Lingyang Temple

Lingyang Temple

Lingyang temple is located in Qianshan Mountain, Guling Town, Mashan County, Nanning City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is a key cultural relic protection unit in Mashan County and the largest cave temple in Guangxi. Lingyang temple was built in the Yuanfeng period of Song Dynasty (1078-1085). It was built by Nanhua Huiyuan Zen master, a descendant of the sixth patriarch, who came to Lingkai mountain in the East. At that time, the temple was large-scale, with more than 1000 monks living in it. Due to historical reasons, Lingyang Temple experienced several ups and downs, especially in the middle of Qing Dynasty, because of the fire on Guling street, Lingyang temple was damaged. Until the spring of 1998, it was rebuilt with the strong support and care of governments at all levels.

On February 14, 2020, the Department of culture and tourism of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region announced that from the end of the epidemic to December 31, 2020, the state-owned A-level scenic spots and some non-state-owned scenic spots in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region will be open to medical workers and their families free of charge.

characteristic

momentum

Lingyang temple is not far from Mashan County. Along the Shangma (Shanglin to Mashan) second-class highway for about 19 km, you enter the danrutun area of Guling town. Looking from the inside out of the car, you can see a magnificent building complex inlaid on the steep mountain by the side of the road, shining in the sunlight, which is particularly eye-catching. This green stone mountain is Qiandeng mountain, and the building built on the cliff is the magnificent building of Lingyang temple. On the cliff, two bright red characters "Buddha heart" are vigorous and powerful.

In fact, if we only look from a distance, what we can see is just a corner of Lingyang temple. Lingyang temple is different from other temples. Apart from being built on the cliff in the middle of the mountain, the most attractive thing is that it is a large-scale lava cave temple. The main hall of the temple is located in a cave on Qiandeng mountain, which is known as the largest lava Cave Temple in Guangxi. The cave is called "litchi rock". From the foot of the mountain, you can climb up the steep steps, climb up the hillside, bypass the squatters and guest rooms, and enter the cave. Mashan County belongs to karst landform, with unique and magical stalactite resources, which construct rich karst landscape. In addition, there are also grotesque stalactite natural landscapes in Litchi cave, which are highly ornamental.

By 2012, Lingyang temple covers an area of about 6000 square meters, and the main hall in the cave covers an area of about 600 square meters. There are seven halls, including Sanbao, Guanyin, reclining Buddha, Maitreya, Weituo, Dharma protector and Yuanji, offering 15 Buddha statues. These Buddha statues are all refined white marble. They were transported from Myanmar, the hometown of Buddhism, and were enlightened by eminent monks in Wutai Mountain, Emei Mountain and other famous temples. They are very precious. In addition to the main hall in the cave, there are also other buildings, such as guest hall, sutra tower, Zhaitang, pavilion and so on. These buildings seem to ride on the cliff with extraordinary momentum.

Rebuild

As a matter of fact, Lingyang temple was not built on Qiandeng mountain, but at the foot of bamao mountain, which is far away from Qiandeng mountain. So, how did Lingyang Temple ascend Qiandeng mountain? There is a historical story here.

According to historical records, Lingyang temple was built in the middle of the Song Dynasty during the Yuanfeng period. It has a history of nearly a thousand years after the song, yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. At the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, temples were destroyed by lightning disaster. It was rebuilt in 1664 A.D. in the early years of the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, but in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the Lingyang temple was damaged by a fire in Guling street, so that most of the temples were destroyed. In 1836, Lingyang temple was restored again. After many times of expansion, the scale of the temple was larger than before. At that time, the Lingyang temple had the main hall, Guanyin hall, dizang hall, Tianwang hall, Maitreya hall and Weituo hall. In each hall, there were front hall, main hall, middle hall, back hall and side hall, as well as the Sutra tower, bell tower, Drum Tower, and more than 20 squatters, guest halls and Zhaitang. The halls were connected by green brick corridors and equipped with stage, which was very imposing.

