Xiantong Temple

Xiantong temple is the largest and oldest temple in Wutai Mountain. It is the earliest temple in China as well as Baima temple in Luoyang. It is also one of the five great Buddhist places in Wutai Mountain and the first temple in the whole mountain. There are seven halls along the central axis, including Guanyin hall, Manjusri hall, Daxiong hall, Wuliang hall, Qianbo hall, Tongdian hall and Sutra Pavilion.

In particular, the bronze hall is one of the four existing bronze halls in China (the other three are wanshoushan copper Hall of Yihe temple in Beijing, Wudang copper hall in Hubei and mingfengshan copper hall in Kunming). There are tens of thousands of small Buddha statues in the hall, which are rare bronze relics. In the bell tower in front of Xiantong temple, there is Changming bell, the largest bronze bell in Wutai Mountain. On the surface of the bell, there is a regular script Buddhist Scripture with more than 10000 characters. It is said that the cool stone, which the fifth Prince of the Dragon King opened Wutai Mountain and intended to take back, is also worshipped in Xiantong temple.

Xiantong Temple

Xiantong temple, located in the north of Taihuai Town, Wutai Mountain, Shanxi Province, is a large-scale temple with a long history in Wutai Mountain. It is also one of the five Buddhist temples in Wutai Mountain and the first temple in the whole mountain. It is the earliest temple in China with Baima temple in Luoyang. The temple was built in the Yongping period of the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 69), initially known as Dafu lingjiu temple. It was expanded during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, rebuilt in the Tang Dynasty, and renamed "dahuayan Temple". In the early Ming Dynasty, Taizu granted "daxiantong Temple". In 1982, the State Council listed Xiantong temple as a national key cultural relic protection unit.

The temple faces south, covering an area of about 80000 square meters, with more than 400 buildings, most of which were built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. There are seven halls along the central axis, including Guanyin hall, Manjusri hall, Daxiong hall, Wuliang hall, Qianbo hall, Tongdian hall and Sutra Pavilion. The bronze hall was cast in the 38th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1610 A.D.), sharing 100000 Jin of copper. It is one of the best preserved bronze halls in China.

In 1982, the State Council listed Xiantong temple as a national key cultural relic protection unit.

Temple History

Xiantong temple was first built in the Yongping period of the Ming emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty (58-75 A.D.). It is said that after the completion of Baima temple, two eminent monks, you ye moteng and Zhu Fran, came to Wutai Mountain from Luoyang and built this temple. It is called Dafu Linglu temple, which is also known as "the second ancient temple in China". It is one of the earliest temples in China together with Luoyang Baima temple;

In the Northern Wei Dynasty, it was expanded and called Huayuan temple;

It was rebuilt by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty and changed its name to dahuayan temple;

The emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty rebuilt the temple and gave it the title of "daxiangtong Temple"; the emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty gave it the name of "daxiangxiang Xiantong Temple", and the emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty gave it the title of "daxiangtong Temple";

In 1687, it was changed into daxiantong temple;

The left and right side halls were repaired in 1954;

From 1956 to 1957, Wuliang hall was renovated;

In 1973, Xinzhou municipal government invested in the maintenance of Xiantong temple;

From 1974 to 1977, the Xichan temple was renovated;

In 1976, it was established as the site of Xinzhou Museum;

In 1979, the Sutra hall was repaired;

In 1982, the courtyard was paved and renovated;

In 1984, Menglou granary was repaired;

From September 2003 to September 2004, the reconstruction and expansion project was completed again, and the building area of the new main hall reached 999 square meters.

architectural composition

On the central axis of the temple, the copper pagoda stands in front of the temple. From south to north, the seven halls are Guanyin hall, Da Manjusri hall, Da Xiong hall, Wuliang hall, Qianbo Manjusri hall, copper hall and Sutra collection building. In addition, there are bell tower, monk house and various auxiliary halls.

The main hall of Xiantong temple is the third main hall of Xiantong temple for Buddhist activities. There are three Buddha statues in the hall: Sakyamuni Buddha in the middle, Amitabha Buddha in the West and pharmacist Buddha in the East. There are eighteen Arhats on both sides, and three Bodhisattvas of Guanyin, Manjusri and Puxian behind them. In the hall of Guanyin, there are statues of Guanyin Bodhisattva in the middle and Manjusri and Puxian Bodhisattva in the left and right. The great Manjusri hall is the second major Hall of Xiantong temple. In the great Manjusri hall, there are seven statues of Manjusri Bodhisattva: Manjusri Dazhi in the center, Manjusri lion in the west, Manjusri Wisdom in the south, Manjusri ruzhe in the middle, Manjusri immaculate in the north, Manjusri smart in the East, and Manjusri manna behind Manjusri Dazhi. In front of the statue of Manjusri is the statue of Weituo, the God of Dharma protection, and on both sides are the statues of eighteen Arhats.

Architecture in the temple

Bronze Hall

The bronze hall is 8.3 meters high, 4.7 meters wide and 4.5 meters deep. It is made of 100000 Jin of copper. The hall is square in plane, 9 feet wide and 8 feet deep, with a height of more than Zhang. It has two floors in appearance, one room inside, four corners and four columns, and the column base is like a drum. Inside the hall, there are six doors on the upper floor and eight doors on the lower. On the four walls of the hall, there are ten thousand small Buddhas, shining with gold. The four walls of the hall are full of Buddha statues, known as ten thousand Buddhas; in the center of the hall is a bronze Buddha three feet high.

