Huaguo Temple

Huaguo Temple

Huaguo temple is located in Jiexi County, Jieyang City, Guangdong Province. It is located in Mianhu Town, a millennium old town in the east of Guangdong Province, facing the iron mountain of Puning City. It is said that it was founded before the Ming Dynasty (1644) and the Qing Dynasty (1747).

It was approved for registration and opening in October 1988 and listed as a key cultural relics protection unit of the county on May 24, 1990.

Huaguo temple is located in the north and south, with a total construction area of about 2000 square meters. It is divided into Tianwang hall, Daxiong hall, Guanyin Pavilion, dizang Pavilion, Gongde hall, living room, Zhaitang, etc. It is divided into two halls, the front and the back, with a patio in the middle. On the right side of the hall, there are two stone pillars, each weighing several thousand jin, whose bases are suspended in the air, which is a wonder of ancient architecture.

brief introduction

Huaguo temple is located in Jiexi County, Jieyang City, Guangdong Province. It is located in Mianhu Town, a millennium old town in East Guangdong Province. Facing the iron mountain of Puning City, it was built in the late Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty. It is said that before the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1644), Qianlong Dingmao (1747) was rebuilt. Since 1991, Shixin, the abbot, donated more than 1 million yuan to repair and expand it. President Zhao Puchu re inscribed the plaque on the outer gate. It was approved to open in October 1988 and listed as a key cultural relic protection unit of the county on May 24, 1990.

scale

Huaguo temple is located in the north and south, with a total construction area of about 2000 square meters. It is divided into Tianwang hall, Daxiong hall, Guanyin Pavilion, dizang Pavilion, Gongde hall, living room, Zhaitang, etc.

It is divided into two halls, the front and the back, with a patio in the middle. The building area is 568 square meters. The main hall is dedicated to the three Tathagata Buddha, and the two sides are dedicated to Manjusri Bodhisattva and Puxian Bodhisattva. In front of the main hall, the left hall is the dizang Pavilion, and the right hall is the Guanyin Pavilion. On the right side of the main hall, there are two stone pillars weighing several thousand jin each, whose bases are suspended in the air. It is a wonder of ancient architecture.

General situation

The stone plaque on the gate of Huaguo temple, with three words "Huaguo Temple", was inscribed by Chen Laifeng when the abbot monk Mingguang rebuilt it in the year of Dingmao of Qianlong of Qing Dynasty.

As soon as you enter the gate, you will see Maitreya Buddha smiling to welcome the Pilgrims and tourists. On the back of the niche stands Wei Tuo, the God of Dharma protection, with his sword in his hand and a serious face, who punishes those who violate the Dharma. On both sides of the patio, there are bonsai with flowers.

On the top of the main hall, there is a large plaque with gold characters of "Da Xiong Bao Dian", which is inscribed by Zhao Puchu, President of the National Buddhist Association. Three Tathagata Buddha, kindly sitting in the hall niche. Sakya Tathagata sits in the middle. On the left is the pharmacist Tathagata, and on the right is the Mitha Tathagata. In front of the three Tathagata is the golden lacquer Buddha with five tribute vessels. On both sides of the three Tathagata are Manjusri Bodhisattva and Puxian Bodhisattva. In front of the hall, the left hall is dizang Pavilion, and the right hall is Guanyin Pavilion.

History and legend

There is no record of the founding of Huaguo temple. There is a saying, "before Mianhu, there was Huaguo temple.". According to the memorial tablet of "Nianzu altar" in the temple, "the founder of the temple saw and heard the monk.". It is said that in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, a monk Hong with excellent martial arts skills came to the temple and received many apprentices to teach arts. One of them, a master surnamed Yang, went to Suzhou to fight in the challenge arena and overturned the main player of the challenge arena. After his death, he was buried in the Hongjiang area at the head of Mianhu bridge. Its tomb is commonly known as "arena grave" (which was filled after liberation). In 1747, the abbot monk Mingguang rebuilt the plaque. The characters are written by Chen Laifeng.

