Guanlin Temple

Guan Lin

synonym

Guanlin Temple generally refers to Guanlin

Guanlin, located in Guanlin Town, Luolong District, Luoyang City, Henan Province, is the place where Guan Yu, a general of Shu, was buried in the Three Kingdoms period. It is one of the three major Guanlin temples at home and abroad. Among the thousands of Guanlin temples, it is called "Lin" alone. It is the only ancient classic building in China where the tombs, temples, and forest are integrated into one. It is now a national key cultural relic protection unit,

National AAAA tourist attraction.

Guanlin was built in the Wanli period of Ming Dynasty and expanded in the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. The existing buildings are mainly in the Ming Dynasty. It is a well preserved ancient building complex. Guanlin's architectural specifications are built in the form of a palace with rigorous and spectacular layout. There is a stage in front of the temple, and the central axis buildings are gate, instrument gate, corridor, worship hall, main hall, second hall, third hall, stone archway, forest stele Pavilion, and Guan tomb. Other symmetrical buildings of the same form are attached to both sides of the central axis. Among them, the most distinctive one is the dance building. The Xieshan style at the front stage and the hard mountain style at the back stage are combined together. The double eaves Pavilion is rare in China. It is also the location of "Luoyang Ancient Art Museum".

In 2008, the customs declared by Luoyang City have been designated as the national intangible cultural heritage (No. 992x-85) by the State Council. As the heritage site of "Customs of Guan Gong" in the national intangible cultural heritage list, Guanlin has become a cultural treasure shared by all mankind.

Historical evolution

In the winter of 219 A.D., Sun Quan attacked Jingzhou secretly, Guan Yu defeated Mai Cheng, and Da Yi returned to heaven. In the first month of the spring of 220, Sun Quan was afraid of Liu Bei's revenge, so he passed on Guan Yu to Cao Cao in Luoyang

However, Cao Cao found out that he admired Guan Yu as a man. He made plans to present Guan Yu as the king of Jing, engraved aloe wood as his body, buried him fifteen Li south of Luoyang as a prince, and built a temple to offer sacrifices. So far, Guanlin has been more than 1790 years.

In the Ming Dynasty, in the 20th year of Wanli (1592), Guanlin temple was expanded on the original site of Guanmiao temple in the Han Dynasty. It was expanded into a grand holy land of worshiping Guangong, covering an area of more than 200 mu, with four courtyards and more than 150 halls. In 1605, Guan Yu was granted the title of "three world demon subduing emperor" and the title of "sage emperor".

In the Qing Dynasty, Guanyu was granted the title of "Zhongyi Shenwu Guansheng Dadi" in the fifth year of Shunzhi, and Luoyang Guandi mausoleum was granted the title of "Zhongyi Shenwu Guansheng Dadi forest" in the fifth year of Kangxi. Yongzheng eight years (1730) imperial edict to change the temple. It was built during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty and now covers an area of 180 mu. Guanlin was a place where the emperor sent officials to sacrifice and local officials and people paid homage to Guan Gong in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

In 1980, Luoyang Ancient Art Museum was set up in Guanlin to display ancient steles and stone carvings.

In March 2001, Guanlin was rated as a national AAAA tourist attraction.

On May 25, 2006, Guanlin, as an ancient building from Ming Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, was approved by the State Council as the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

In 2008, Guanlin was designated as the national intangible cultural heritage (No. 992x-85) by the State Council.

In 2016, Guanlin scenic spot became a pilot unit of smart tourism in Luoyang.

Main buildings

The main building of Guanlin was built in the 20th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1592), and its layout was in the shape of "Hui" according to the imperial palace. Wulou, Damen, Yimen, Ping'an hall, God of wealth hall, Chunqiu hall and Guanlin (tomb) are the north-south axis. The layout of other buildings are symmetrical along this line, which reflects the traditional characteristics of Chinese ancient architecture culture.

gate

The gate was built in 1791, the 56th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. There are 9981 gold breast nails on the middle gate, which is the symbol of the highest grade of the feudal social hierarchy. There are eight character walls on the East and west sides of the gate, with four big characters of "loyalty" and "benevolence and bravery" respectively, which summarize Guan Yu's life of loyalty, friendship, benevolence and bravery.

secondary gate to an official residence

Yimen was built in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. It means "You Yi Ke Xiang". It was the place where civil officials came to get off the sedan chair and military officials got off the horse. It used to be the gate of Guandi temple in Ming Dynasty, and was renamed Yimen in Qing Dynasty. The plaque of "Weiyang Liuhe" on the forehead is the imperial pen of Empress Dowager Cixi, which is very precious. On the five flower partition wall between the East and the west of Yimen, each side is inlaid with carved stone. On the east side is Yue Fei's painting of Guansheng emperor, which was made by Yue Fei, a famous anti Jin general in Song Dynasty, in memory of Guan Yu's bravery and loyalty. On the west side of the bamboo, Guan Yu painted it by himself. All the bamboo leaves in this bamboo painting are embellished into a poem: "don't thank Dongjun for his kindness. The red and green leaves are independent. Don't worry about the thin leaves. They will never wither for a long time.".

Stone lion Road

From Yimen to the main hall, the corridor is 35 meters long and 4 meters wide, with 36 pillars and 104 stone lions on both sides. This stone lion corridor is known as "Luoyang xiaolugou". According to the inscriptions, the existing corridor was rebuilt in 1619, the 47th year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty. It was donated by merchants in Luoyang and built according to the style of the palace.

