Pujing Temple

Pujing Temple

Pujing temple, also known as Nanshi temple, is located in the south of Shiwei village, Zhaokang Town, Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province, China. At the junction of Houma, Xiangfen and Xinjiang counties (cities), it covers an area of 5624 square meters and a building area of 818.77 square meters. The existing buildings in the yuan and Ming dynasties have better preserved the original historical appearance. In 2006, it was listed as the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

geographical position

Shanxi Pujing temple is located in Shiwei village, 30km southwest of Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province, at the junction of Houma, Xiangfen and Xinjiang.

As soon as you enter the temple, you can see that the scale of the building is broad and the palace is towering. It is said that Pujing temple was built in the early Han Dynasty. From the south to the north, there are Jade Emperor hall, Guandi hall and Great Buddha Hall in turn, which integrate God, Confucianism and Buddhism into one temple. In China, the temple structure is rare and has great research value. The temple is surrounded by Fenshui in the East and south, and adjacent to the foot of Luliang Mountain in the West and North, which is just a beautiful place in southern Shanxi.

Most of the temples in China are far away from the villages, which makes them feel free from the secular world. However, Pujing temple is built in the open area near the villages, which is also very rare in the site selection of temples in China.

building structure

It covers an area of 5624 square meters and a building area of 818.77 square meters. The existing buildings in the yuan and Ming Dynasties are well preserved. The temple has a large scale and towering architecture.

The date of its establishment is unknown, and the existing relics are relics of the yuan and Ming Dynasties. There are three mountain gates and five Heavenly King's halls in the hanging mountain style. The five inner pillars of the Bodhisattva hall are set in the front trough, and a fan wall is built according to the pillars. In front of the wall are Guanyin Bodhisattva and shancai boy. They are rich and elegant, and each of the eighteen Arhats in the two corners has his own look. Behind the wall, Tibetans, daomin and Minghua are dignified and solemn, and Yan in the ten halls sits on both sides. Finally, the main hall, with five bays and six rafters, was originally a suspended mountain style, but later it was changed to a hard mountain style. The four pavilions of the bucket arch were made into a single lower arch. Two gold pillars were built in the back groove of the hall to make a Buddhist niche. The four rafters were supported on the pillars by cicada bellied sparrow. The inner forehead of the frame was directly connected to the two mountains. Inside the niche, there are three saints, Sakyamuni, Manjusri and Samantha. Among them, two Bodhisattvas are slender in body style, well dressed, round above and round below. They have a quiet and kind manner, and the molding is exquisite. On May 25, 2006, Pujing temple, as an ancient building from Yuan Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, was approved by the State Council to be listed in the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Main landscape

Pujing temple sits in the north and south, with a gold plaque of "Pujing Temple" on the mountain gate. Entering the mountain gate, I saw "hum" and "ha" standing on both sides, vigorous and majestic, majestic and solemn. It is said that Zheng Lun and Chen Qi were the two generals of King Zhou of Shang Dynasty. Later, Zheng Lun was subordinated to Zhou Dynasty by "hum". After Zhou Dynasty destroyed Shang Dynasty, Jiang Ziya returned to the country and became a God, especially Zheng Lun and Chen Qi. “

Tongming Palace

Through the mountain gate, you can walk to the "Tongming Palace", which is a five room building of the Ming Dynasty. Why is the temple of heavenly kings called "Tongming Palace"? It turns out that the main hall is not dedicated to Maitreya Buddha, but to the Jade Emperor. This change reflects the fact that Buddhism was further sinicized after the yuan and Ming Dynasties. Of course, there are still four heavenly kings on both sides of the East and the West: the growing heavenly king in the south, holding a sword with extraordinary momentum; the heavenly king in the East, holding a Pipa with delicate features; the heavenly king in the west, twining a dragon in his hand; the heavenly king in the north, holding an umbrella in his right hand and a silver rat in his left. The content reflects people's good wishes for "good weather and peace in the world". From the perspective of artistic modeling, it also achieves the degree of vivid image.

Bodhisattva Hall

The Bodhisattva hall is from the heavenly king hall. Bodhisattva hall is also called "dizang hall" and "shiwangfu". The main hall is five rooms wide. The inner column is set in the front trough, and a fan wall is built according to the column. In front of the wall is a thousand handed Avalokitesvara and a kind-hearted boy. In two corners of the hall, there are "Eighteen Arhats", just like a picture of "avalokitesvara of the eighteen Arhats". However, it is found that there are only sixteen Arhats. I can't tell why when I ask the villagers.

Around the Bodhisattva hall, there are ten halls, Yan Jun and eighteen Arhats. They are all attentive and have different expressions. After hundreds of years, the oil paint is still clear. In the hall of Guandi, there are statues of Guansheng emperor, Zhoucang and Guanping in the south. Guan Gong's gaze seemed to show his loyalty and righteousness to the world.

Turning around again, we can see that the top ten yamas are sitting on both sides, which is daunting. In the middle, the Bodhisattva, daomin, and Minggong are dignified and solemn, and they are like a group of "ten emperors of Yama Dynasty dizang.". On the back of Qianshou Guanyin, there is a statue of Weituo God.

