Yijing Temple

Yijing Temple

On October 26, 2011, at 9:00 a.m., the sky was high and clear. Yijing temple in Changqing District, Jinan City, Shandong Province held a grand opening ceremony. Master Jue Zhao, vice president of Hebei Buddhist Association, master Renchang, vice president of Shandong Buddhist Association, master Chang Jing, abbot of Yijing temple and other mountain elders jointly presided over the Kaiguang ceremony.

Yijing Temple

Yijing temple, located on Tongming mountain in Zhangxia town of Changqing, Jinan, is the ancestral court of master Yijing in Tang Dynasty.

In the history of Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty, only master Yijing was a great figure comparable to Xuanzang, and he was also a monk who went west to seek Dharma. He is known as the "three great Buddhist monks" together with master Faxian of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty. He is also known as the "four great translators" together with kumaroshi of the post Qin Dynasty, master Zhendi of the Liang Dynasty and Xuanzang. His works have been translated into French, English, Japanese and other languages. Today, more than a thousand years later, in the land where Master Yijing once lived in Wuxi, in order to remember master Yijing and inherit his Great Bodhi wish of promoting Dharma and life, the merciful Master Chang Jing leads his disciples to restore and rebuild the Yijing temple. With the painstaking leadership of master and the protection of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, the first phase of the temple restoration project has been basically completed in just over a year. Among the pines and cypresses, a solemn and magnificent temple has been completed. Every day in the temple, with the sound of morning bell and evening drum, the sound of Buddhist music and fragrant clouds, people stop in the temple. They are very happy and often forget to return. They admire that there is such a holy mirror in Tongming mountain

Temple eminent monk

Master Renchang

Master Chang Jing

Location of Siyuan

Jinan City, Shandong Province, take national highway 104, about 600 meters south of Zhangxia toll station, turn left at the signpost of "Yijing Temple" in xiaoshiqiao, and follow the direction of "Yijing Temple" signpost to reach Yijing temple.

Address: Zhangxia village, Zhangxia Town, Changqing District, Jinan (wofoshan)

Introduction to Yijing

Yijing (635-713) was born in the ninth year of Zhenguan (635) of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty in a villa around Chi county (now Zhangxia Town, Changqing District, Jinan City).

Yijing's father and mother both believed in Buddhism. They lived by farming and reading, and were well-known for doing good deeds. His ancestors once served as a sheriff of the eastern Qi Dynasty. Later, when they saw the chaos of war and jackals in power, they lived in seclusion. In the two generations of grandfather and father, they both abided by the instructions of their ancestors and lived in seclusion in a remote mountain village beside the city. A few thatched cottages, a few thin fields, close to mountains and rivers, surrounded by green shade. When the farm work is busy, every day with the farmer for company, the villagers and neighbors get along well, help each other, regardless of you and me. Usually, I teach my children to read, recite sutras and worship Buddhism, but I have a happy life.

In the history of Buddhism, Yijing in Tang Dynasty, together with Faxian and Xuanzang in Eastern Jin Dynasty, is known as "the three great monks of seeking Dharma". He is also known as "the four great translators" together with jiumoloshi in later Qin Dynasty, Zhenji in Liang Dynasty and Xuanzang. His works are even translated into French, English and Japanese. It's a pity that "blossoming in the wall and fragrant outside the wall" is rarely known in his hometown Jinan.

In her later years, Yijing lived in dajianfu Temple (where the little wild goose pagoda is in today's Xi'an) and was bedridden. The disciples specially asked the painter to draw a portrait for him, and later wrote the portrait praise for him by Tang Ruizong. In the first month of the second year of congenital birth (713), Yi jingzou asked him to return to his hometown. The emperor sent the prison and officials to express his sympathy and allowed him to return to Qizhou. He wrote a suicide note in his illness, earnestly exhorting his disciples: "Qi Zhou Gu Mei, all relatives, and said to live well." However, he did not return to Jinan to meet his sister. He died on the 17th of the first month of that year. He was 79 years old and had been a monk for 59 years.

Emperor Tang granted him the official title of "Honglu Temple minister" and buried him outside Yanxing gate of Chang'an. He built a pagoda here and ordered doctor Guanglu and Marquis Lu can to write the preface to the inscriptions of master Yijing of Sanzang in the great Tang Dynasty, which was written by eminent monk Zhiye. Later, in recognition of Yi Jing's translation of "the golden light is the best king's Scripture", he built a temple around the pagoda and named it the golden light temple. When Tang Zhongzong ascended the throne and restored the title of the Tang Dynasty, he personally wrote the preface to the three Tibetan holy teachings in Longxing of the Tang Dynasty in memory of Yijing's merits in translating scriptures. Obviously, he imitated the way of the preface to the three Tibetan holy teachings in the Tang Dynasty written by Tang Taizong for Xuanzang. At that time, Yijing can also be called "three Tibetan scriptures of the Tang Dynasty" and juxtaposed with Xuanzang.