In 1609, Miao Feng monk, the teacher of Empress Dowager Li, the mother of Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty, built three bronze halls, one for Mount Emei, the other for mount Baohua and the other for Mount Wutai. The three bronze halls were all cast in Jingzhou, Hubei Province, and transported to the site for assembly. Today, only Wutai Mountain is left. The copper hall is square, with double eaves and a height of about 5 meters. It is decorated with lattice flowers and flowers and birds on the pot door.

The inner wall is covered with ten thousand small Buddhas, and a big Buddha sits on the central platform, so it is called "Ten Thousand Buddhas". In front of the hall, there were five bronze pagodas cast at the same time, which were arranged according to the East, West, North and south directions, symbolizing the top of five platforms. Unfortunately, during the Japanese invasion of China, three pagodas were stolen by the Japanese invaders, and only the East and West pagodas survived. The pagoda has 13 stories and is 8 meters high. The body of the pagoda is full of Buddha patterns. The base is square, and each of the four corners is made of a strongman. The body of the pagoda is supported by hands, shouldered or overhead. In the southwest corner of the two towers, there is a little bronze temple as big as thumb, and a statue of earth as big as little finger sits inside. Later, iron was used to cast three towers in place. Copper hall and tower are decorated with gold foil.

Sutra Hall

On both sides of the copper hall, there is a white and small brick hall with double eaves. The Sutra collection hall at the highest level, commonly known as the back hall, was originally used for the collection of sutras and has been turned into a cultural relics exhibition room. Among them, the handicrafts include the wind seal of Huangjin town and the bronze casting of zhantan Buddha in the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the stone carving of Guanyin and Masa in the northern and Southern Dynasties, the porcelain statue of monk Jigong, the vase of suwu shepherd, the wood carving of shancai boy and Guanyin in the Qing Dynasty, the bronze casting of Bangxi Jinchan and 48 arm Guanyin, as well as the crystal tower, Silver Tower and various Cloisonne offerings.

Calligraphy and painting include Leifeng Pagoda Sutra printed in Kaibao year of Northern Song Dynasty, horse and Guanyin painted by Zhao Zi'ang and his wife in early Yuan Dynasty, Guan Yunchang painted by Shen Zhou of Ming Dynasty, and eighteen Arhats painted by Ding Yunpeng of Ming Dynasty on little Bodhi leaves. The most noble one is the Huayan Sutra pagoda on display in the cultural relics display of Bishan temple and Xiantong temple. The pagoda is 7 feet long and 5 feet wide. It is made of white and yellow damask. It has 80 volumes of Huayan Sutra, with 600043 words. It's not strange to write on the silk. What's strange is that a scripture just forms a pagoda pattern. Yuanwang elephant is a seven level pagoda painted with fine brushwork on silk. The pagoda body is inlaid with Buddha statues in pavilions, the eaves are hung with wind bells, and the side of the pagoda is decorated with flowers. The thin stem of lotus, the hanging rope of wind clock and the eyebrow of Buddha are all small characters. Huayan Sutra pagoda was written by Xu Dexin, a disciple of three treasures in Suzhou during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty.

Wuliang Hall

Wuliang Hall of Xiantong temple in Wutai Mountain is divided into two floors, seven bright rooms and three dark rooms. It is made of imitation wood structure, with a width of 28.2 meters, a depth of 16 meters and a height of 20.3 meters. It is made of brick with double eaves resting on the top of the mountain. Three continuous arches are juxtaposed, and the left and right Gables become arch feet. Each room is connected by opening arches. It is a masterpiece of ancient Chinese brick and stone architecture. The outer eaves are carved with Dougong flowers, and the inner caisson is carved in the air, which looks like a flower covered top. There is a Buddha in the hall.

The "Huayan Sutra" pagoda preserved in the hall is a rare treasure. The pagoda is composed of 5.7-meter-long and 1.7-meter-wide White Damask. A seven story pagoda image is composed of a palisade, a curved sill, a Dougong and a Huayan eaves. On the White Damask, 80 volumes of Huayan Sutra are written in small block letters, with a total of 600043 characters. It was written by Xu Dexing, a Suzhou native during the reign of Emperor Kangxi for 12 years. There are seven Pavilion holes on each floor of Wuliang hall, on which are inlaid with brick plaques. Some are inscribed with "Puguang Mingdian", some with "Fa Bodhi Chang", and some with "Shiduo garden".

Great Buddha Hall

The Great Buddha Hall was rebuilt in the 25th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1899 A.D.), a wooden structure. The main hall is a place for holding grand Buddhist activities. This hall covers an area of 1.2 mu, tall and solemn. On the crossbeam in front of the hall, a wooden plaque with Kangxi imperial pen "Zhenru Quanying" is hanging high, and the banners below are hanging horizontally, with brocade flags hanging on both sides. On the platform of the hall, there are three main Buddhas, Sakyamuni Buddha in the middle, pharmacist Buddha in the East, Amitabha Buddha in the west, and eighteen Arhats on both sides of the hall wall, all of which are sculptures of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The ground in front of the Buddha is very spacious. On the Sutra table, the lamp is shining high, the tripod is burning incense, there are various kinds of fruits, and there are beautiful flowers. On the east side of the Sutra desk are some Buddhist musical instruments, such as drums, chimes, bells and wooden fish. Not only do the monks in this temple do their homework in the morning and evening, but every big Buddhist activity day is presided over by the Wutai Mountain Buddhist Association. Monks and nuns from all temples will wear cassocks and gather here to hold a Buddhist ceremony.

Great Manjusri Hall

The great Manjusri hall is the second major Hall of Xiantong temple. Rebuilt in 17

Chinese PinYin : Xian Tong Si