During the Republic of China, it was occupied by the Sixth District Office of Puning county. After 1950 and liberation, he worked as a worker's supply and marketing cooperative, a supply and marketing cooperative and a primary school. It is said that the two stone pillars on the right side of the hall, each weighing several thousand jin, are suspended. After the supply and marketing cooperatives moved in, they were afraid that they would not be safe, so they cast two pieces of pig iron 5 cm long and 2 cm wide at the lower end of the stone pillar to support them. Most of the bottom section of the existing stone column is still suspended. In 1987, the town government returned the temple to the county Buddhist Association. On October 22, 1988, the county Buddhist Association held a ceremony to enter the temple. Shi Xincheng, vice president of the provincial Buddhist Association (now president), presided over the ceremony from Guangzhou, and was employed as the abbot and honorary president of the county Buddhist Association (the second president since 1995). In 1989, the county Buddhist Association built a three storey office building with an area of more than 300 square meters in the northwest of the temple.

Cultural Relic

Two important stone carvings survived in Huaguo temple. During the construction of Tianwang hall in 1990, when digging the foundation, it was found that the Qing Dynasty rebuilt the stone plaque of "Huaguo ancient temple", which is now embedded in the front gate. In the same year, the ancient four sided stone Buddha in the ancient temple was found in the nearby Hongwei primary school. It is 0.75 meters high and 0.5 meters long on the side of the square. The sitting Buddha with a height of 0.45 meters is carved on each side. I don't know how many years ago. It is very precious and can be called "the treasure of zhensi".

present situation

Abbot Shi Xincheng, a layman from Qiannan township of Jiexi County, is more than 20 kilometers north of Huaguo temple. Since he was appointed as the abbot of the temple in 1988, he vigorously revived the temple. In 2002, he donated more than 1 million yuan, accounting for more than 90% of the total social donations to the temple to build the temple. In 1998, he used more than 600000 yuan to build chengchengde Hall (more than 1000 square meters in three floors), and in 2002, he used more than 200000 yuan to buy houses and land to open up the main road in front of the temple. He came to the temple several times a year, and made great contributions.

Shi Guangzhou is in charge. Raoping Songlin native, commonly known as Luo Haizhou, was born in 1967 and graduated from junior high school. In 1988, he became a new teacher and received a precept in Nanhua temple. He came to the temple in 1990 and worked hard to promote Buddhism. Since 1995, he has been the vice president of the second session of the county Buddhist Association and member of the sixth and seventh sessions of the county CPPCC. Xitang Shi Zhinan, whose popular name is Chen Chunan, was born in Mianhu town in 1958. He graduated from junior high school. In 1984, Shi Huiyuan had his hair cut. In January, Yue Zai received the implements in Nanhua temple. Then he stayed in the temple for training. On September 1, he was admitted to the specialized class of the branch of China Buddhist Academy (located in lingyanshan temple in Suzhou). He graduated in the summer of 1987 and stayed in the temple as a bosom friend. In 1988, he taught in Guanghua Temple Buddhist Academy in Putian, Fujian Province and helped as a teacher Father Huiyuan compiled Chaozhou Buddhist annals. In 1995, he came to Huaguo temple. In 2002, he edited more than 100000 words of "Linji descendant - Huaneng Yimai" and published it. In the same year, he also wrote a paper "discussing the birthplace of Zen". Shi Guangpu (1910-2001), formerly known as Chen Jisong, was born in Laozi lane, Nanmen, Chaozhou City. At the age of 19, Li Xinjian had his hair cut and yuezai Kaiyuan Temple was ordained. In 1959, he was wrongly classified as a "rightist". In 1993, he came to Huaguo temple. In 1997, he served as the director of Xitang and the county Buddhist Association. As for the death of the temple, he was 9L years old.

In addition to promoting Buddhism, Huaguo Temple benefits all living beings. More than 2000 kg of rice is given each year, and more than 20000 yuan is donated for poverty relief.

Address: Jiefang Road

Longitude: 116.1375743

Latitude: 23.44390896

Chinese PinYin : Hua Guo Si