Baolian Temple

Baolian Temple

Baolian temple, the name of the temple, the more famous are Hong Kong Baolian temple and Baoshan Baolian temple. Po Lin monastery is the most famous jungle in Hong Kong. It is located in Ngong Ping plain, Lantau Island, between mount Phoenix and mount Maitreya. In front of the gate, there are muyufeng Temple of heaven Buddha and fahua tower on the left, and Lotus Mountain and Lion Rock on the right, which can be called the scenic spot of Lantau.

On November 13, 2018, Cha Liangyong (Jin Yong), the hero of martial arts novels, will be sent to Baolian temple for cremation after his funeral.

Brief introduction to the temple

Baolian temple was first built in 1924. After decades of hard work, today's temple buildings are majestic and magnificent, including the palace like main hall and the majestic king hall. The temple provides accommodation for visitors to watch the sunrise in Fenghuang mountain or for a short period of Qingxiu. The woods and paths are pleasant. There are more than 40 quiet rooms in the temple, such as the main hall, the three treasures, the Guanyin hall and the side hall. The main hall is decorated with red doors and green tiles. A new bronze statue of Sakyamuni, 26.4 meters high, has been cast on the top of Muyu mountain, which is opposite to the archway of Chan temple. It is called the Great Buddha of the temple of Heaven (0199). The statue was designed and produced by the Ministry of space science and technology of China. With three layers of the base of the Great Buddha, the total height is nearly 34 meters. It is the highest bronze statue in the world today.

Baolian Temple

In order to protect the Buddha, scientific and technological facilities are adopted in the inner part of the temple of heaven Buddha, so that the Buddha statue can be protected against lightning strike, typhoon, cold and hot effects, and sea breeze and salt fog erosion. In design and construction, the ancient culture and modern art are integrated, and traditional crafts and cutting-edge technology are integrated.

On the top of Muyu mountain, which is directly opposite to the memorial archway of Chan temple, there is a newly built bronze Buddha statue, the largest in the world, which is called the temple of heaven Buddha. Designed and produced by the Ministry of space science and technology of China, the statue, with a total height of nearly 34 meters, is a combination of religious art and cutting-edge technology. There are three floors of the base of the Buddha, with exhibition hall, etc. inside, there is a big bell, carved with Buddha statues and scriptures, etc. The clock is controlled by a computer. It is knocked every seven minutes for 108 times in order to "relieve 108 kinds of troubles".

Temple layout

From the United pier in central, Hong Kong, you can take a boat westward to Lantau, the largest outlying island in Hong Kong. Baolian temple, known as the "Buddhist kingdom of Nantian", is located here. The Ngong Ping plain on Lantau Island is surrounded by mountains with rolling hills and excellent scenery. At the end of the 19th century, three Zen masters from the mainland, Dayue, dunxiu and Yueming, practiced here. They first built a small stone house and covered it with a big thatched awning. They opened the door to the public. The commonly known "big thatched awning" is the predecessor of today's Baolian Temple. In 1913, Jixiu monk of Jiangtian temple in Jinshan, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, became the abbot of the temple. In 1924, Jixiu monk named the temple Baolian temple and built more temples. In 1928, a main hall was built. In 1930, after becoming abbot, master fake built a temple, a Mountain Gate archway, and inscribed a plaque of Baolian temple. After decades of hard work, the former Tea Garden Cottage has finally developed into today's towering building, hosting a variety of Dharma associations every year, with a growing reputation. Today's Baolian temple, the overall building magnificent, Zhumen green tiles, resplendent, shade covered, antique. In front of the temple, there is a stone archway with three rooms, four pillars and three floors. The plaque in the middle of the archway is engraved with the word "Baolian Temple". Behind the archway, there is a avenue leading to the gate of the temple. The main hall is dedicated to three golden Buddhas representing the past life, the present life and the afterlife, with 500 Arhats on the wall.

There are Maitreya hall, Weituo hall, Zutang, Qingxin hall, Prajna hall, rushetang, sutra Pavilion, Zhaitang, etc. There are more than 40 pavilions, pavilions and quiet rooms in the temple, which can be used by tourists for food and lodging, or for short-term renovation. The vegetarian vegetarian house of the temple is clean and delicious, which is a must for visitors.

In addition to the attraction of Baolian temple itself, it is also due to the temple of heaven Buddha in front of the temple. There is a peak on the left in front of Baolian temple, which looks like wooden fish knocked by monks, so it is called "wooden fish mountain". The world's largest outdoor bronze seated Buddha, the temple of heaven Buddha, is located at the top of the peak. The Buddha is made of copper. The height of the Buddha is 26.4 meters and the base is 7.55 meters. The total height is close to 34 meters. It covers an area of 6567 square meters and weighs 250 tons. Because its base imitates the design of the temple of heaven in Beijing, it is known as the "Great Buddha of the temple of heaven". There are three floors in the base of the Great Buddha. There is an exhibition hall to display various Buddhist works of art, murals, paintings and calligraphy. Inside, there is a big bell carved with Buddhist statues and scriptures. The statue of Buddha is magnificent and solemn, with a smile on its face, lotus eyes drooping, eyebrows like a crescent moon, snail hair topping, and extraordinary charm. When the sky is clear, it can also be seen in Macao, which can be called the new landmark landscape of Hong Kong.

