Longxing Temple

Longxing Temple

Longxing Temple, located at the foot of rizing peak of Fenghuang Mountain in the north of Fengyang County, Anhui Province, was built by the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty in 1383. It is a royal temple of the Ming Dynasty.

In 1981, it was listed as the key cultural relics protection unit in Anhui Province, and Longxing Temple is the key open temple in China, which was rated as the national AAA scenic spot..

Historical evolution

Longxing Temple, formerly known as Yuhuang temple, was built as early as the Northern Song Dynasty.

During the song and Jin wars, it was destroyed by the Jin people and then restored.

The temple was destroyed in the Song Mongolian war, and monks fled everywhere to avoid the war.

In the Yuan Dynasty, Xuan, a monk who fled from the temple, returned to the site of the temple and rebuilt it.

In 1344, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, became a monk in Yuhuang temple.

In 1352, it was destroyed by fire.

In 1383, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict to rebuild the temple. Because the former site of the temple was too close to the mausoleum, it was inconvenient to burn and repair, so it was rebuilt in another place.

In September of the 16th year of Hongwu, the reconstruction of Huangsi was completed. Zhu Yuanzhang named it "Longxing Temple"

During the reign of Jianwen, Sun Yue, the commander of the Chinese army, once demolished the timber of Longxing Temple to build warships when he led the troops in Fengyang.

In April of the first year of Yongle, Sun Yue, the commander of the Chinese army, was dismissed for damaging the Longxing Temple.

In April of the third year of Yongle, Longxing Temple was restored.

In the fifth year of Zhengtong, Longxing Temple was on fire.

In the third year of Tianshun, Longxing Temple was restored.

In the fifth year of Zhengde, Longxing Temple was on fire.

In the early years of Wanli, the mountain gate and main hall were restored.

In the 37th year of Wanli, Zhang Daxiao, the magistrate of Fengyang, and others raised more than 3000 liang of money to repair the Longxing Temple.

In the first year of the apocalypse, Jin Gong, the eunuch of Fengyang garrison, built an additional Zen hall to collect the imperial objects given to Longxing Temple by the emperors and queens of the Ming Dynasty.

In the eighth year of Chongzhen period, the peasant army captured Fengyang and burned Longxing Temple.

In the 12th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi, Yin Fan Shixiu of Fenglu and Zhang Qinwen of Fengyang rebuilt Longxing Temple.

In the 20th year of Kangxi's reign, Geng Jizhi, the magistrate of Fengyang, donated money to supplement the Scriptures and made brocade letters for storage.

In the 54th year of Kangxi reign, Yin Baoqian, the magistrate of Fengyang, donated his salary to rebuild Longxing Temple.

During the reign of Qianlong, Yin youbashi of Fenglu road and Xiang Zhang of Fengyang Prefecture repaired Longxing Temple.

During the reign of Daoguang, Wu Chi, a Taoist in Fenglu, donated money to build Longxing Temple.

In the third year of Xianfeng, the northern expedition of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom set fire to Longxing Temple.

In the eighth year of Tongzhi, Fengyang Prefecture magistrate fan Yunpeng and county magistrate Yu Xi donated to Guanyin hall and Hakka hall, while Zou donated to Buddhism hall.

In the second year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, Liu Xianwen, the commander, donated the three treasures hall.

In the fifth year of Guangxu reign, Fengyang magistrate Chengshan raised funds to build the three treasures hall, the scroll Gallery, the Ji hall, the Ming Taizu hall, and the Zen hall.

Guangxu eight years, Fengying Dao Yin Ren Lansheng, donated repair hall, ship hall, Zhongting

In the 14th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, Fengying Daoyin was appointed Lansheng and donated to build Longxing Temple.

In the thirty first year of the Republic of China, Fengyang County Magistrate raised 200000 yuan to repair Longxing Temple. The provincial governors Ni Bingwen and Gao Guanwu, Fengyang County Magistrate Qin Songting and Fengyang district governors all donated money. Wuhu County, Sixian County, Huaiyuan County, Wuhe County, Quanjiao County, he County, Bo County, Jiashan County, Dangtu County, Suxian County, Chuxian county and other Japanese puppet governments, Fengyang primary schools, local tax bureaus and other units, renovation hotels, Daxin company, dashengbuzhuang, leather company, Zhongfu company, Gongtai soy sauce garden, Baoxing flour factory, Xinfeng flour factory, Wanxing No. and other enterprises and individuals donated money one after another. Longxing Temple was restored in October that year.

In 1959, the people's Government of Anhui Province allocated 30000 yuan to rebuild Longxing Temple.

During the cultural revolution, Longxing Temple was seriously damaged by the red guards.

In 1977, the County Cultural Bureau reported that Longxing Temple should be put under the administration of the cultural relics department. Soon, the county cultural relics management office was stationed.

In 1981, the people's Government of Anhui Province declared Longxing Temple as a key cultural relic protection unit at the provincial level.

In 1993, master Huiqing, the director of Jiuhuashan centenary palace, was hired by Fengyang government to become the director of Longxing Temple. In this regard, master Huiqing went to Taiwan, Myanmar, Hong Kong and other places as the host of Longxing Temple to raise funds for restoration.

Architectural pattern

When the temple was first built, it was large-scale, covering an area of 1282.5 mu. It is said that "monks and children ride the Mountain Gate of Maguan". The temple was built by a famous craftsman in Zhongdu, with fine carving, great regulation and high level. It is one of the important buildings in Zhongdu. The scale of temples and pavilions is magnificent. According to the records of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, there are 381 Buddhist halls, Dharma halls and monk houses. In addition, the inscription of Longxing Temple made by Zhu Yuanzhang and the stele of "the first mountain" made by Zhu Yuanzhang increased the dignity of Longxing Temple.

