Great Buddha Temple

Mengji great Buddhist temple was rebuilt on the original site of jingpiao Buddhist temple, the royal temple of the ancient Dai Dynasty. Jingpiao Buddhist temple was built by a Dai king in ancient times to commemorate the princess who died of illness. The Buddhist temple was built in the Ming Dynasty. It was destroyed in the war in 1848 A.D. and rebuilt in 2005. The Buddhist temple is built on the mountain with a drop of 122.8 meters. It is in the shape of a sitting Buddha. You can have a panoramic view of Jinghong City from the square in front of the ten thousand Buddha pagoda.

Great Buddha Temple

Located in the suburb of Jinghong City, the capital of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, Mengji Dafo temple is built according to the national AAAA scenic spot standard. Mengji Buddhist temple was rebuilt on the original site of jingpiao Buddhist temple, the royal temple of the ancient Dai Dynasty. "Jingpiao Buddhist temple" was built by a Dai king named Bolong in Dai history to commemorate nanshaweibian, who died of illness. The princess believed in Buddhism all her life, so every festival the Dai king came to the temple and held a large-scale Dharma meeting to commemorate her and promote Buddhism. According to historical records, "jingpiao Buddhist temple" was built in the Ming Dynasty. It is one of the landmark buildings symbolizing the 12th Banna of Southern Buddhism, and also an important place for Buddhist activities in Banna. The building was destroyed in the war in 2883 (1848 ad, Xianfeng years of Qing Dynasty), 169 years ago. The reconstruction of Mengji great Buddhist temple began in 2005. A large-scale land opening ceremony was held on March 9 of the same year. A grand foundation laying ceremony was held on May 9, 2005. During the construction of the main hall, a large number of silver coins, silver boxes and Buddhist ritual articles were excavated. On November 3, 2007, the first phase project of the Buddhist temple was completed. When it was completed, 108 eminent monks at home and abroad were invited to hold a grand opening ceremony for the Buddhist temple. As many as 650000 Buddhist believers from all ethnic groups participated in the opening ceremony. Covering an area of 400 mu, the Buddhist temple is built on the mountain, with a drop of 122.8 meters, in the shape of sitting Buddha, which is unique at home and abroad.

Mengbi great Buddhist temple, with the life of Sakyamuni and Buddhist temple activities as the main line, is skillfully integrated into the landscape and architectural groups, fully displaying the history and traditional cultural color of Southern Buddhism. Overlooking Jinghong City from the square in front of Wanfo pagoda, you can have a panoramic view of the beautiful tropical scenery.

Historical evolution

Mengji Dafo temple in Xishuangbanna is located in the end of No.1 highway in Jinghong resort area of Xishuangbanna to Nanlian mountain. It covers an area of 650 mu, with a construction area of 24000 square meters and a total investment of about 200 million yuan. It is built according to the national AAAA standard. Focusing on promoting "Southern Buddhism culture", the scenic spot inherits traditional culture in modern ways to meet the needs of modern tourists for viewing and experiencing history, Buddhism culture and regional culture.

social influence

Southern Buddhism has a profound influence on the politics, economy, culture and art of Dai society. Hundreds of long narrative poems of Dai nationality appeared after the introduction of Buddhism. The Dai Tibetan scriptures, known as 84000, are mostly engraved on the shell leaves, which are called the shell leaves scriptures.

All the Dai people in Xishuangbanna believe in Southern Buddhism. When the Dai boys are 8-10 years old, they have to go to the temple and live as monks. They learn to read and study there, and usually return home in 1-5 years.

Every important festival, such as the water splashing Festival, the closing Festival and the opening Festival, Dai people go to the Buddhist temple to visit the Buddha. In Xishuangbanna, Buddhist temples are all over the villages, almost one village for one temple or two villages for one temple, and their architectural styles are also different. Today, there are still more than 500 Buddhist temples and 200 pagodas in the Dai villages in Xishuangbanna. Mengji Buddhist temple is the largest of all Buddhist temples, and its position is also supreme. It is the Holy Land in the eyes of Dai people, and the demand of Buddhist culture and regional culture for viewing experience.

The abbot of the temple is hubalongzhuangmeng, the first Great Buddha of Southern Buddhism in China.

Buddhist culture

Most of the Dai people in Xishuangbanna believe in Theravada Buddhism. Buddhism first spread from India to the south, spread to Sri Lanka, and then spread to Southeast Asia, such as Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and China's Yunnan Dai Region. It belongs to Southern Buddhism, also known as Hinayana Buddhism. Because Hinayana Buddhism takes Pali as its classic language, it is also called Pali Buddhism. The Hinayana sect is divided into four sects: the popular sect, the Theravada sect, the saying everything sect and the Zhengliang sect. The upper part is popular in South and East India; the upper part is popular in northwest, central and West India; the upper part is popular in West and South India. It is said that some of them have also spread to Sumatra and Java, while the Zhengliang tribe also exists in central Vietnam.

