Kaiyuan Temple

Kaiyuan Temple

Kaiyuan Temple is located between mount Hu and mount Pu in Meiyuan, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province. It is said that it was built in the Tang Dynasty, but it can not be confirmed. In 1936, chongdesheng donated more than 100000 yuan, Yuantouzhu Guangfu temple was built with the help of monks, and then destroyed. In 1983, it began to recover, rebuild and build the Tianwang hall, Daxiong hall, Pilu hall, jade Buddha building, sutra building, nianfo hall, bell tower, Drum Tower, Guanyin hall, dizang hall, monk's house, fangyechi, etc. In 1991, the Jade Buddha building was completed in Chongyang, and the restoration of Kaiyuan Temple has been basically completed.

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Basic introduction

Kaiyuan Temple is located at the foot of Meiyuan mountain in Wuxi City. Founded by monk LiangRu in 1930, the 24 Mu foundation was donated by Mr. Rong Desheng. It was officially completed in 1933. It was interrupted in 1958 and the palace was destroyed. The restoration was approved by the provincial and municipal people's governments in June 1983.

The temple is built in accordance with the normal practice of the Han nationality in China. From the south to the north, there are Tianwang hall, Pilu hall, Daxiong hall and Sutra collection building in the main axis, and there is another Jade Buddha building in the northeast. There are bell tower, Drum Tower, Guanyin hall, dizang hall, ancestral hall, Zhaitang, Chafang, nanmu hall and other buildings on the East and west sides of the main axis. Now it covers an area of 15 mu.

The temple has friendly contacts with international friends. The bronze Maitreya Buddha presented by Thai friends, the bell tower and bronze bell funded by Japan, the Burmese jade Reclining Buddha raised by British believers, the second volume of Huayan Sutra Sanpin written by monk Shouye of the United States, and the first volume of the Qing Qianlong version of the Tibetan Sutra presented by Mr. Rong Zhijian fully demonstrate the unique style of Kaiyuan Temple.

Reconstruction process

Kaiyuan Temple was rebuilt by monk LiangRu in 1930 with a foundation of more than 20 mu, which was donated and purchased by Mr. Rong Desheng. The temple is complete and has four deep buildings. It was officially completed in 1933. At that time, believers gathered and the incense was strong. In 1947, monk LiangRu founded Wuxi Han Tibetan Buddhist College in the temple. It was broken in 1958 and restored with the approval of the provincial and municipal people's Government in June 1983.

Temple Landscape

bell tower

On the left front side of the main hall of Kaiyuan Temple, there is a bell tower and a Sanskrit bell. The bell tower was designed by Mingshi Civil Engineering Co., Ltd. at the top, the original copper plate roof was changed into a glazed tile roof, which became a Sino Japanese mixed bell tower. It was named "Pingfeng bell tower" and inscribed by Wei Tianchi. The Fanzhong was made by Yanze Fanzhong Co., Ltd. of Jingdu city and installed in December 1985. There are inscriptions on the Vatican bell and Zhao Puchu's ode that "the sound of the Dharma has spread all over the world and the friendship has been passed on for hundreds of millions of years".

temple bell

According to the moon, shuozuo wrote the inscription "you can enjoy the temple's success, and the Chinese whale blows to the sky in Wuxi". The Fanzhong is 2.4 meters high, 1.3 meters in diameter and 3.66 tons in weight. It imitates the style of Tang bell in China. Its sound quality is heavy and its aftertone is as long as one minute. On the new year's day of 1986, Gu Hongzhizhu and other Japanese friends formed a Japanese spring welcoming group to visit Kaiyuan Temple. The mayor of Wuxi and people from religious circles attended the inauguration ceremony of pinglai bell. Master long Xianshi struck the bell 108 times and loudly expressed his thanks to the guests: "the sound of the bell will spread to thousands of miles. May the sound of Sakya Shizun's benevolent garden be transmitted to every corner of China and Japan forever. May the friendship between China and Japan be inherited from generation to generation. ".

