, thick around, 28 meters high, covering an area of nearly 1 mu.

Famous eminent monk

Eminent monk Hongren

The eminent monk Hongren (601-675), a monk of Tang Dynasty, has a common surname of Zhou. He was formerly Huangmei (now Huangmei, Hubei Province) in Qizhou Prefecture

Chinese PinYin : Huang Mei Wu Zu Si