Zhanghua Temple

Zhanghua Temple

Zhanghua temple, located in taishiyuan, Shashi, Hubei Province, is a famous temple in Jingchu. According to the inscriptions in the temple, the temple was first built in the TAIDING period of the Yuan Dynasty, that is, around 1325. Zhanghua temple was rebuilt in Qing Dynasty. In its heyday, it covered an area of 147000 square meters, with a building area of 12000 square meters. There are Mountain Gate, Tianwang hall, God of wealth hall, Weituo hall, Daxiong hall, Guanyin hall, Mituo hall, sutra collection building, Zen hall, chanting hall, Jingyue hall, Zhaitang, Hakka hall, Abbot's room and other main buildings, which are huge and magnificent. The whole temple is a palace style architecture with reasonable layout and splendid scenery.

In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there was a hermit practicing on the Zhanghua terrace of Chu palace in the Warring States period, and the jungle was built in the second year of yuantaiding (A.D. Zhanghua temple, together with Guiyuan temple in Hanyang and Yuquan temple in Dangyang, is one of the three major jungles in Hubei Province.

Historical evolution

The period of leaving the palace

It is said that Zhanghua temple was built on the site of zhanghuatai. Zhanghuatai, also known as Zhanghua palace, was built in the sixth year of King Ling of Chu (535 BC). King Ling of Chu especially liked the women with thin waists to sing and dance in the palace. Many maids in the palace wanted to flatter the king, eat less and endure hunger in order to have thin waists. Zhanghua palace is also known as "thin waisted Palace".

On the site of zhanghuatai, Zhanghua temple was built in Yuan Dynasty and rebuilt in Qing Dynasty.

The temple faces west and covers an area of 8790 square meters. The temple building is magnificent, the decoration is elegant, the hall is in order, and the Buddha statue is lifelike.

As soon as you enter the mountain gate and bypass the lotus pool, you can see the main buildings, such as Tianwang hall, Weituo hall, Daxiong hall, sutra collection building, abbot hall, etc. There are two jade Buddhas presented by the king of Myanmar in the temple.

The temple has built the tombs of eminent monks over the years since the Republic of China, and worships the spiritual bones of six mages. There are some historic sites in the temple, such as the first ancient plum in China, Chu plum, Chenxiang ancient well, and ginkgo tree in Tang Dynasty.

Su Dongpo's poem "Zhu Gong" says: "at that time, Chu people built a palace, which means it was wonderful and vertical. The flying tower was a hundred feet above the lake, with a thousand eyebrows of Yan and Zhao on it." it's no exaggeration to say that "flying tower was a hundred feet above the lake.".

The king Ling of Chu was not only fatuous and corrupt, but also had a strange quirk: he was fond of slender waist. He chose thousands of slender waist women to live in Zhanghua palace and dance round the clock for him to have fun. Therefore, Zhanghua palace is also called slender waist palace.

The palace maids with thick waists were driven out of the palace to do rough work or imprisoned. The palace maids and ministers had to eat less and starve and tighten their belts for favors. As a result, many of them starved to death. Later generations have a poem that says, "King Ling has a thin waist, and most of the Chinese starve to death." Li Shangyin, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, expressed his sympathy for the palace maids in his poem Mengze

The king of Chu was buried all over the city.

I don't know how much singing and dancing can do, but the palace kitchen is a slender waist. Mengling King's licentiousness led to his own destruction. Later, his younger brother, Gongzi Bi, launched a coup. He fled to the wild and starved to death in the wilderness. Later, there was a poem about the ending of the king of spirit

There is no Zhang Hua in the vast decaying grass, because the king of Xiaoling used to be extravagant.

I'm sorry to be in the wild.

Zhangtai Temple Period

With the competition of the seven kingdoms and the collapse of Chu government, zhanghuatai was abandoned. Su Shi's description of the desolate scene is: "the pool is empty, the field is wide, the pavilion is small, only the deep bamboo hides the fox."

In the 14th century, during the reign of TAIDING in the early Yuan Dynasty, a temple was built on the ancient zhanghuatai site, which was named zhangtai temple at the beginning and later Zhanghua temple.

This Zhanghua temple has a large scale, magnificent appearance, solemn atmosphere and quiet environment.

Together with Guiyuan temple in Hanyang and Yuquan temple in Dangyang, they are known as the three great jungles in Hubei. The main buildings of the temple include daxiongshi hall, God hall, Weituo hall, caishoubao hall, Guangong hall, Scripture collection building, etc.

Each heavy is painted pillars and carved beams, Panlong tiger, cuicaixuanxiang, Jinbi set off.

yuan dynasty

In 1363 A.D., Chen Youliang, the leader of the red scarf army, was defeated. His son Chen Li's remnant was chased and killed by Zhu Yuanzhang and retreated to Jiangling. Zhangtai temple was destroyed for the first time in the war.

the ming dynasty

In the early Ming Dynasty (about 1368 AD), zhangtai temple was renamed Zhanghua temple to avoid the suspicion that emperor Wenzong of Yuan Dynasty had visited the temple in person.

In 1388 A.D., Zhu Zhen, the son of Zhu Yuanzhang, was stationed in Jingchu. Seeing that Zhanghua temple was in a state of disrepair, he allocated money to mobilize the people to revive Zhanghua because of his father's pursuit of Chen Youliang.