The stone lion royal road is a special trail for the emperor or the imperial court when they send officials to offer sacrifices. All kinds of lions are vivid. Because most of the pillars and railings of the royal road were donated by believers, praying for prosperous business and a wide range of financial resources, most of them were engraved with copper coins, implying that money came from all directions. Therefore, it is also called "the way to make money" among the people.

audience hall

Built in the 24th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1596), it is 26 meters high with seven rooms wide and three rooms deep. The top of the hall is covered with glazed tiles, with five ridges standing horizontally, and six beasts displaying their power. On the front door, there are 12 Ming Dynasty relief wood carvings. It tells the stories of three marriages in Taoyuan, three heroes and Lu Bu.

Worship Hall: it is located in front of the main hall and connected with it. It is the place where all officials and subordinates pay homage during the spring and Autumn Festival. In the hall, there is a plaque of "Sheng Ling Yu Shuo" written by Emperor Qianlong and a couplet of "the next Han Dynasty shows that the dragon's gate is parallel to the dragon's gate, and the Yi River flows with the grand spirit".

Ping'an Hall: also known as Qisheng hall, is the main building of Guanlin. It is located in the center of the whole temple, with carved beams and painted buildings and magnificent momentum. In the hall, there are statues of the emperor, Guan Ping, Zhou Cang, Wang Fu and Liao Hua.

Second Hall

There are five rooms in the second hall, which is in the style of veranda. On the door, there is a plaque of "Guangzhao sun and moon", which is the title of Emperor Guangxu of Qing Dynasty. In the hall, Guan Yu glares at the statue of Dongwu. On the left side stands Guan Ping holding a big seal, and on the right side stands Zhou Cang holding a big knife. On the left and right of the second hall, there is a hard mountain style accompanying hall, with zhanghou hall on the left and Wuhu hall on the right. The three halls are of hard mountain style, with five rooms wide and small scale. Inside, there are statues of Guan Yu reading at night in the spring and Autumn period, of Guan Yu traveling and of sleeping, so they are also called sleeping halls.

The second hall is also called the hall of God of wealth. The existing building was built in the 20th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1592). It is one of the earliest buildings in Guanlin. The plaque of "Guangzhao sun and moon" written by Emperor Guangxu is hung on the door of the hall. The statue of God of wealth of Guan Gongwu is molded inside. Guan Ping and Zhou Cang hold the seal and hold the knife behind them, and the boy of recruiting wealth and the boy of profiteering serve in front of them. Since ancient times, people have prayed here for prosperous business, prosperous fortune and prosperous career.

Wuhu Hall: the west side of the God of wealth hall. Wuhu hall is a hall dedicated to Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Ma Chao and Huang Zhong, so it is called. It was rebuilt in 1592.

Niangniang Hall: the east side of the God of wealth hall, built in the Ming Dynasty, is dedicated to Guan Yu's wife Hu, daughter Hu Nu and son Guan Xing. The East and west sides of the hall are painted with pictures of "praying for disease" and "praying for children". It is popular among the people that Mrs. Hu can get rid of diseases and send children, so people often burn incense in front of the empress hall to get rid of disasters and sincerely ask for heirs.

Three halls

The existing building was built in 1817, the 22nd year of Jiaqing period in Qing Dynasty. In front of the hall are two odd cypresses, Xuansheng and Jieyi. Inside the hall are statues of Guan Gong reading the spring and Autumn Annals at night and Guan Gong sleeping.

The stele of "loyalty and righteousness, God of martial spirit, benevolence and courage, showing the great emperor of Guanlin": it stands in the stele Pavilion of Fengchi in front of Guanlin (tomb). The stele records Guan Yu's life story, title and temple construction, which is an important basis for Guanlin to be called "Lin". It reflects the history of emperors' Supreme worship of Guanyu and continuous worship of Guanlin, and also proves Guan Lin's leading position in thousands of Guanlin temples at home and abroad The temple status.

Guan Zhong

The tomb is 17 meters high and covers an area of 2600 square meters. On the south wall of the front of the tomb, there is a stone tomb gate built in the 56th year of Emperor Kangxi. The title of the gate is "Zhong lingchu". The couplet of the tomb gate is: "Shenyou Shangyuan, riding a crane, bones in the sky, sleeping in the dragon".

It began in the late Han Dynasty, and now it is covered with green grass. Although the landscape has been changed, the tombs of the Yuan Dynasty still exist. "Guanlin green cypress" is one of the "eight small sceneries" in Luoyang. There are thousands of ancient cypresses and verdant turns. When the heavy rain comes, the clouds are like smoke, like curling fragrant seal script, flowing around the tomb. It's a fantastic scene. For thousands of years, as the embodiment of loyalty and moral example, Guan Yu has been widely respected by the people. His "loyalty, righteousness, benevolence and bravery" embodies the spirit of our Chinese nation. The special cultural phenomenon of "Guan Gong belief" has become a bridge and link between Chinese at home and abroad. Guanlin international pilgrimage ceremony is held here on September 29 every year. At that time, overseas Guanmiao people and Clan Organizations gather in Guanlin to hold a grand pilgrimage ceremony. Guanlin has become a sacred place for Chinese at home and abroad to worship, and also a famous tourist attraction at home and abroad.

Chinese PinYin : Guan Lin Miao