Xiangshan Temple

Xiangshan Temple

Xiangshan temple in Pingdingshan is located about 100 kilometers south of Songshan Mountain in Zhongyue, south of Naodian town in Baofeng County, 3 kilometers north of the new urban area of Pingdingshan City. In history, due to the change of administrative division, it was once called "Ruzhou Xiangshan Temple" and "Baofeng Xiangshan Temple". It is one of the known early Buddhist temples in China. It has an important and irreplaceable position in the history of Chinese Buddhism and Guanyin culture, and its religious root culture is very prominent.

Development history

Xiangshan temple in Pingdingshan was built at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was built about one hundred years later than Baima temple in Guanghe reign of Emperor Ling of Han Dynasty. It has a history of more than 1800 years since it went through Han, Wei, Jin, southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui, Tang, song, yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Due to its location in the Central Plains, it was destroyed and built many times under the influence of the change of dynasties and wars. In the 1950s, some temples built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties were completely destroyed during the cultural revolution. Monks were driven away and the temples were demolished. Today's Xiangshan temple complex, except for the Millennium pagoda and more than ten ancient steles, is gradually restored after the Cultural Revolution by relying on the support of the private forces and the government.

The Xiangshan temple in Pingdingshan has a large scale in history. Its main part is based on the natural geographical situation of the mellow peaks of Xiangshan Mountain, and has always maintained the mandala layout form with the tower as the center and the halls on all sides. The overall distribution across the three peaks, showing a Xiangshan as the center, East and West Longshan as two wings, front out of the foot of the mountain, including the West courtyard and South courtyard pattern. At the same time, there are many commons in the surrounding areas. Xiangshan temple in the past dynasties generally has mountain gate, King Kong hall, heavenly king hall, Weituo hall, Guansheng hall, Maitreya hall, simian Buddha Hall, Guanyin hall, Daxiong hall, Jialan hall, zushi hall, liuzu hall, dizang hall, Guangsheng hall, Shanshen hall, Baogong hall, cangjing hall, FA Hall, Zen hall, guest hall, bell tower, abbot and Kuixing building, as well as pagodas, tombs and scriptures.

According to the literature, the scale of Xiangshan Temple expanded continuously in song, Jin, yuan and Ming Dynasties, and reached its peak in Ming Dynasty. In the fourth year of Shaosheng of Song Dynasty (1097), the imperial court issued a decree to specify the four Zhi of Xiangshan temple, with a total area of more than 50 square kilometers. Over 20000 mu of farmland and 10000 mu of mountain forest were awarded by the imperial court in the past dynasties. In the 25th year of Jin Dading (1185), the second daughter of Jin Shizong, the princess of the Tang state, the Duwei of his son-in-law, and Wulin, the founder of Guangping County, the upper guard army, donated money to rebuild Xiangshan temple, which was "twice as large as at the beginning". According to the inscriptions of the Jin Dynasty, "since the Fu of the song and Yuan Dynasties, the abbot has taken turns in Meifu due to repairs." From 1278 to 1278, according to the request of master miaojian of Yufeng, the emperor issued a decree and engraved the "public evidence of the boundary of Xiangshan Temple", which further determined the scope of the four Zhi period. Xiangshan temple was renamed as "Xiangshan Shifang dapumen Temple". In 1458, Yingzong granted the plaque of "Xiangshan dapumen Temple", which made the mountain and temple prosperous day by day. At this time, Xiangshan temple had 16 lower courtyards, which were distributed in Baofeng, Lushan, Jiaxian, Fangcheng and Mi counties. It was a real Buddhist Center in Southwest Henan.

After the late Qing Dynasty, Xiangshan Temple gradually declined. Since the reform and opening up, Xiangshan temple has been gradually restored. In 1986, the Xiangshan Temple Guanyin pagoda and the Song Dynasty Caijing monument were announced as the second batch of cultural relics protection units in Henan Province.

Significance and value

There are many Xiangshan temples all over China, among which 18 are more famous. The most famous ones are Beijing Xiangshan temple, Luoyang Longmen Xiangshan temple, etc., forming a unique cultural phenomenon of Xiangshan temple. Among the numerous Xiangshan temples, Pingdingshan Xiangshan temple is the earliest "zhenxiangshan Temple" in eastern China. The name of "Xiangshan" comes from Buddhist classics. According to records, the birthplace of Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, is the capital of the state of kapilawei (which is called father city in Buddhist Classics). There is a mountain called Xiangshan near it, which is the place where the great mercy Guanyin Bodhisattva got the way. With the introduction of Buddhism, the name of Xiangshan came to China. Xiangshan temple in Pingdingshan is the earliest Guanyin Daochang called Xiangshan temple. Xiangshan temple is located in Xiangshan Mountain, formerly known as Huozhu mountain. Yuan Haowen, a scholar and poet of the Jin Dynasty, said in his a brief account of a journey to the East: "when the temple was first built, a monk Hu came from the western regions. It was said that the mountains and rivers here were very similar to Xiangshan mountain there." so according to the Buddhist holy land Xiangshan temple, a temple dedicated to the great mercy Guanyin Bodhisattva was built, also known as Xiangshan temple.

There is another important reason why huozhushan was renamed Xiangshan. A few kilometers northeast of the mountain, there is the father city of Han and Wei dynasties. The predecessor of the father city was the father city of Chu in the spring and Autumn period. The coincidence between the name of father city in eastern China and that of father city in Tianzhu Buddhist holy land also became an important reason why the eminent monks in the western regions chose Huozhu mountain to build Xiangshan temple. Buddhism pays attention to the relationship between Buddhism and its name, which makes Pingdingshan Xiangshan the earliest Guanyin Taoist temple and the earliest Xiangshan temple in China. Later, Buddhism spread from the Central Plains and Xiangshan temple was established in various places. However, as the ancestral temple of Xiangshan temple in China, Pingdingshan Xiangshan temple is unshakable.

