Shandan great Buddhist temple

Shandan great Buddhist temple

Shandan great Buddhist temple is located at the foot of a high mountain 5 kilometers west of Shandan County, Zhangye City, Gansu Province. It was formerly known as "TUFO Temple". It was built in the Northern Wei Dynasty (425 A.D.), more than 1500 years ago. Zhuqi Town, Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, inscribed the plaque "earth Buddha" for the temple, hence the name of the temple. In history, the temple has been subjected to repeated wars and reconstruction, especially in 1971, the millennium old temple was almost destroyed by the "Cultural Revolution". Since 1992, master Shi Juehui, who was then the abbot, has spent more than 17 million yuan on the reconstruction of Shandan great Buddhist temple with the support and donation of Master Sheng Yi, a famous Buddhist activist of Baolian Buddhist temple in Hong Kong, and officially opened in 1998. The temple has the world's largest indoor clay seated Buddha. It is a national 4A scenic spot.

geographical position

Shandan County, Zhangye City, Gansu Province is located in a quiet and elegant place, with its back on Liao mountain, front on Longshoushan mountain, left on Qidian reservoir and right on qingquanpu field. In front of the temple, the terrain is flat and the vision is wide. The 6 square kilometers of water in the reservoir is clear and blue, lingering around the murmurmur, which makes Foshan more and more beautiful. In addition, 312 National Road, Lanxin double line side by side, convenient transportation, mountains and water, convenient patronage.

Map

Human history

Shandan great Buddhist temple was formerly known as tufo temple. It was built in the Northern Wei Dynasty (about 425 A.D.), and has been repaired many times in the past dynasties. After several generations, the temple suffered from the disaster of war, several times of reconstruction, several times of rise and fall. According to historical records, only in the 440 years from 1440 to 1887, it was repaired six times. Zhuqi Town, Yingzong of Ming Dynasty, once inscribed a plaque with the word "earth Buddha" for the temple.

Famous scenic spot

main hall

The main hall is a wooden pavilion with glazed tile top. It is 39 meters high, with a rectangular plane, 9 rooms in width and 7 rooms in depth. It has seven storeys, steep eaves and magnificent scenery.

Clay seated statue

It is 35 meters high. The whole body of the Buddha is painted in gold, and the face, hands, feet and chest are all gilded. The shape is realistic, the posture is beautiful, the lines are fluent and lifelike, and it has a sense of dignity, kindness and solemnity. It is praised as "the first Buddha in the world" by high-level Buddhist circles at home and abroad. According to the research, it is the most indoor sitting Buddha in the world. In the lotus seat, which is 3 meters high under the Great Buddha seat, there is a 1.7 meter high and 10 meter long passage with exit at both ends, which is called "Guansha cave".

Tianwang Hall

There are Maitreya Bodhisattva, Weituo Bodhisattva and the four heavenly kings in Tianwang hall. It is said that when Maitreya was born, the world was full of wind and sunshine, and abundant grain. The four heavenly kings symbolize "good weather". Bodhisattva Weituo is the Dharma protector of the temple.

Five hundred arhat Hall

On both sides of the front of the main hall are the five hundred Arhats hall, also known as the "Arhats hall". The so-called arhat is the abbreviation of arhat, which refers to the highest achievement of Buddhists. There are four kinds of achievements a Buddhist may achieve in his practice, each of which is called a "fruit position", namely "first fruit", "second fruit", "third fruit" and "fourth fruit". "Four fruits" are arohanguo. Those who receive this fruit will never be reincarnated and suffer from "reincarnation of life and death". The Luohan Hall of Shandan great Buddhist temple is divided into two halls, East and West, with a total of 500 Arhats. The five hundred Arhats are all carved from clay by skillful craftsmen, and each one is 0.5 meters high. Moreover, they sit or stand, think or smile, and are solemn or kind. They are all colorful and lifelike. None of them is the same,. In Shandan, there are several customs of arhat. On the fourth day of the fourth lunar month, people come to the temple in groups to offer incense and count Arhats in the arhat hall.

