Biyun Temple

Biyun Temple

Biyun temple is located in the north of Xiangshan Park, Haidian District, Beijing, and the east foot of the west mountain. It is a group of garden temples with compact layout and well preserved. It was founded in the second year of yuanzhishun (1331) and expanded in Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The temple faces east from the West and is built according to the mountain. The layout of the whole temple is mainly arranged in Liujin courtyards, with a group of courtyards in the north and south. The courtyards adopt their own closed architectural techniques, and the layers of halls are stacked up against the mountains, forming a special layout of more than 300 steps. As the temple rises gradually along the mountain, in order to keep the overall layout of the temple from being exposed, it adopts a series of attractive construction forms. Among them, a pair of stone lions and two generals in front of the mountain gate, the clay colored sculptures in the hall and the wall sculptures on the gables of Maitreya Buddha Hall are all art treasures of the Ming Dynasty.

Historical evolution

The temple was first built in 1331, the second year of the reign of emperor Zhishun of the Yuan Dynasty. It is said that it was built by Yelu almisse house, a descendant of Yelu Chucai, and was named Biyun nunnery.

During the Zhengde period of Ming Dynasty (1506-1521), the eunuch of Yuma built shengkuang at the back of the temple, expanded the temple, and changed Biyun nunnery into Biyun temple. Later, Wei Zhongxian also built shengkuang and rebuilt Biyun temple, but both of them were not buried here.

During the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, the temple was built on a large scale. In addition to the repair of the original temple, in 1748, the pagoda of King Kong throne was built according to the pattern of Western monks, and the palace and Luohan hall were also built. The original architecture of the temple was not changed much, and the temple was still constructed by Ming Dynasty.

In 1925, after Dr. Sun Yat Sen died in Beijing, the coffin was stopped in the back hall of the temple, so the back hall was changed into Zhongshan Hall.

In 1957, it was listed in the city's cultural relics protection unit, and has been repaired for many times, and opened to the outside world, becoming a famous tourist attraction in Xishan.

In 1983, the monument to Sun Yat Sen's portrait, abandoned outside the east gate of the summer palace for widening the road, was moved to the open space in front of the King Kong throne tower in the temple.

On June 25, 2001, as an ancient building of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Biyun temple has been approved by the State Council to be listed in the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

architectural composition

The temple is located in the West and faces the East, covering an area of more than 4000 square meters. It is built close to the mountain, and the temples are well arranged. There are six courtyards in the middle road. The mountain gate, Maitreya hall, Sakyamuni hall, Bodhisattva hall, Zhongshan Hall and diamond throne tower are located on the central axis. There are side halls, wing rooms and other buildings on the left and right. There is Luohan hall in the South and Shuiquan courtyard in the north.

There are two mountain gates. The first gate is a square gate with a gray tile shed top. There is a deep gully in front of it, which is connected with a stone bridge. There is a pair of stone lions in front of the door, crouching on xumizuo, with fine carving. There is a Mountain Gate hall behind the gate, with a three room wide face. There are grey tiles on the top of the hill and Dougong under the eaves. There are a pair of clay statues of Vajra in the hall, which are treasures of the Ming Dynasty and were destroyed during the "Cultural Revolution".

Behind the mountain gate is Maitreya hall, in which there is a Maitreya Buddha with a height of 2.5 meters cast in the Ming Dynasty. After Maitreya Buddha Hall is Sakyamuni hall, also known as Danqing Pavilion, which is the main hall of the whole temple. Hall for the Ming Dynasty building, three wide face, gray tile single eaves, square roof, eaves Dougong. The top of the hall is a dragon caisson. The hall is located in the central plains where Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Arhats are worshipped. There are hanging sculptures on the two walls. All of them are excellent products of the Ming Dynasty and were destroyed during the "Cultural Revolution".

There is a pool in front of the hall, on which there are three carved railings and white marble bridges leading to the main hall. On the balcony in front of the hall, there are two octagonal white jade Scripture buildings about 8 meters high on the left and right, with inscriptions on them. At the back of the hall, there is a stele pavilion with double eaves and octagonal glazed tile roof. The upper and lower eaves are decorated with Dougong. Inside the pavilion, there is a stele inscribed with the inscription of Qianlong's Royal notes on the restoration of Biyun temple in the 12th to 14th year of Qianlong.

At the back of the pavilion is the Bodhisattva hall, three rooms wide, with a single eaves of grey glazed tiles, a ridge on the top of the hill, a corridor in front, and Dougong under the eaves. In the hall, there were five clay painted Bodhisattvas of the Ming Dynasty. On the two walls, there are 24 gods and four stars of fortune, fortune, longevity and happiness, with a height of about 1 meter. Around the statues are suspended sculptures of Yunshan mountain and small Buddhist story sculptures. The original statue has been destroyed in the "Cultural Revolution", and the existing colored sculpture is later made up.

Behind the Bodhisattva hall is the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall, which was originally the temple back hall, known as the Puming Miaojue hall. On March 12, 1925, after the death of Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the hall was suspended for four years. In 1954, the hall was turned into the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall, with five rooms in width and two Gables inlaid with white marble inscriptions. Some photos of Dr. Sun Yat Sen's revolutionary activities are displayed in the room, and a glass covered steel coffin presented to Dr. Sun Yat Sen by the former Soviet Union on March 30, 1925 is also displayed.