Chinese Guanyin Bodhisattva gets the right result

Guanyin is the abbreviation of "GuanShiYin", also translated as "guangshiyin" and "Guanzi". Guanyin Bodhisattva is an important figure in the Western Buddhist kingdom, and is also a leftist of Amitabha, the leader of the Western Paradise. After she came to China, she experienced a long process of sinicization, which was basically completed in the Tang and Song dynasties. Because of its vast supernatural power and boundless legal power, it has a high position in Chinese folk God belief, and its influence even surpasses all other gods. The sign of the completion of the Sinicization process is that the Buddhist master of the Tang Dynasty preached the induction of heaven and man, revealing the historical fact that the place where Guanyin should be incarnated is in Xiangshan, Pingdingshan. Master daoxuan clearly affirmed that "Guanyin has no way to show, but Xiangshan is the best place for the body to descend." there are three mountains juxtaposed in the south of Songshan Mountain, namely Xiangshan, the place where Bodhisattvas become Taoists. Master daoxuan believed that the success of Chinese Guanyin came from Xiangshan temple in Pingdingshan, Henan Province, and the reason of its existence has unshakable authority in the history of Chinese Buddhism.

As the famous holy temple of Guanyin Bodhisattva in the history of Sinicized Buddhism, there are many evidences, such as thousand year cultural relics, historical records, local customs, folklore, academic research, exchange and communication, and the affirmation of successive dynasties.

The holy temple of Avalokitesvara

There are many changes in Guanyin, such as four arm Guanyin, four side Guanyin and so on. The most famous are qianshouqianyan Guanyin, shengguanyin, 11mianguanyin, Matou Guanyin, zhunbai Guanyin and Ruyi wheel Guanyin. As an important image of Avalokitesvara, Avalokitesvara with thousands of hands and thousands of eyes has the greatest influence among the Chinese people. It is a symbol of great mercy and boundless power of Avalokitesvara. Xiangshan temple in Pingdingshan mountain is the place where Guanyin with thousands of hands and thousands of eyes can be transformed into Chinese. It is here that Guanyin Bodhisattva's refined body and good deeds can be achieved. The shape of Yinghua is Guanyin with thousands of hands and thousands of eyes, which is called "great mercy and thousands of hands and thousands of eyes Guanyin Bodhisattva" among the people. This is based on inscriptions and historical records. Thousand hands and thousand eyes Guanyin is short for "thousand hands Guanyin", and there are "great compassion Guanyin", "thousand eyes and thousand arms Guanyin" and so on. According to the tantric classic "the great compassion Dharma Sutra of thousand hands and thousand eyes" written by Avalokitesvara, Avalokitesvara said "the great compassion Dharma" in the past, that is to say, "if I should come here, I would be able to benefit all the living people, and make my body full of thousands of hands and thousand eyes" in real time A thousand eyes are full of knowledge. "Thousand Hands" means to protect all living beings, and "thousand eyes" means to observe all living beings. With the introduction of Buddhism into China, the image of Avalokitesvara with thousands of hands and eyes also came to China, and finally completed the process of Sinicization. Through Miaoshan's nirvana in the Xiangshan Mountain of Pingdingshan, he achieved the right result and became a Chinese image of Avalokitesvara with thousands of hands and eyes. Therefore, since ancient times, Xiangshan temple in Pingdingshan has worshiped Avalokitesvara with thousands of hands and eyes.

The first Taoist temple of Chinese Guanyin Bodhisattva

Xiangshan is the place for Guanyin Bodhisattva to practice in Tianzhu Buddhism, and it is also the place for Guanyin Bodhisattva to practice in Chinese Buddhism, and it is also the place for his secular body to achieve good results. Therefore, Xiangshan temple in China is the place for Guanyin Bodhisattva to live and practice. As Xiangshan temple in Pingdingshan is a place where Guanyin Bodhisattva has achieved enlightenment, in the history of Chinese Guanyin culture, it is undeniable that Xiangshan temple in Pingdingshan is the first Taoist field of Chinese Guanyin.

Xiangshan temple in Pingdingshan, as a Taoist temple of Guanyin, is very brilliant in history. It has been paid attention by the imperial court of all dynasties. It has been expanded and rebuilt with funds and land. Therefore, it can always revive rapidly after the war. In the song and Yuan Dynasties, the emperor issued many edicts to carve stone tablets to establish the scope of maintaining Xiangshan temple, which reached its peak in the Ming Dynasty. In fact, it was in the status of national temple.

In spite of the large-scale migration of population to the South since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the center of Chinese culture gradually moved to the south. Especially after the song and Yuan Dynasties, the culture of the South flourished and Buddhism flourished rapidly. The South maintained a relatively good state of cultural continuity because of its natural location advantage, which was different from the Central Plains, and Buddhism in the Central Plains also quickly took root in the south In recent years, the impact is growing. In the field of Guanyin culture, Nanhai Putuo even surpasses the influence of Pingdingshan Xiangshan Guanyin Daochang, but the historical status of Pingdingshan Xiangshan temple as the first Daochang of Guanyin Bodhisattva is unshakable. Tracing back to the origin, the root of Chinese Guanyin Daochang is Xiangshan temple in Pingdingshan.

The hometown of Guanyin in Chinese

Pingdingshan City as the hometown of Guanyin can be proved from two aspects. One is the beauty of Guanyin

Chinese PinYin : Xiang Shan Si