Guanyin Temple

Here is the three-dimensional color sculpture of "Eighteen Arhats, fifty-three ginseng islands" with "the boy worships Guanyin" as the main body. They all used clay, without any glue, to shape 150 statues of Buddha of different sizes. The sculpture here is divided into three layers: Heaven, earth and sea. The haggard and bony statue of the top "thirty three days" is the state of Sakyamuni's practice in the snow mountain before he became a Buddha, also known as "the Buddha". The bottom layer is the "sea", and the west side is the eighteen Arhats from the South China Sea to worship Guanyin. The Aoyu in the middle of Guanyin is said to be the king of the sea. The blink of eyes and the movement of tail may cause landslides, tsunamis, floods and earthquakes. Only Guanyin can control Aoyu and take the lead. Later, it also described the number one scholar as "leading the way".

Dizang Bodhisattva Hall

The Bodhisattva Hall of the king of Tibet worships the Bodhisattva of the king of Tibet who practices Buddhism in Jiuhua Mountain. Although "dizang" Bodhisattva has reached the goal of becoming a Buddha, he can ascend from Bodhisattva to Buddha. But he was instructed by Sakyamuni to spend his life after Sakyamuni entered heaven and before Maitreya came into the world. For this reason, he once made a great wish, that he must go through the six paths of reincarnation, save all kinds of suffering, and then become a Buddha. Therefore, its good name is "great wish dizang", and its great wish has four aspects: first, filial piety, that is, filial piety to parents; second, bear all suffering behaviors for all living beings; third, meet the needs of all living beings, make the earth grow; fourth, get rid of diseases; fifth, spend all living beings in hell. Otherwise, "vow not to become a Buddha.".

Other peripheral buildings

In front of the mountain gate, there are eighteen steps paved with big bluestones, which give people a sense of dignity. There are more than 120 simple and elegant houses in the vestibule and backyard of the temple. The statues of the two generals of hem HA and the four heavenly kings, which are more than Zhang high in the gate and corridor, have different shapes and are ready to appear.

Scenic activities

Every year on the fourth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, it is a temple fair of Shandan Dafo temple. At the turn of spring and summer, the wind and the scenery are bright, the tourists are like weaving, and the horses and chariots are associated with each other.

The national tourism scenic spot quality rating committee issued the announcement No.3 in 2013, and Shandan Dafo Temple scenic spot was successfully established as a national 4A scenic spot. This is another great achievement of the county's tourism industry development after Yanzhi mountain scenic spot was successfully established as a national 4A scenic spot.

In recent years, the county has built Shandan into a "Hexi tourism county" and an important site on the golden tourism line of the Silk Road with the five business cards of "yanzhifeng, Machang dream, Great Wall soul, ailiqing and Foshan edge" as the carrier. Dafosi scenic spot has become a national 4A scenic spot, which has added another national tourism card for the development of the county's tourism industry, effectively improved the quality of Shandan scenic spot, and expanded the reputation and popularity of "Expo holy land, colorful Shandan". "The successful establishment of Dafosi national 4A scenic spot not only marks the continuous improvement of the popularity, reputation and influence of Dafosi scenic spot, but also marks a new step in the development of Shandan tourism industry." Qi Jianjun, director of the County Tourism Bureau, said.

Offer information

On March 4, 2020, the Dafosi scenic spot in Shandan County will be open to all medical staff in the country free of charge after it is restored to operation until the end of 2020.

Address: Hexi village, Shilipu, Qingquan Town, Shandan County, Zhangye City, Gansu Province

Longitude: 101.02166

Latitude: 38.793622

Ticket information: ticket: 40 yuan

Opening hours: 8:00-18:00

Chinese PinYin : Shan Dan Da Fo Si