Maitreya Buddha

Maitreya Buddha, the great bronze Buddha worshipped in the Tianwang Hall of Kaiyuan Temple, was honored in October 1985. Thailand's 18th monk King Pai Alaya Wong shakatayan presided over the ceremony of casting Buddha statues in the lachabupi temple. The designer of the Buddha statues was master baitiga paiyagong. The Buddha statues are different from the Chinese Maitreya Buddha statues in that the nose is high and sharp, the eye socket is concave, and the left hand holds the Buddha beads. The Chinese Buddha statues are big and round, the eyes are smiling, and the left hand presses the knee. The statue is made of bronze. It is 2.5 meters tall, 1.64 meters in diameter and weighs 5 tons net. The lotus seat is engraved with Thai scriptures and instructions, to the effect that: "in 1980, the Thai Chinese Friendship Association made a vow to make a Buddha for China, and in March 1984, it cast three statues of chinnara Buddha, namely (Sakyamuni Buddha), one of Guanyin Buddha and one of Maitreya Buddha." The large bronze statue of Maitreya Buddha in Kaiyuan Temple is one of the five and the largest one in the city, symbolizing the friendship between the people of China and Thailand.

Chanting Buddha Hall

(nanmu Hall)

Jinsi nanmu Hall of Kaiyuan Temple was granted by Emperor Shunzhi. It is the former residence of the three emperors. Now it is located in the forbidden gate of Kaiyuan Temple. It is the first of the four halls of the temple. It is the place to understand life and death. Generally, it does not receive Buddhist activities. The Abbot's permission is required to hold Buddhist activities.

The origin of Buddha statue

Maitreya Buddha in the heavenly king hall of Kaiyuan Temple is a gold-plated bronze statue, weighing 5 tons, 25 meters high and 164 meters in diameter. It was presented by Thailand China Friendship Association and invited to the temple in October 1985. The "Pingfeng" bell tower and the Buddhist bell in the temple were donated by master wenlai of Moshan yuezhao temple. The Sanskrit bell is 24 meters high, 13 meters in diameter and weighs 366 tons. The body of the bell is engraved with eulogies written by Zhao Puchu and Yue zhaoshuo. The Jade Buddha building is 12 feet long and weighs 64 tons. It was ordered and presented to Kaiyuan Temple by the American Chinese life insurance master in Myanmar. It was welcomed into the temple in September 1989. There are 20 steles in Kaiyuan Temple, such as the stele of merit and fame, the stele of the origin of the Jade Buddha tower, and the stele of the Diamond Sutra.

Well preserved are waishanmen (reconstruction), neishanmen in Qing Dynasty, memorial archway, dongxigong, Chanyuan, Zhongting, Beiting, wuliangdian. The main hall of Liao Dynasty is the main building of the temple, with 9 rooms in width, 55 meters in length, 5 rooms in depth, 33 meters in width, 24 meters in total height, and more than 1800 square meters in construction area. It is the largest remains of ancient Chinese wooden buildings. "The seven Buddhas of the past" (vipo corpse, Shichu, visefu, keliusun, kanahamuni, Kaya and Sakyamuni) are all in one hall. They are still well preserved for thousands of years. There are not only incomparably beautiful Liao Dynasty seven Buddha statues (all over 9 meters high), 14 Bodhisattvas (more than 2.5 meters high), two heavenly kings, 21 sets of stone carvings, but also 42 Liao Dynasty painted flying Apsaras on Liang Jia, the most rare example of China's oldest architectural color painting in China. There are also exquisite murals of ten Buddhas, eight Bodhisattvas, eleven Avalokitesvara and eighteen Arhats painted in the yuan and Ming Dynasties. The only male statue of Avalokitesvara sitting upside down (3.8 meters high) in the Ming Dynasty is carved in wood in the Ming Dynasty.

There are 17 inscriptions in Jin, yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. There are dozens of tablets in the Qing Dynasty, among which, the Daxiong Hall (3.1 meters high and 1.52 meters wide), Falun Tiandi and moistening Shanhe (2.8 meters high and 1.78 meters wide) erected in the fifth year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty are the largest carved tablets in China, which are known as the famous tablets in China. Kaiyuan Temple integrates the historical, scientific, cultural and artistic values of Buddhism, ancient architecture, sculpture, painting, archaeology, etc. it is called the best of art treasures by experts and scholars.

The current Abbot

At present, master Nengchao, the abbot of Kaiyuan Temple, is 30 years old. He is also the Deputy Secretary General of Jiangsu Buddhist Association and the resident vice president of Wuxi Buddhist Association. At present, master Renjie is a 22-year-old from Jingxian County, Anhui Province.

Site: Meiyuan, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province

Address: Meiyuan, No.13 bianjiawan, Liangxi West Road, Binhu District, Wuxi City

Longitude: 120.22513221559

Latitude: 31.554864487569

Ticket information: no ticket required. The admission fee of Meiyuan is 60 yuan.

Chinese PinYin : Kai Yuan Si