Zhaoqing Temple

Zhaoqing Temple

Zhaoqing temple is located in Zhaoqing village, Sungang Town, Jin'an District, Lu'an City, Anhui Province, at the top of the Yangtze River and Huaihe River watershed.

Temple names in Lu'an City, Anhui Province

Nearby, the folk customs are simple and the scenery is pleasant. It is close to mountains and rivers, surrounded by luxuriant forests and bamboo trees, towering ancient trees, pleasant climate and magnificent scenery.

The temple was built in Zhenguan period of Tang Dynasty. It is one of the four Zhaoqing ancient temples built by Emperor Taizong. It is also the only royal temple among them.

Address of Zhaoqing Temple

It is located in Zhaoqing village, Sungang Town, Jin'an District, Lu'an City, Anhui Province. It takes one hour by bus from the city.

Zhaoqing temple in Lu'an

Lu'an Zhaoqing temple is located in Sungang Town, Jin'an District. It was built in the Zhenguan period of Tang Dynasty. It is one of the four Royal Zhaoqing temples built by Emperor Taizong Li Shimin. It was supervised by Yuchi Jingde, the founder of Tang Dynasty. Xuanzang, the master of Tang Sanzang, once came to preach Scriptures in person. It was designated as "the first batch of key cultural relics and historic sites protection units in Anhui Province" in 1956 and "key temples in Anhui Province" in 1984. The plaque was first inscribed in the Tang Dynasty

Ouyang Xun, a famous calligrapher, wrote the calligraphy again by Zhao Puchu, former president of China Buddhist Association.

Over the past 1300 years, the temple has gone through many wars and disasters. It has experienced ups and downs in different dynasties. It has been rebuilt nine times, especially in the Duanping period of Song Dynasty, the Chenghua period of Ming Dynasty, the Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty and the 1980s. While retaining the original style of temple construction, it has extensively absorbed Buddhist cultural elements of Tang, song, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and integrated the architectural styles of Buddhist temples of different dynasties A rare well preserved ancient imperial temple in the world.

There are many cultural relics and historic sites in jianzhaoqing ancient temple of Tang Dynasty with a long history. Ancient trees, ancient stones, ancient bricks, ancient wells, ancient sculptures, ancient pottery, ancient steles, ancient casts, ancient paintings and ancient sculptures have very important archaeological value and cultural heritage value.

Every year during the temple fair, people from all over the world come to burn incense and worship Buddha. The commercial stalls stretch for more than ten miles. There are 100000 pilgrims, and the flow of people is like a tide. It is a big landscape in West Anhui.

History of ancient temples

In the 1300 years since its founding, the temple has experienced many vicissitudes and disasters. It has experienced ups and downs from generation to generation. It has been rebuilt nine times. In the first year of Duanping (1234) of the Song Dynasty, after expansion, the scale was the largest, and the number of permanent monks reached more than 1000. Later, it gradually declined due to war and other factors.

It was not until the end of Ming Dynasty that emperor Chongzhen ordered reconstruction, and then it was rebuilt again in the seventh year of Guangxu. After 1949, the temple received special attention from the party and the government.

The Provincial Bureau of cultural relics appointed archaeological experts to the temple for investigation and appraisal, and confirmed that the temple was built in the Tang Dynasty. Some cultural relics preserved in the temple were rare national treasures. It was emphasized that the temple should be strictly protected and no one should damage it.

During the "Cultural Revolution", Zhaoqing Temple suffered unprecedented calamities. The temples were demolished, the Buddha statues were destroyed, the Scriptures were burned, the cultural relics in the temple were seized, and the millennium old temple was devastated.

After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, the party's religious policies and regulations on the protection of cultural relics have been gradually implemented. The temple was rebuilt.

In 1984, the temple was redetermined as a provincial key cultural relic protection unit by Anhui provincial government, and is now the seat of Lu'an Buddhist Association

Temples and historic sites

Zhaoqing temple has a long history and many cultural relics. Existing cultural relics:

1. One bronze statue of Jigong, four stone pillars at the top of Tang Dynasty, and one Guai well at Jianwu in Tang Dynasty.

2. Shenzhong weir (about 100 mu of water surface).

3. There are four lotus stones in the first year of Duanping in the Southern Song Dynasty.

4. There are three lotus stones, one porcelain censer, two steles erected by Emperor Chongzhen, and a bronze statue of Guanyin in the 27th year of Wanli.

5. A pair of Qing Dynasty copper candlesticks; a stone tablet during Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Daoguang, Tongzhi and Guangxu periods; a big inkstone tablet presented by Anhui provincial government to "Zhaoqing Temple", a key cultural relic protection unit, in 1984; a big treasure tripod (weighing 2.5 tons); a big censer; a big bell; a stele about temple history, etc.

Lost cultural relics:

1. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty issued a decree to engrave an ancient stele of the reason for the construction of Zhaoqing Temple (to be found, which was buried to avoid the Japanese Army during the Anti Japanese War);

2. The Tang Dynasty, weighing 1150 Jin, has two big Buddha statues made of gold, embroidery and copper;

3. A bronze statue of the Tang Dynasty's Dharma patriarch with two generals of tortoise and snake;

4. In Tang Dynasty, there were seven bronze statues;

5. There are 11 bronze incense burners, bronze chimes, etc;

6. A plaque of Baozhu station with gold characters presented by Governor Liu Mingchuan of Jingtai (the above cultural relics were copied during the "Cultural Revolution" period and need to be traced). In particular, it should be pointed out that the above two bronze Buddhist scriptures with gold content weighing more than 1000 kg were identified as national treasures by experts.