The pagoda is located at the end of the temple. There is the highest diamond throne Pagoda in Beijing. There is a hole in the middle of the pagoda base. On the wall of the hole, there is the inscription "Dr. Sun Yat Sen's tomb in clothes". After Sun Yat Sen's coffin was moved to Nanjing in 1929, the nanmu coffin specially made for him and the clothes and hats he wore when he was dead were sealed in the hole, so it is called his tomb in clothes and crowns. Luohan hall is on the right side of Zhongshan Memorial Hall. It is built in imitation of Luohan Hall of Jingci temple in Hangzhou. It has nine rooms on each side and four small patios in the middle for lighting. The appearance of the hall looks like a roof. In the center of the hall, there are polygonal pavilions with double eaves and Xieshan Cross Ridge. In the center, there is a small Lama tower. The front of the hall has a porch, and the other three sides have a Baoxia. In the hall, there are 500 gold-plated Arhats, 508 statues of Buddha, Bodhisattva and monk Jigong squatting on the beam.

The water spring courtyard on the north side of the temple was originally a part of the palace of Emperor Qianlong. There are mountains, rocks, springs, pavilions and bridges in the courtyard, which is quite Jiangnan scenery.

Temple attractions

Tayuan

The pagoda is located at the end of the temple. In the south of the temple, there is a white marble archway with exquisite carving. On both sides of the archway, there are eight stone carved screen walls. On the front of the screen wall, eight historical figures are carved in relief, and there are inscriptions. On the left, Lin Xiangru is the festival, Li Mi is the filial piety, Zhuge Kongming is the loyalty, Tao Yuanming is the honest; on the right, di Renjie is the filial piety, Wen Tianxiang is the loyalty, Zhao Bi is the honest, and Xie Xuan is the festival. Zhaobi Xiaofang is engraved with eight characters, with "Jingcheng guanri" on the left and "Jieyi Lingxiao" on the right. Behind the stone archway, there are two octagonal stele pavilions opposite the north and the south. Inside the pavilions are the steles of the King Kong Throne made by Emperor Qianlong. The left Pavilion is in Manchu and Mongolian, and the right Pavilion is in Chinese and Tibetan. Located at the highest point of the temple, the diamond throne tower was built in 1748. The tower was built in the shape of Wuda temple in Beijing. There are three such pagodas in Beijing. The other two are qingjingcheng Pagoda in Xihuang temple and Jingang throne Pagoda in Zhenjue temple. The diamond throne tower of Biyun temple is 347 meters high, with three layers of foundation, throne and tower body. The base of the tower is square, brick and stone structure, with tiger skin stone outside. There are stone barriers on both sides of the platform. The body of the pagoda is made of polished white three stones of Han Dynasty, and the traditional Buddhist statues of Tibetan Lamaism are carved on the four sides. In the middle of the tower, there is a hole in the ticket. On the wall of the ticket, there is a white marble plaque with the inscription "Dr. Sun Yat Sen's tomb in clothes".

Tomb beast

At the shengkuang site built by Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch of Ming Dynasty in Biyun temple, Xiangshan, Beijing, a pair of tomb animals were found. Experts on cultural relics in Beijing infer that this is a relic of Wei Zhongxian and one of the survivors of the destruction of Wei's tomb. The shape and style of the stone animals are different from those of the common tombs: their image is not like lions, tigers, nor Kirin and Zhi; although carved in the Ming Dynasty, their style obviously draws on some works of the previous generation, and on this stone beast, it is far away from the bronze warp States' bronze statue of the two wings of the two wings in the tomb of the king of Zhongshan in Hebei, and it still stands in Nanjing until the Southern Dynasty *. Around some of the mausoleum of the emperor on the town beast, can more or less find some traces of imitation.

Memorial Hall

The memorial hall is five rooms wide. Behind the gables are inlaid with white marble steles. There are various patterns carved on the marble Xumi pedestal. There are gold characters on a white background. It is inscribed with Dr. Sun Yat Sen's letter to the Soviet Union. Above the main door hung a gold lettered wooden plaque with red background, on which was written "Dr. Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall" by Soong Ching Ling. In the main hall, there is a bust of Sun Yat Sen, with a glass covered steel coffin given by the Soviet Union in 1925. The photos and historical sites of Dr. Sun Yat sen in different periods are displayed in the room.

Shuiquanyuan

Shuiquan temple is a good place for the quiet scenery in Biyun temple. It has three days of pines and cypresses. The most famous is the tree of three generations. This is a rather peculiar ancient tree. Cypress trees are covered with cypress trees, and a neem tree grows in the innermost layer. There is also a natural flowing spring in the courtyard, named "Shuiquan", also known as "zhuoxiquan". The spring water flows out from the stone crevice and becomes a pool. The spring water is sweet and refreshing. Next to the spring is a rockery made of Taihu Lake stones. Flowers, springs and rockeries constitute a beautiful and quiet garden.

Two generals

In front of the gate of Biyun temple is the second general Hall of hem ha. The hall faces east from the West. It is three rooms wide. It is decorated with a bucket arch under the eaves. Standing on both sides of the main hall, the two clay colored statues are about 4.8 meters high. They are vivid, colorful and vigorous. They are a pair of highly valuable sculpture works.

main hall

The statue of Sakyamuni sits in the middle of the main hall of the temple. On the left, there are Buddha Kasyapa and Manjusri. On the right, there are Buddha Ananda and Bodhisattva Puxian. The wall sculptures on the gables are colorful sculptures with different postures and vivid images. The story of the gods and monsters in the pilgrimage to the West and the ethereal realm of Yunshan are shaped on the three-dimensional sculptures, which enhance the sense of three-dimensional and reality. They can be regarded as artistic treasures of the Ming Dynasty. After the statue of Sakyamuni, there are Guanyin Bodhisattva and Shanshan

Chinese PinYin : Bi Yun Si