Jingshan Temple

Jingshan Temple

Jingshan temple, founded in Tianbao period of Tang Dynasty, is an ancient temple with a history of more than 1200 years. It is the last peak after the Sinicization of Buddhism. Its address is Jingshan, Jingshan Town, Yuhang District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. It has the reputation of "the first of the five Zen temples in the south of the Yangtze River".

The main cultural relics of Jingshan temple include the stele of emperor Xiaozong of Song Dynasty, three iron Buddhas, bell tower, Yongle bell, stele of ancestor's title, etc.

Temple History

In the Southern Song Dynasty, incense flourished. It was the first of the five Buddhist temples in the south of the Yangtze River. It had 1700 monks and more than 1000 temple buildings. Due to the war and disrepair, the original building of the temple is basically non-existent. Now there is only one bell tower, with a bell in the first year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, three iron Buddhas in the Song Dynasty, and a monument to the ancestors of the Yuan Dynasty to Zhengnian mountain.

In the fourth year of Tang Tianbao (745), Faqin Zen master went to Jingshan Jiean. In the third year of Dali (768), Emperor Zong of Tang Dynasty issued an imperial edict to build Jingshan temple. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Xiaozong wrote "Jingshan Xingsheng Wanshou Temple".

Jingshan Temple originally belonged to the "Niutou sect". In 1130, the fourth year of Jianyan in the Southern Song Dynasty, linjizong was established. It is known as the "five mountains and ten temples" in the south of the Yangtze River. The "Five Mountains" are Jingshan, Lingyin, Jingci, Tiantong and Ashoka.

In the history of Buddhism and cultural exchange between China and Japan, Jingshan temple has a very important position. During the song, yuan and Ming Dynasties, Japanese monks visited the mountain one after another. In the middle and later period of the Southern Song Dynasty, the famous Japanese monks, such as Junyu, yuaner, wugenjuexin and Nanpu Zhaoming, studied Zen in temples first and later. Yuaner bianyuan (< I posthumous title is Shengyi national teacher) and Nanpu Zhaoming (< I posthumous title is Yuantong Daying national teacher) successively studied Zen in Jingshan temple from Wuzhun normal school and Xutang Zhiyu. They lived together for several years. After returning home, they traveled all over the country to carry forward Linji patriarchal system. At the same time, they brought back the classic books of Chinese tea and Jingshan tea sets, and transmitted the tea planting and tea making technology and tea banquet ceremony back to Japan, thus systematically introducing "Jingshan tea banquet" and Chinese Zen tea ceremony into Japan. After the tea banquet, it gradually evolved into "Japanese tea ceremony", becoming the ceremony of the Japanese shogunate and high-level society.

Therefore, Jingshan not only as the ancestral hall of linjizong, but also as the origin of Japanese tea ceremony, has a high reputation in Japan. Nowadays, more and more people of Japanese tea ceremony come to Jingshan temple to fulfill their wish of "seeking roots".

Many of the master of Jingshan temple also went to Japan to preach.

Jingshan temple was destroyed and built many times. After liberation, only the main hall and Xiaozong stele, Yongle bell and iron censer were left.

Since 1983, several groups of Japanese monks have come to the temple every year to worship and find their families. Supplement: Jingshan temple was restored in April 1997.

In 2008, with the strong support of Yuhang District government, District United Front Work Department, District Ethnic and Religious Bureau and Hangzhou Buddhist Association, the reconstruction project of Jingshan Temple began. On October 21, 2010, the foundation of Jingshan temple reconstruction project was laid.

Major cultural relics

Stele of emperor Xiaozong of Song Dynasty

The stele of emperor Xiaozong of Southern Song Dynasty is on the site of hanhuiting. The stele is 5.3 meters high, 3.55 meters high, 1.55 meters wide and 0.4 meters thick. On the front of the stele, there are eight block letters of "Xingsheng Wanshou temple in Jingshan" written by Emperor Xiaozong, and dragon patterns are painted on all sides. On the back of the stele, there is the full text of "Xingsheng Wanshou temple in Jingshan" written by song Lou.

Three iron Buddhas

Iron Buddha, Ming Zhengtong 11 years (1446) casting, called the western three saints, left hold, Guanyin Bodhisattva; middle Amitabha; right hold, the general trend.

The three Buddhas are sitting on the lotus pier, wearing cassock, bare chest and bare feet. They are lifelike, with different postures and beautiful shapes. They are the top products of the Ming Dynasty's smelting and casting industry.

bell tower

The bell tower, located on the west slope of Yangfeng in the southeast of the main hall of Wanshou temple in Jingshan, is 12 meters high, 8.11 meters wide and 8.14 meters deep.

There are four gold pillars from bottom to top in the center of the building, with the diameter of 0.36 meters and the column spacing of 2.9 meters. They are square, straight up to the top of the floor, and are built as "bell rack" to hang the big bell.

On the ground floor, there is a screen in the middle and a staircase behind it. You can get to the floor from the south to the north, and there are windows on all sides.

The building and the clock are supported by 10 columns respectively, and the structure is related to each other, which enhances the stability of the building and makes it very scientific.

On the night of July 18, 1990, the bell tower was destroyed because of the fire caused by cigarette butts of tourists. The bell melted and deformed, falling into several pieces, which affected the "monument of the ancestors' titles".

In 1991, the clock tower was restored and the remnant clock was placed.

Yongle Bell

Yongle big bell, with a thin plate top, is 2.4 meters high, with a diameter of 1.8 meters and a thickness of 0.18 meters. It weighs 9700 kg. On the southeast side of the bell body, there are inscriptions such as "Yongle first year (1403), abbot biqiupuzhuang advised yuanzao" and so on. When it struck, it sounded loud and resounding for ten li.

Monuments of the titles of the ancestors of the past dynasties

The stele of ancestor's title in the past dynasties, carved in 1350, is 1.41 meters high, 0.66 meters wide and 0.16 meters thick. On the surface of the tablet are engraved the legal name, common name and death date of 61 generations of ancestors, and on the Yin of the tablet are five poems chanting five peaks.

Jingshan tea banquet

"Jingshan tea banquet" is the survival of ancient tea ceremony and customs in China, and is also an outstanding representative of Chinese Zen tea culture. It is named after Jingshan temple in Yuhang. It is a kind of hall tea party when Jingshan Temple receives distinguished guests.

Jingshan tea banquet originated in the Tang Dynasty and prevailed in the song and Yuan Dynasties, with a history of more than 1200 years. It has an important influence on the formation of modern "tea party" etiquette in China, on the tea ceremony in Japan, and on the survival of folk tea drinking etiquette in Hangzhou.

In 2010, "Jingshan tea banquet" with Zen culture, tea culture, etiquette culture and other values was listed in the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.

Jingshan tea banquet has a long historical value and rich cultural connotation. Jingshan tea banquet generally includes more than ten ritual procedures, such as beating tea drum, opening tea table, setting tea table, inviting guests, frying soup and ordering tea, sharing tea and thanking tea.

Address: Jingshan peak, Jingshan Town, Yuhang District, Hangzhou

Longitude: 119.76651000977

Latitude: 30.380664825439

Tel: 0571-88502228

Ticket information: 5 RMB

Chinese PinYin : Jing Shan Si