In the fourth year of Jianwen (1402 A.D.) of Ming Dynasty, after the change of Jingnan, Emperor Jianwen was said to have left Yunnan in his monk's clothes, passed through Jiangling and hung up a list in Zhanghua temple for three days. After the first year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1522 AD), Zhanghua temple was sometimes abolished because the royal family promoted Taoism and suppressed Buddhism.

Qing Dynasty

At the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty (about 1644 AD), Zhanghua temple was harassed by wars. The great destruction was to pacify the "San Francisco rebellion" in 1665. In the winter of the 12th year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1673 AD), Wu Sangui, the king of Pingxi, Shang Zhixin, the king of Pingnan, and Geng Jingzhong, the king of Jingnan launched a rebellion.

Wu Sangui killed Zhu Zhiguo, governor of Yunnan Province, and led his troops to the north. After passing through Guizhou, Wu Sangui directly attacked Hunan. He soon occupied the whole territory of Hunan and set up defenses along the river to confront the Qing government.

Jingzhou area became the main battlefield of the tug of war between the two sides. Zhanghua temple was the first to bear the brunt, which lasted for eight years, leading to the destruction of the temple and the dispersion of monks.

During the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods of the Qing Dynasty, Zhanghua Temple tried to revive several times, but it failed to make great progress due to poor conditions. During the first mock exam period, the Qing Dynasty was rejuvenating several times in the early years of Qing Dynasty, including the Shou mage, Jue Kong Master, Song Qing Zen master and other officials. The temple of Zhang Hua has become the first model jungle in Jingsha area in the early Qing Dynasty in Dao Guang.

In 1896, master Jingyue (1865-1941) took over the post of Abbot of Zhanghua temple, and the temple developed greatly.

Due to master Jingyue's practice of both Zen and Jingyue, he had all kinds of good fortune and wisdom and gained great prestige, which attracted the attention of the Qing government.

In 1905, master Jingyue was sent to Beijing to preach Scriptures for the emperors and nobles in the Forbidden City, which won the joy of Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi. The Qing government issued an imperial edict to give a copy of "dragon collection", including half luanjia, three dragon chairs, yellow satin and Five Dragon cassock, flag umbrella, Ruyi and other palace treasures The main halls and Buddha statues, such as the Mahavira hall, were built. The temple buildings occupied 85 mu of land, and the organization of monks was the highest in Jingchu, with more than 300 people at its peak.

According to the tradition of linjizong, the abbot has four class leaders, eight deacons, 108 deacons and a monthly magazine of "Buddha sea lamp".

It was the largest Buddhist jungle in Hubei and one of the most influential temples in the Yangtze River Valley at that time.

war of resistance against aggression

During the Anti Japanese War, the Japanese aggressor forces stationed in Zhanghua temple and destroyed the facilities of the temple. After being stopped by the monks, they were burning with desire. After retreating from the temple, abbot Ben and master Ben negotiated with each other, they survived the disaster.

"Zhanghua Temple" is the inscription of Mr. Zhao Jichu, President of China Buddhist Association and President of China Buddhist College. From this we can see the position of Zhanghua temple in the field of Chinese Buddhism! In fact, during the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1875-1908), Jingyue, the eminent monk of Zhanghua temple, was granted the title of Abbot Zhenghe of Sipin by the Qing government. It has jurisdiction over all temples in Jingzhou, Yichang, Enshi and Yunyang. Since then, Zhanghua temple has become one of the most influential temples in the Yangtze River Basin.

Temple pattern

Entering the temple gate, the first thing you can see is the heavenly king hall. On both sides are the bell tower and the drum tower. The worshippers are Guan Gong and the God of wealth.

Behind the Tianwang hall is the main hall. These four words are also written by Mr. Zhao. It's just more special that there are two words "Yu Ci" on the four character plaque of "Da Xiong Bao Dian", which shows the favor of Zhanghua temple.

In the right front of the main hall, there is an ancient plum named Chumei, which is the number one in China. As the name suggests, it is said that it is a yellow plum handed down from the state of Chu.

There are three ancient Zhanghua temple, the first is Chu Mei, the second is the ginkgo tree of Tang Dynasty. The third is the ancient well of Chenxiang. Unfortunately, I didn't see it. This gingko tree is quite different from what we usually see. It is much stronger than those on the roadside. Without looking at the inscription in front of it, I thought it was an apricot tree. This Tang apricot has also become the object of worship, the tree is full of red cloth with blessing words, carrying people's expectations. From the front of Tang Xing, you can see Guanyin Ganlu pagoda, which is also the tower of Zhanghua temple. It is named after the statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva Ganlu. The tower is 66.88 meters high and has seven floors, which is called seven level float. The murals of Guanyin outside and inside the pagoda are painted and depicted according to different styles of Han, Sui, Tang, song, yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. The stone column of the tower is a flying dragon. White elephant. unicorn. Master. iridescent cloud. There are more than 500 deer in different shapes. A group of lifelike and exquisite stone carvings, 56 flying dragons picking horns, 56 pure copper wind bells hanging in the mouth of the flying dragon. The breeze comes slowly, and the bell is pleasant.

The seventh floor of the pagoda is dedicated to the giant Burmese jade, Guanyin sprinkles sweet dew on all sides, which just echoes with the octagons of the pagoda body. It is called in all directions, implying permanent peace in all directions of the great motherland.

thriving and prosperous. High 4. The eight meter golden elephant of Amituofo guards the top of the tower. It is said to be stable. It means that hundreds of millions of people are safe and auspicious in the four seasons.

The motherland is prosperous and strong. stable

Chinese PinYin : Zhang Hua Si