Sanxue Temple

Sanxue Temple

Sanxue temple is located in the southwest corner of Haicheng City, Liaoning Province. It is adjacent to Shanxi guild hall in the South and Haicheng river about 1.5 Li in the south. Orientation: 7 degrees south by West. According to the inscriptions in the temple and the records of Haicheng county annals of the Republic of China, the temple was founded in the Tang Dynasty.

The front hall of Sanxue temple is built in the Ming Dynasty, and the others are built in the Qing Dynasty. The whole building is composed of front hall, back hall, sutra collection building, Mountain Gate, east-west veranda, Zen hall, wall and so on.

Sanxue temple covers an area of about 5000 square meters.

Temple structure

Sanxue temple, front hall and back hall are Xieshan style buildings, which are of brick and wood structure. The Sutra building has two floors, which are hard mountain style buildings. The layout of the whole building is coordinated, majestic and spectacular, with exquisite wood carving technology and bright colors; brick carving art, such as five spines and six beasts, two dragons playing with pearls, is lifelike and ready to come out. The front hall is 15 meters long, 10 meters wide and 14 meters high. It was built in Xuande period of Ming Dynasty. Xieshan style palace top nine ridges. The gable is pressed under the mountain's forehead, with solid feet and flying eaves. Under the eaves of the hall, the Dougong is large, and the Dougong is high and supports each other, which is really an ancient traditional architectural system.

Layout structure

The central hall, 20 meters long, 13 meters wide and 17 meters high, was rebuilt during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. The architecture of the middle hall is similar to that of the front hall in general. Only the bucket arches under the eaves are decorated prominently. There are exquisite sculptures on the bucket arches. The Dragon bucket eaves contain beads and spit whiskers, which are unique. The nave. There are seven stone steles of Ming and Qing Dynasties in the temple. The middle hall (main hall) is a double eaves Xieshan style building with brick and wood structure. It is three rooms wide and three rooms deep. It is 20 meters long from east to west, 13 meters wide and 17 meters high. It has a high frame. It has three layers of column head, corner and patching room. It is decorated with a bucket arch. It is carved with dragons on the front ridge, a running beast on the two ends, an ambulatory and a swallow tail wood carving in the front, and painted beams. The building is high and broad, and the carving is exquisite. Unfortunately, it was burned by electric fire in 1992.

The back building of Sanxue temple is a two-story hard mountain building with stone foundation and five rooms wide surface. There is an ambulatory in front of the ground floor, a breast board in front of the second floor, and wood doors and windows. This building is the "Sutra collection building". There are nine wing rooms on both sides of the central hall. There is a hard mountain style building with a cloister in front. The beams are rough, like relics of the Ming Dynasty. On both sides of the East and West Wing rooms, there are five Zen halls. The mountain gate is a hard mountain style building with three rooms, the middle of which is an aisle, the two sides of which are gatehouses, and the brick walls around. The second floor of the bell and drum has long gone.

The scale

The two floors of the back hall are the Sutra collection building, with nine pillars in the East and West, and three pillars in the mountain gate. There are stone carvings in front of the gate and brick carvings in the back. The carvings are exquisite. The ancient buildings of Sanxue temple were built in the Ming Dynasty. The existing steles built in Xuande decade of Ming Dynasty were rebuilt and added to the scale of today.

"Three learning" is a term of Buddhism: "one learning to stop evil and cultivate good; two learning to suspend and clarify the mind with fixed breath; three learning to break doubts and prove the way with wisdom. They are inseparable from each other, so they are named "Sanxue Temple". During the "Cultural Revolution", the temple was smashed as the "four old", the big kiss on the top of the front hall and the middle hall and the dog looking at the sky were smashed, and most of the roof tiles were smashed. On February 4, 1975, a strong earthquake occurred in Haicheng, which damaged the walls and corners of the temple. After the earthquake, the state allocated funds for the maintenance of good, but it was burned in an electric fire in 1982.

Cultural relics protection

Sanxue temple was designated as the key cultural relics protection unit of Liaoning Province in 1989.

Reconstruction and expansion

Sanxue temple in Haicheng was founded in the Ming Dynasty. It was decayed in Daoguang years. Later, master Mingsi, a eminent monk in Qianshan Mountain, painstakingly raised money to rebuild the main hall, front hall, back building, East and West rooms and the second floor of bells and drums. During the reign of Guangxu, a normal school was set up here. During the period of the Republic of China, the court branch office and the inspection office were set up.

After 1949, it was used as a commercial warehouse, and then changed to Haicheng County Library. After the Haicheng earthquake on February 4, 1975, the temple buildings were damaged by the earthquake, and later the state funded the restoration. In 1982, an electric fire destroyed the central hall, which was later changed into Haicheng County Museum.

Buddhist activities

In 1988, it was taken over by monks and officially used as a place for Buddhist activities. In 1989, it was restored under the leadership of master Benjing. At present, there are more than ten monks and nuns. The temple has three gates, three front halls and three middle halls, five Sutra halls on two floors and five Zen halls, surrounded by walls.

There is an ancient well in the courtyard, six stone tablets in Ming, Qing and modern times, and a Taiwan version of the Tripitaka.

Current Abbot

Master Benjing, the current abbot of Sanxue temple, is 86 years old from Haicheng City, Liaoning Province. He became a monk in April 1945 and studied under master Guoxi.

Address: Yiyan Road

Longitude: 105.493522

Latitude: 31.212711

Chinese PinYin : San Xue Si