The foundation area of the Buddha is 2239 square meters. It has three floors, namely, Gongde hall, fajie hall and memorial hall. In Gongde hall, a Bodhisattva, the king of Tibetans, carved from 500 year old nanmu, stands on the lotus seat with a staff. The whole Buddha statue stands on the thousand leaf Golden Lotus carved out in the form of particles. It is solemn and vivid. This layer shows four paintings of vibana Xana, a four Sri Lankan mage, describing the birth of Sakyamuni Buddha, his becoming Tao, his first turning to Falun and nirvana. On the first floor is the Dharma Realm hall. There is a woodcut version of Hua Yan's view made of white olive wood. A collection of the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire and earth, which are the most primitive materials in the world's art, are used to iron lines with a pen, and then color them with mineral pigments. All the Bodhisattvas from huiyunlai are gathered to listen to the Scriptures. A total of 160 Bodhisattvas with different expressions were completed after seven years. The third floor is a memorial hall dedicated to the Buddha's relic, which was welcomed back to Hong Kong by Sri Lanka in 1992. It is said that more than 84000 colorful crystals were left after Sakyamuni's nirvana 2500 years ago, which is the result of Buddha's successful practice. At present, China and Sri Lanka are the only countries in the world that treasure Buddhist relics. The two relics placed in the memorial hall are like grains of rice in size. They are two meters in diameter and weigh six tons. On the outer wall of the bell are statues of Buddha, fingerprints and scriptures, symbolizing the elimination of 108% of human troubles.

The six graceful bronze statues around the temple of heaven Buddha are called the offering of liutianmu. The offerings are flowers, incense, lamp, painting, fruit and music. They represent the six Buddhas: giving, keeping precepts, enduring humiliation, striving, meditation and wisdom. The six boromi practitioners can climb the other side of nirvana in the bitter sea of life and death.

Architectural features

Tiantan Giant Buddha, the world's largest bronze seated Buddha, is located beside the temple, towering on Muyu peak. It was built by Baolian Buddhist temple in 1970. The statue, weighing about 250 metric tons and 34 meters high, sits on a three-story altar. It is made of bronze and has a gold face of more than 4 jin.

There is a "Ditan" in front of the entrance and exit of the temple, facing under the Great Buddha of the temple of heaven, which is in line with the ancient Chinese theory of "Tiannan Dibei" and has the function of echo wall.

On July 1, 1997, before the handover of sovereignty to Hong Kong, a "return to Baoding" was placed under the temple of heaven Buddha. It means to worship the temple of heaven Buddha. "Return to Baoding" was specially cast to commemorate the handover of sovereignty to the people's Republic of China. The tripod has the Hong Kong regional emblem Bauhinia relief, with clouds above and waves below, implying that after the handover of sovereignty, Hong Kong will return to the earth in spring and prosper. Therefore, the chief executive of Hong Kong, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, inscribed "fragrant island in spring".

There are many buildings with Chinese traditional characteristics in the temple, such as the main hall of chongxie peak style building, the white memorial archway beside the Ditan and the fahua tower on the hillside of muyufeng.

Big Buddha

Ordinary Buddha statues always sit facing south. Only the Great Buddha in the temple of heaven in Hong Kong sits facing "the Buddha's heart to the north" and faces Beijing. There is a story in it. Zhao's relationship with Baolian temple can be traced back to 1955. That year, Zhao Pu Lao visited Hong Kong and was warmly received by the Buddhist community in Hong Kong. The place of reception was Baolian temple. Baolian Temple invited monks from all temples on Lantau Island to hold a grand welcome banquet for him. Zhao also wrote a pair of couplets at that time, which implied the word "Baolian": "the seven precious trees appear with fate, and the four-color lotus flowers are open." In the late 1980s, after visiting the temple of heaven in Beijing, Master Sheng Yi, the abbot of Baolian temple in Hong Kong, and the wise master of Jianyuan, decided to build a giant Buddha on Lantau Island. The Buddha seat was designed to imitate the temple of heaven. After the Buddha seat was built, the construction of the Great Buddha was stranded due to lack of funds. Later, the Japanese proposed that they should make it free of charge, but Baolian temple was prepared to agree. Before signing the agreement, Zhao Puchu, chairman of the Buddhist Association of China, heard about it and immediately called overnight to stop it. Baolian Temple declined the Japanese side and immediately sent people to Beijing to discuss. Old Zhao Pu asked them, how much money do you have to build a Buddha? They said that they could only give 30 million Hong Kong dollars if they lost their property. Zhao said, "OK, I'll think about the rest.". In the end, we raised money for them through fundraising.

Zhao Pu selected the manufacturer to build the Buddha. At that time, many units in the mainland took part in the bidding competition for Buddha building. After comparison, Zhao Pu Lao personally determined the Nanjing Chenguang Machinery Factory of the Ministry of space of China, "because they can go to heaven, they are asked to build a" heaven in heaven "on the temple of heaven." ——- "heaven in heaven" is another honorific name of Buddha. Under Zhao's mediation and coordination, the Ministry of space also reduced the project cost

Chinese PinYin : Bao Lian Si