Guangxiao Temple

Guangxiao Temple

Guangxiao temple, one of the famous ancient buildings in Guangdong, is located at the north end of Guangxiao Road near Jinghui Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province. According to records of Guangxiao temple, it was the former residence of Zhao Jiande, king of Nanyue in the second century BC. During the period of the Three Kingdoms, Wu Guoyu was relegated here, and became a garden, known as Yu Yuan. After Yu Fan's death, his family gave up their houses to build a temple. The name of the temple had been changed several times. The first name of the temple was Zhizhu temple. It was called Wuyuan temple in the fifth year of Long'an in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (401), Qianming faxing temple in the Tang Dynasty, qianheng temple in the Five Dynasties and Southern Han Dynasty, Wanshou temple in the Northern Song Dynasty, and Baoen Guangxiao temple in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Guangxiao temple, with rigorous structure, magnificent palace, especially numerous cultural relics and historical sites.

For example, the Daxiong hall built in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Xibo spring excavated by Dharma in the Southern Dynasty, Buri FA tower and Shijing building in the Tang Dynasty, thousand Buddha tower in the Southern Han Dynasty, liuzu hall and Wofo hall in the song and Ming Dynasties, as well as tablet inscriptions, Buddha statues, Terminalia tree and Bodhi tree are all precious relics of Buddhism.

Guangxiao temple, announced by the State Council as a national key cultural relics protection unit in 1961, was approved by the State Council on March 5, 1986 and managed by the religious department.

Historical evolution

During the Three Kingdoms period, Yu fan, the commander of Wu Qi, was relegated to give lectures here. He planted more chebula trees. At that time, he was called Yu Yuan, also known as he Lin. After Yu fan, Shi Qi's house was a temple, which was named Zhizhu temple.

In 401, the fifth year of Long'an in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, tamoyeshe, a monk from the state of Kubin (today's Kashmir), went to Guangzhou to build a Buddhist temple here. He translated the Scriptures and preached, and changed the name of the temple to Wangyuan Chaoyan Temple (commonly known as Wangyuan Temple). Later, it was renamed Qianming Buddhist temple, Qianming Buddhist temple, Chongning Wanshou temple, Tianning Wanshou temple, and Baoen Guangxiao temple.

In 1151, it was renamed Guangxiao temple.

Ming Dynasty Chenghua eighteen years (1482) was granted Guangxiao Temple plaque.

In 1650, the Qing army went south and shelled Guangzhou city. Guangxiao temple was also shrouded in war. After the Qing army entered the city, Guangxiao temple was occupied as a barracks. The next year, Guangxiao temple was used as a Gong Yuan because Guangdong Gong Yuan was destroyed in the war when the Qing army entered the city. During this period, Guangxiao temple was built.

In 1903, Guangxiao temple was occupied by Guangnan middle school and Baqi primary school.

After the founding of the Republic of China in 1912, it was occupied by Guangzhou No.27 primary school; in 1913, it was occupied by Guangdong judge school, police school and Guangdong History Museum; in 1938, it was occupied by Guangzhou Mingsong school and the secondary school affiliated to Guangdong University; in 1938, when Japan invaded China, the puppet regime once occupied Guangxiao temple as the "general headquarters of the peace saving army" of the puppet government. After the surrender of Japan, it was occupied by the Yili College of Guangdong Province. After the withdrawal of the Yili college, it was occupied by the Art College of Guangdong Province, and the fine arts department, music department and drama department were set up in the temple, which occupied most of the Buddhist temples. At that time, the national government put forward the general plan of "building a nation through education", so as long as it is related to education, everything should be given a green light.

After the founding of the people's Republic of China in 1949, "Guangdong Provincial College of Arts" was removed and abolished, but it was soon replaced by South China People's College of literature and art (hereinafter referred to as "South China College of literature and art"). After the South China Institute of literature and art moved in, its territory expanded and all the monks were demobilized. Then they "leveled the ground" and filled all the steps in the temple. Some students even smashed the clay statues of the four heavenly kings on both sides of the entrance Tianwang hall, which were wind, tune, rain and shun. They also smashed the gold body of the Tathagata Buddha in the hall. They found that there were many Buddha objects, Buddha beads, small Buddhas and wooden Arhats hidden in the belly of the Tathagata Buddha. At that time, in order to "get rid of superstition", the students yelled to smash them all. Later, because someone came out to dissuade them, the cultural relics units of Guangdong Province also came to make sure that these precious collections were not destroyed. Through textual research, these are all relics of the Tang Dynasty. Later, they were collected in the Guangdong Provincial Museum and preserved.

In 1953, due to the expansion of its organizational structure, the South China Arts and crafts troupe was divided into two groups: the South China song and dance troupe and the Cantonese Opera Troupe. The Cantonese Opera Troupe is located in zhusigang, Dongshan, while the South China song and dance troupe has no troupe site. The Guangdong authorities then ordered the South China People's College of Arts, which was originally stationed in the temple, to give way to the South China song and dance troupe. Since then, South China song and dance troupe has become the synonym of Guangxiao temple. Many members of the song and dance troupe later established families here, and the newly born men in the courtyard were all called "little monks".

In 1961, the State Council announced Guangxiao temple as a national key cultural relics protection unit.

In August 1974, Guangxiao temple was fully rebuilt and repaired. In 1979, another 600000 yuan was allocated by the State Council to build the main hall and the six ancestral halls. In March 1986, Guangxiao temple was approved by the State Council as a place for religious activities and opened to the outside world. In 1987, Guangdong cultural relics management committee returned the temple to Guangdong Buddhist Association.