Characteristics of ancient temples

In addition to its long history and numerous cultural relics, Zhaoqing temple has its unique characteristics.

Its main performance is as follows: 1. None of the paving stones in the main hall of the temple is complete. It is said that when the temple was built, Yuchi Jingde, the founder of the Tang Dynasty, was ordered to supervise the work. He was angry because of the slow progress of the construction and rammed the ground with nine steel whips. 2. There was no sewer in all the courtyards of the temple, but no matter how heavy the rain was, there was no water in the courtyard. 3. There is a thousand year old ginkgo tree in the temple with luxuriant branches and leaves and rich fruits. The whole temple is majestic and spectacular under its shade. 4. In 1941, on the east side of the temple, the body of monk Yanyong (the fourteenth ancestor) was provided with gold after his death, and the "old circuitous Buddha Hall" was built. It is well-known and influential. 5. During the two temple fairs on February 19 and September 19 of the lunar calendar every year, people flow like a tide. As many as 100000 people attended the meeting, making it a great spectacle in West Anhui. The pilgrims come from all over the country, including Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, South Korea and other countries and regions. The flow of people sometimes stretches more than 10 kilometers and lasts for more than 10 days.

Inscriptions by famous scholars

Gao Xianyuan, a contemporary calligrapher and poet, once wrote a poem praising the Zhaoqing ancient temple: "the treasure Temple faces south and backs north, so it's unusual to trace its origin. Tang Zong's aim was to revere holiness, respect morality and supervise the construction of Buddhist temples. In the heyday, cigarettes were sacrificed for thousands of years, and the Buddhist statues were injured several times. The Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) opened a new space and restored the Zen forest of wandaichang. "

Zhaoqing temple takes on a new look and plays a positive role in promoting Buddhism, promoting the construction of two civilizations and purifying social atmosphere.

Abbot of temple law

The Dharma vein of Zhaoqing Temple belongs to linjizong. From the first ancestor Fuyou to the current Abbot monk Xichi, the Dharma vein has been handed down for 19 generations, and there are eminent monks living in the world. Among them, great monk Fuyou, the first ancestor of Zhongxing, great monk Shihai, the ninth ancestor of Zhongxing, and great master Yanyong, the fourteenth ancestor of Zhongxing, were the most influential and highly respected in the Buddhist circles at that time. Their deeds of promoting Dharma and promoting life have left many moving legends for later generations.

Temple names in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province

Historical overview

Located in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province (Hangzhou county) west lake. In the Five Dynasties, Qian Yuankai, the king of Wu and Yue, was established, which was called Bodhi hall. In the second year of Qiande (964), Emperor Taizu of Song Dynasty, Nanshan Zong Yongzhi, a lawyer, revived. In the third year of Taiping's rejuvenation of the country (978), the altar was built, and the annual religious practice meeting was held in March. In the seventh year, the imperial edict granted the amount of "dazhaoqing Temple". From Chunhua to Tianxi, he lived here for a long time and established Huayan Jingxing society to promote Buddhism. Zunshi, Renyue and other teachers also came here to expound Tiantai. Yun Kan's lawyer also built the altar and bell tower, and prospered the law society. Later, he suffered from fire and was forbidden. In the second year of Longqing in the Ming Dynasty (1568), it was granted the "ten thousand good abstinence altar of Luzong". In the 39th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1700), it was burned down and rebuilt in the 52nd year. Qianlong 16 years (1751), the title "deep Dinghui" flat forehead. The altar is made of eight square stone altars. On the altar is the golden piluzana Buddha. On the four sides of the stone walls are carved 15 guard gods. There are Tianwang hall, Daxiong hall, zushi hall, Wanshou altar, Guanyin hall, etc.

Religious status

Zhaoqing temple is a famous law temple in the field of Chinese Buddhism, and its full name is "Dazhao Qinglu Temple". Zhaoqing temple is as famous as Jietai Temple in Beijing. In history, Zhaoqing temple was one of the famous five mountains and ten temples of the Southern Song Dynasty. Yongzhi, the founder of the Southern Song Dynasty, master Shengchang, the founder of the Pure Land Sect, and Zunshi, the founder of the Tiantai Sect, all relied on tin, which played an important role in the history of Chinese Buddhism.

The emperors of Ming and Qing Dynasties gave plaques to Zhaoqing temple.

present situation

Zhaoqing temple in Hangzhou was originally located in the east of Baoshi mountain in Hangzhou, adjacent to the West Lake in the south, which is the location of Hangzhou Youth Palace Square.

In 1926, the road was built by the West Lake, the front hall of Zhaoqing temple was demolished, the Wanshan bridge no longer existed, and the Qinglian pool under the bridge was filled. There are still several ancient camphors in front of the hall, and Zhaoqing temple has been built and destroyed many times in history.

During the reign of Jiajing and Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, it was burned twice. After reconstruction in the early Qing Dynasty, it was destroyed by the disaster of soldiers and burned to the ground.

In the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, the abbot of the temple made a great wish to return to his former appearance.

During the Anti Japanese War, Hangzhou was occupied and Zhaoqing temple was raised by Japanese troops. It was a humiliating page.

After the founding of new China and liberation, Zhaoqing temple was completely destroyed and demolished, leaving only the site for people to hang on.

Today, on the West Lake to the east of Baoshi, the former Tianwang hall has long been a square, and the main hall of the temple has also become a place for literary and artistic activities. Only the name of Zhaoqing Temple remained.

Dream of the West Lake Zhaoqing Temple (Zhang Dai)

Chinese PinYin : Zhao Qing Si