At that time, it was described as "long live mountain in the west of Fancha" and "the palace of the Vatican king". In the temple, there were pictures of Zhu Yuanzhang, iron statues, bronze Buddha, bronze wok and inscriptions. There was also a royal Book Pavilion, in which there was a stone tablet of Ming Taizu's "first mountain" calligraphy.

Inscription of poems

There are many famous poems and CI inscriptions in Ming and Qing Dynasties. At present, there are more than 20 halls and pavilions, covering an area of several mu. The red walls and yellow tiles are hidden in the bamboo groves. There are "Longxing ancient temple" memorial archways and "everyone is happy" memorial tablets. In the Ming Dynasty, there are four copper woks with a height of 1.45 meters and a mouth diameter of 1.64 meters. There is a copper drum with a height of 1.11 meters and a mouth diameter of 1.01 meters. There is a copper bell with a height of 1.11 meters.

The Ming Dynasty Wanli stone tablet and other cultural relics are still in good condition. There are two Ming Dynasty cultural relics exhibition halls in the temple, which are open to the outside world. Longxing Temple has been rebuilt three times since it was built. The last one was built under the auspices of monk Huiqing Gong, a centenary monk in Jiuhua Mountain, Anhui Province. It has built 200 mountain gates, Daxiong hall, Tianwang hall, Dabei Pavilion, Taizu hall, dizang hall, Buddha chanting hall, sutra collection building and Buddha chanting hall, Zen hall and squatters, with a construction area of 6910 square meters. Among them, the main building Daxiong hall is 31 meters wide, 22 meters deep and 21 meters high, with a grand scale and magnificent momentum, which can be called the top of Anhui temples. After reconstruction in 1996, the opening ceremony was held, and famous temples in China and Southeast Asia gathered in Fengyang.

The four huge copper pots outside the hall are said to be used by monks for cooking. It's not hard to imagine that there were many monks in those days. In front of the hall, there were ancient locust trees on both sides of the East and the west, which added luster to the ancient temple. Inside the hall, there were Ming Dynasty bronze drums and bronze casting bells, which witnessed the royal temple.

geographical position

Longxing Temple is located in the north of Fengyang City, Anhui Province.

Folklore

The most important influence of Longxing Temple on Tianxia temple is the sitting posture of the statue of the four great kings in Tianwang hall. It is said that the four heavenly kings in the temple of heavenly kings were all standing on their feet.

And the four heavenly kings of Longxing Temple "first" sat down. From then on, the four heavenly kings of new temples all over the world also sat down one after another. As for why the four heavenly kings took the posture of sitting, there is a very interesting folklore. It is said that Zhu Yuanzhang had a strange disease when he was young, and he cried day and night.

His parents had no money to seek medical treatment, so they had to seek Buddhism and were willing to convert to Buddhism. After that, the child's illness got better. So when Zhu Yuanzhang was ten years old, he became a monk in Huangjue temple. He started from the lowest chores, carrying water and firewood to sweep the Buddhist hall every day.

When sweeping the temple of heavenly kings, it was not easy to sweep the floor because the four heavenly kings stood upright and their legs were like pillars. As he swept, he called out, "feet up!" Sure enough, it was "the jade words of your mouth." the four heavenly kings actually put their feet up and sat down. After that, the newly-built temples all over the world followed suit, and the Four Heavenly Kings also sat down.

Cultural relics

The main hall, also known as the three treasures hall, is located in front of the gate of the mountain, and the foundation stone of the old site is still in place. In the third year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, three couplets were donated to the Sanbao hall. In the fifth year, one couplet was added to the scroll gallery and the East and West rooms of the hall. It was rebuilt in 31 years of the Republic of China.

It was rebuilt in 1959, basically keeping the old view. In the middle of the hall is a bronze statue of Sakyamuni, six feet high. In front of the statue is a long table for worshiping incense. In the back of the statue is a clay mound with exquisite overlapping caves. On it is a story of Buddhist monks and disciples learning from scriptures. On the top is a ROC bird. There is a standing statue of Guanyin behind the mountain shelf. There is a dark room on both sides of the hall.

There are nine clay statues of arhat on the platform. In the East is dragon subduing, in the west is tiger subduing. They are collectively called eighteen Arhats. In the north wall, there is a Buddha. In the East is Manjusri, riding an elephant. In the west is Puxian, riding a lion. At the beginning of the "Cultural Revolution", all the cultural relics in the hall were destroyed, only the empty hall remained.

In 1968, the temple was occupied by the County Civil Affairs Bureau, and the main hall was changed into the foundry of Wuyi comprehensive factory; in 1975, the temple was occupied by the county agricultural machinery training class, and the main hall was changed into a classroom. In December 1981, it was taken back by the county cultural relics administration as a cultural relics display site. Today, the main hall is 25 meters long from east to west, 12 meters deep from north to South and about 9 meters high. The flat roof tiles and the outer wall of the scroll corridor were rebuilt during the "Cultural Revolution". The word "Longxing Temple" is embedded in the forehead of the gate, which was moved from the mountain gate. The internal roof truss of the hall was rebuilt in the Republic of China. Its structure is seven frames, front porch and back two steps. The moon under the porch is decorated with peony patterns. Two flat buckets are set on the top to support the stringer and the screw rafter. The front eaves column stands on the drum type pillar base stone, and there are hanging on the column, its decoration is flowers and animals, and there are curling grass type arch

Chinese PinYin : Long Xing Si