Yijing's works

Biography of eminent monk seeking Dharma in western regions of Tang Dynasty

Biography of Nanhai Jigui Neifa

Preface to the inscriptions on the altar of Shaolin Temple

A thousand characters of fantang

The influence of world Buddhism

In the history of Chinese Buddhism, master Yijing (635-713), together with master Faxian of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and master Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty, are known as the "three great monks" in ancient China, and together with master kumaroshi of the later Qin Dynasty, master Zhendi of Liang Chaode and master Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty, they are known as the "four great translators" in ancient China. His works have been translated into English, French, Japanese, Korean and other languages, which have had an important impact on the world Buddhism. At the same time, in the new situation today, it is of great significance to strengthen the research, inheritance and promotion of master Yijing's Dharma vein for the construction of contemporary Buddhism in China.

Peaceful deeds of teachers and students

Master Yijing (635-713), with a common surname of Zhang, was born in Shanchi, Qizhou (now Zhangxia, Changqing, Jinan). His life is full of legends, but limited to space, we can only make a brief description from several aspects.

1. Monks (641-660): the main activity area is near Qizhou (now Changqing, Jinan).

In 641 ad, master Yijing was seven years old. In this year, he became a monk in Tuku temple, 40 miles west of Qizhou city. His teacher was the good encounter master, and his master was Huizhi Zen master. In 655 ad, master Yijing was 21 years old. Take Huizhi Zen master as the monk of precepts and receive the full precepts. In the following five years, he "refined the rules and regulations" and kept strict precepts. He imitated Toutuo, begged for food to live, ate in the middle of the day, and often sat down. At the age of 15, master Yijing had a dream to go to India to seek Dharma.

2. Study tour (660-671): the main activity area is in Chang'an (today's Xi'an, Luoyang) and its surrounding areas.

In 660 ad, master Yijing was 26 years old. Zen master Huizhi ordered him to study abroad. It is "Zhang Xi in the Eastern Wei Dynasty, quite absorbed in duifa and zhulun; he collected in Xijing, and then read and thought about jushe and Weizhi.". Until 670 ad, master Yijing was 36 years old. He met Chu Yi, Hong Yi and other monks in Chang'an and made an appointment to go west to seek Dharma. In the autumn of this year, master Yijing returned to Qizhou and asked Master Yu Huizhi to help him. He was praised by his teacher.

3. Qiufa (671-695): the main active areas are in the South China Sea, such as Nalanda and Sri Lanka.

In 671 ad, master Yijing was 37 years old. In November of that year, he left for India on a Persian ship alone. From then on, he began a 25-year journey of seeking Dharma in more than 30 countries.

During this period, master Yijing was robbed twice and went through thousands of dangers. It is worth mentioning that he studied in nalandao temple for 11 years. First, he traveled around Buddhist relics. Such as nalantao, Dajue temple, abbot, Jieshi City, Luyuan, Jiling, Jiufeng Mountain, etc. The second is to invite famous teachers to study various Buddhist scriptures and collect various Sanskrit sutras to be brought back to China. At that time, there were five or six teachers like master Zhiyue and baoshizi Dade. Master Yijing not only studied the popular theories of Zhongguan, yoga, Yinming and jushe, but also studied the discipline very hard. The third is to observe and record the rules in nalandao temple, the daily life of monks, and even some very small features in the temple buildings. He even drew a picture of nalandao temple, but it is lost now. It provides living materials for his later writing biography of the return of the inner law in the South China Sea. Fourth, contact the Chinese Buddhist monks in India at that time and record their deeds. Later, he finally wrote the biography of eminent monks seeking Dharma in the western regions of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, we met and mentioned in the book: Xuanzhao, Buddha Dharma, huilun, Daolin, Zhihong, Wuxing, etc. The fifth is to start translating Buddhist scriptures. For example, it was at that time that the first draft of "saying everything at all" and "one hundred and fifty praises to Buddha" were translated and revised.

4. Yijing (695-713): the main activity area is in the capital of Tang Dynasty (Xi'an, Luoyang).

In 695, at the age of 61, master Yijing returned to Luoyang, the eastern capital of China, with nearly 400 Sanskrit Manuscripts and 500000 chants. Wu Zetian welcomed her at Shangdong gate.

After returning from India, master Yijing devoted himself to the translation of Buddhist scriptures. He translated 61 Buddhist scriptures, 230 volumes, and made outstanding contributions. He was praised by the Tang Dynasty for many times. In 703 A.D., after he translated many Buddhist scriptures, such as the golden Guangming Sutra, in Fuxian Temple of Luoyang, the eastern capital of China, Wu Zetian specially made the preface to the new Tripitaka holy religion of the great Zhou Dynasty. In 705 A.D., after master Yijing translated the peacock king Sutra, Tang Zhongzong made the preface to the Tripitaka holy religion of the great Tang Dynasty.

In order to praise master Yijing's achievements in translating scriptures, the Tang Court also ordered to engrave a stele on master Yijing's hometown, where the stele was erected, namely, Si Chan temple.

5. Zuohua (713): Chang'an dajianfu temple fanjingyuan.

In 713 ad, master Yijing was seventy-nine years old. On the first night of January 17, master Yijing left a letter. In the middle of the night, he sat in the Fanjing Academy of dajianfu temple in Chang'an. He was seventy-nine years old and fifty-nine years old. The funeral was held on February 7

Chinese PinYin : Yi Jing Si