Layout structure

Guangxiao temple has buildings from south to north along its central axis; Mountain Gate, Tianwang hall, main hall, main hall, main hall, main hall, main hall and burying tower; Drum Tower, Sleeping Buddha Pavilion and west iron tower in its west; Xibo spring, bell tower, guest hall, liuzu hall and stele Gallery in its east; xiyanchi and east iron tower in its east. It has formed a group of large-scale ancient buildings.

Main building

main hall

The shrine in the main hall is dedicated to the three saints of Huayan: the Buddha statue in the middle is more than 5 meters high, and it is the Buddha of Sakyamuni, the world's leader. He sits down with a spider, his left hand lying on his left foot, his right hand raised, and his fingers curved in a ring. He is speaking to all living beings. The two Bodhisattvas on both sides of him are the Buddha of Kaya and the Buddha of Ananda. The two Bodhisattvas on both sides of Sakyamuni are Manjusri, also known as the great wish Bodhisattva Buddha, on the right is Pu Xian, also known as Da Xing Bodhisattva. The combination of the two Bodhisattvas and the three Buddhas is called "the three saints of Huayan", which is different from the three Buddhas (past death, present life and future life), the three body Buddhas (Dharma body Buddha, Ying body Buddha and Pao body Buddha) and the three square Buddhas in other temples. Surprisingly, in 1950, a number of wooden Arhats were found in the belly of the Buddha. After textual research, they were all carved in the Tang Dynasty. These precious wooden carvings have been collected in the museum and become rare cultural relics of the Tang Dynasty.

Sleeping Buddha Hall

The Sleeping Buddha Hall is on the west side of the main hall. The Sleeping Buddha in the hall is carved with Burmese white jade, 4 meters long and 6 tons heavy. It is carved with the statue of Sakyamuni. The whole Sleeping Buddha's head is to the West and to the south, lying on its side. Its posture is natural and its facial expression is very peaceful. It is said that in order to spread Buddhism, Sakyamuni almost traveled all over the Indian peninsula. When he was 80 years old, he went to death under the Saro pair tree near jushinaga. Later, all the reclining Buddha statues were carved in the same posture as when he passed away.

Yifa tower

The burying tower is a brick tower imitating the pavilion style. It has seven octagonal stories and is 7.8 meters high. It is the place where Huineng, the sixth patriarch, buried his hair after he received the precepts. Yifa tower was built in the Tang Dynasty, and its shape is very exquisite. This kind of ancient pagoda in Sui and Tang Dynasties is one of the few precious cultural relics preserved in our province and even in the whole country. There are only five left in Guangdong Province. Besides the burial pagoda, there are also the Dading zushi pagoda of Lingshan temple in Chaoyang, the Zhengxiang pagoda of Tuocheng in Longchuan County, the stone pagoda of Longxing Temple in Xinhui City and the Zhenshan pagoda of Yutai temple.

Fengfan Pavilion

To the east of Yifa tower is Fengfan Pavilion, which is named after the former Sleeping Buddha Pavilion and Fengfan hall. Sleeping Buddha is a building of Tang Dynasty. The former building is dedicated to Sleeping Buddha and has Buddhist scriptures. Fengfan hall was also built in the Tang Dynasty to commemorate the "Fengfan debate" of the sixth patriarch in Guangxiao temple. In the Ming Dynasty, the two buildings were built together. In Fengfan Pavilion, there are stone inscriptions of liuzu and Damo. One side is carved with liuzu and the other side is carved with Damo. This is the inscription of Yuan Dynasty. There are two colored paintings on the wall of Fengfan Pavilion: one is the story of Liuxian Fengfan debate, and the other is the story of Damo's eastward journey. In ancient India, Dharma came to Guangzhou from the East, lived in Dijie nunnery (Hualin Temple), and then lived in Guangxiao Temple (Helin) to teach and spread Buddhism. The Xibo spring in the east of Guangxiao temple is said to be a deep well of Damo Xibo.

Liuzutang

The liuzu hall, next to the Yifa tower, was built during the reign of Zhenzong in the Northern Song Dynasty to commemorate Huineng. In the hall, there is a statue of Huineng, the sixth patriarch, which has been carved in recent years. It looks peaceful and full of wisdom. In front of the sixth ancestral hall, there is a big wooden fish, which is one of the Buddhist tools. The wooden fish is fish shaped, hollow in the middle, and the fish head is outward. According to the regulations of the Buddhist temple, only the forest of ten directions can turn the fish's head outward, which shows the high status of Guangxiao temple. Wooden fish is a magic weapon used by monks when they chant sutras. And because fish can't close their eyes day and night, they are dedicated to using it to alert the monks. They should not forget to practice during the day and night, so that they can "lead to Tao".

East West Tower

On the East and west sides of the main hall, there are two iron towers, which are historical sites left by the Southern Han Dynasty in Guangzhou. The West Tower was built in 963, the sixth year of Dabao in the Southern Han Dynasty. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the tower hall collapsed and damaged four floors, but now three floors are left. The East Tower was built in 967, 7.69 meters high, with seven floors. The base of the tower has a dragon pattern and a lotus pagoda, which are finely cast. It is the largest, oldest and most complete iron tower found in China. According to historical records, during the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, there were thousands of small Buddha statues pasted with gold on the tower, so it is also called "painted gold thousand Buddha tower".

Architectural style

Construction scale of Guangxiao Temple

Chinese PinYin : Guang Xiao Si