The 73 year old Lu Jian still remembers the luxurious style of Lingyang temple. The old man was from Guling street. He said that he often played in Lingyang temple when he was a child. The big clock in the bell tower of Lingyang temple was the favorite of him and his friends. When the adults didn't pay attention, they often went to the temple to ring the bell. If they couldn't reach it, they picked up the stone on the ground and threw it at the big clock to make the big clock sound loud. He said that Lingyang temple also covered a large area at that time. The main building was divided into the main hall and two rows of wing rooms. The main hall was divided into three entrances, and the wing rooms were divided into two floors. The gate was rectangular, and it took a round gate to get to the main hall.

The stars change, the world changes. Due to the lack of proper protection, Lingyang temple was destroyed for various reasons, the temple was demolished, most of the cultural relics were lost, and all the Buddha statues were destroyed. It was not until 1983 that the party and the government implemented the religious policy that Lingyang temple was restored and rebuilt. However, the old site had been used for school construction, so Lingyang temple was moved to "litchi rock" in Qiandeng mountain. After more than 20 years of continuous repair and expansion, the temple extends from inside to outside, forming a scale.

Scenery

So, as early as the Song Dynasty, who built Lingyang temple and why? There is a local saying that in the Yuanfeng period of the Song Dynasty, there were often water demons in the ancient zero one belt. There were floods year after year, the water flooded the sky, disasters year after year, the countryside was desolate, the houses were empty, and the people were suffering like water and fire. Therefore, the immortal Lingyang in the heaven subdued the demon to control the water according to the decree of the Jade Emperor, eliminated the water demon and saved all living things, so that the people could live and work in peace and contentment. In order to appreciate the kindness of Lingyang, later generations built temples to pray for good weather and abundant grain.

In addition, there is another saying circulating in the temple: in ancient times, the Zen master Nanhua Huiyuan, a descendant of the sixth patriarch of Zen, traveled to Guling. Seeing that the geomantic omen here was very good, he meditated and chanted sutras here, accepted disciples and preached, and then gradually developed into a temple. It is said that when Zen master Huiyuan came to build Lingyang temple in Guling, it was a large-scale temple with more than 1000 monks.

The above two statements are legends. As for the origin of Lingyang temple, there is no way to investigate. But in any case, in recent years, Lingyang temple has become an important place for religious activities. In addition, the temple is built on the cliff. It is very magnificent. When you look at it, there are bridges and rivers at the foot of the mountain. The landscape is charming. You can't forget to go back and enjoy yourself!

Early in the morning into the ancient temple, early sunshine high forest;

The winding path leads to the secluded place, and the Zen house has deep flowers and trees;

The mountain light is pleasant to birds, and the pool shadow is empty of people's heart;

All sounds are silent, but the sound of the chime is still.

This is a poem often written by poets in Tang Dynasty for Po Shan Temple. Now it can be used to describe the scenery of Lingyang temple in Mashan County.

Related information

As mentioned above, Lingyang temple is now built on Qiandeng mountain, but it was built at the foot of bamao mountain, which is far away from Qiandeng mountain. Information about the two mountains is as follows:

Qiandeng mountain

Because there is a Qiandeng village at the foot of the mountain, there is no such mountain name. Qiandeng village is an administrative village under the jurisdiction of Mashan County. Its name is "Qiandeng" instead of "Qiandeng".

Bamao mountain

The above words are "Maoshan" and Zhuang's sound is "BIA Mao": [BIA] - mountain; [Mao] - hat, whose mountain is raised like an official hat, or the sound is "BIA Mo", [Mo] - tomb. The mountain is like a tomb, and actually there are tombs on the mountain. "Bamaoshan" is named after Zhuang dialect, but there is no such name in Chinese characters. It is improper to call it "Maoshan" above, so it should be changed.

Address: qianshanshang, Guling Town, Mashan County, Nanning City

Longitude: 108.31524767055

Latitude: 23.640095

Ticket information: free.

Chinese PinYin : Ling Yang Si