The basic doctrines and theories of Hinayana Buddhism: "four truths" (bitter truths, collective truths, exterminating truths and Tao truths) are the basic theories of Buddhism. Buddhism believes that the eight sufferings of life, old age, illness and death in one's whole life, advocates self liberation, seclusion and practice, and finally achieves nirvana. It expects to get good reward through pursuing good deeds and accumulating virtue. According to the doctrine of Hinayana, there are two laws that can not be violated, one is Buddhism and the other is king's law. Therefore, Hinayana has a close relationship with the political rulers in the areas where it spreads, which makes the spread of this religion have two characteristics: first, it spreads from top to bottom, and the religion is strongly advocated and supported by the ruling forces; second, it has a national character in the areas where it spreads, and has a great influence on the people's politics, economy and culture Profound and huge impact.

Layout structure

The Buddhist monks in the upper part of Xishuangbanna: the Buddhist monks in the upper part of Xishuangbanna are mainly divided into three levels: "pa" (shaminoshi), "Du" (biqiu), "Huba" (elder or elder of Dutong). When the man was seven or eight years old, his parents sent him to the Buddhist temple to study sutras and prepare for "pa", which is called "Keyong" in Dai language. After he had learned several sets of sutras that he had to learn, he invited a good master to choose a good day to become a monk, which was called "pa". When "pa" reached the age of 20, his level of Buddhism improved greatly, and I was unwilling to return to the secular world. I applied and passed the central Buddhist examination With the consent of the abbot of the temple, I can be promoted to "Du". When "Du" is over 30 years old, I would like to be a monk all my life, and I have deep Buddhist attainments. With my application and the consent of the chief Buddhist temple of Xishuangbanna, the then zhaopianling, the chief Buddhist temple of Meng, and the chieftain of Meng, I can be promoted to "HuJiao shaped Pagoda with dense eaves". These towers are basically made of brick, coated with lime and paint, mostly solid. There is a Buddhist niche in the base of each small tower, in which there is a clay phoenix flying in the air. "Ba".

Buddhist architecture of the Dai nationality in Xishuangbanna: hundreds of years ago, Hinayana Buddhism was introduced into Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, and became the religion of the Dai people. Buddhist temple buildings can be seen everywhere here. Almost every village has a Buddhist temple, and some Buddhist temples have pagodas beside them. Buddhist temples and pagodas have become the center of Dai People's life and the temple in the eyes of the world. Buddhist architectural art has also become the precious cultural and artistic wealth of Dai people.

architectural style

The Dai Buddhist temples in Xishuangbanna are mainly built with double eaves and flat tiles. Most of the Buddhist temples are square, facing east from the West. The roof slope is made of three layers. The nave is high, and the East and west sides decrease, and rise and fall alternately. The roof is made of rectangular shingles with tail hooks on flat bamboo rafters. The ridge between the main ridge of the roof and the eaves is smoothed with lime, and various tile decorations are arranged on it. The tile decoration on the main ridge is flame like, and the image of Phoenix stands at the head of the ridge, with a unique style. The interior of each temple is composed of three parts: Buddha seat, monk seat and Scripture desk.

Most of the statues of Sakyamuni on the Buddha's seat are sitting statues. Buddha's ears are strange, big and wide, in the shape of "<". With thin figure, beautiful eyes and hands on knees, it reveals a mysterious atmosphere and makes people curious about the history of Dai nationality.

Besides or near the Buddhist temple, the gate pavilion through which you enter the pagoda is also unique. On one side of a double eaves herringbone roof, another roof is built at a right angle, which is connected together to form a gate Pavilion. Under the eaves, there are only pillars to support, no walls, extending in all directions for people to go out and in. Although it is a repetitive building, due to the ingenious layout, it shows the special architectural style of Dai people.

Main features

From this we can see the remarkable characteristics of Dai architecture. That is, none of these buildings has columns embedded in the walls. Most of them have pagodas. Pagodas mainly include: Burmese bell shaped pagoda, pavilion shaped pagoda, Tai jingangzuo pagoda, octagonal Pagoda with dense eaves. These towers are basically made of brick, coated with lime and paint, mostly solid.

The manfeilong Pagoda in Jinghong City is a Tai style Vajra pagoda. Designed by three Indian Buddhist missionaries and built by the head of the Dai nationality, the pagoda, which looks like bamboo shoots, was built in 1204 ad, more than 800 years ago. The base of the tower is plum shaped, with a circumference of 42.6 meters and a main tower height of 16.29 meters. There are eight small towers around it, with a height of 9.1 meters and octagonal distribution. The tower is multi-layer gourd shaped. There is a Buddhist niche in the base of each small tower, in which there is a clay phoenix flying in the air. The whole tower is immaculate and beautiful. It is a national key cultural relic protection unit and a tourist attraction.

Restoration and reconstruction

Mengji Buddhist temple was rebuilt on the original site of jingpiao Buddhist temple, the royal temple of the ancient Dai Dynasty. "Jingpiao Buddhist temple" was built by a Dai king named Bolong in Dai history to commemorate nanshaweibian, who died of illness. The princess believed in Buddhism all her life, so every festival the Dai king came to the temple and held a large-scale Dharma meeting to commemorate her and promote Buddhism

Chinese PinYin : Meng Le Da Fo Si