According to folklore, Wei Tuo was a disciple of Lu Ban. He lived at the foot of Emei Mountain and lived in poverty. He saw the people crossing the Jialing River and often died because of the flood. He decided to make money to build bridges for the people with his own skills. Just at this time, Guanyin traveled around Emei and sighed at the people's inability to cross the river. He was merciful and turned into a girl to build a bridge. So a notice was posted: on March 13 of the lunar calendar, there was a girl standing in the middle of the river. Who could hit her with a silver ingot could marry her. So the distinguished nobles and young men from four villages and eight Li gathered by the river and threw their money to the girls in the river one after another. It was strange that all the silver ingots fell into the boat, but they never fell into the girl's body. At this time, Wei Tuo came back from work and just passed by. An old man patted Wei Tuo on the shoulder and said, "as long as you are sincere, I promise you will hit her." Wei Tuo tossed the silver ingot in disbelief and hit the girl's heart. Guanyin was shocked. When she saw that LV Dongbin, one of the eight immortals, was making trouble, she had to close the stall and promise to marry Wei Tuo, but she said, "we can only be back-to-back couples." Therefore, in many temples, the statue of Wei Tuo is placed on the back of Guanyin. People call it "the couple on the back". This pattern and legend show that Buddhism is no longer so solemn when it was introduced into China. It not only interacts with Taoism, but also becomes more flexible and humane.

Great Buddha Hall

Most of the ancient bricks in the hall have been broken into pieces, but the overall integrity seems to show the exuberant incense of the temple. In the merit box in front of the niche, there are scattered incense money, which means that the incense is still there. In the palace of the Heavenly King (Jade Emperor Hall), there are statues of the Jade Emperor and waiters on the front, majestic and solemn. The painted statues are still clearly visible. Although they have gone through hundreds of years, the ancient charm still exists. On both sides are the statues of the four heavenly kings, each with a sword, an umbrella, a lute and a pagoda, and a solemn look.

Luohan Hall

There is a group of Buddha statues in Luohan hall, which are "thousand hands and thousand eyes Buddha" of Guanyin and virtuous boy. It is said that the Buddha with thousand hands and thousand eyes was created to commemorate the touching behavior of the three girls who gave their lives to save their father. Among the world's Buddhist statues, the thousand handed Avalokitesvara can be regarded as the national treasure and quintessence of Chinese Buddhism. In Pujing temple, which is not well known by the world, there are also Buddhist statues of the Ming Dynasty "thousand handed Avalokitesvara"!

Protection and development

Pujing temple is a well preserved group of buildings in the yuan and Ming Dynasties. Its structure is a precious specimen for the study of ancient buildings in the yuan and Ming Dynasties, especially a large number of statues in the yuan and early Ming Dynasties. It is also a masterpiece for the study of art history and traditional sculpture. It has high historical and artistic value in the study of ancient buildings and art. " Xiangfen County Cultural Relics Bureau deputy director said with pride, "with the efforts of the county cultural relics office staff, Pujing temple has been basically intact.". "All these years of hard work have not been in vain, and we have finally applied to the national key cultural relics protection units," Ju Chunde, who has been guarding the temple for several years, said with emotion. "We should guard the temple better, not let anyone damage it, and not let the future generations curse us." It is understood that every year on the ninth day of the first month of the Jade Emperor's birthday, the temple is full of incense, and many people come to pray.

Although it has been generally repaired, because of its long history, large cracks still appear in the Luohan hall, and the Jade Emperor hall also has traces of previous restoration. "Due to the lack of funds, we can't completely repair it now. We can only repair part of it at a time," said Zhao Huihong, director of Xiangfen County Cultural Relics office.

Pujing temple was designated as a national key cultural relics protection unit in 2006. However, due to its distance from the city and inconvenient transportation, there are few foreign tourists. Only local people gather here during the temple fair, which makes people feel a little sad. However, I heard from the villagers that the county had recently sent someone to survey and build a special tourist road to connect Dingcun, Fencheng and Pujing temple. Hearing this, all the people in the same trade are very pleased. They all hope that this tourist road connecting several "national treasures" can be built one day earlier. By then, Pujing temple, the Pearl of the ancient Jin Dynasty, will be able to shine again.

main hall

The main hall of Pujing temple is built on a brick and stone platform. It looks majestic and magnificent. On the door of the hall, there are three big characters "Great Buddha Hall", and the signature is "Gu she mountain crane releasing people inscribe and seal". In the hall, there is a Buddhist altar dedicated to the "three saints of Huayan": Sakyamuni in the middle is gilded with gold, barefoot and chest, benevolent eyebrows and wise eyes, with a serene look. On both sides, Manjusri and Puxian Bodhisattvas are slim, well dressed, mellow and self-confident. In particular, the statue of Puxian Bodhisattva is dignified with a smile, elegant with smart eyebrows and wise eyes, lifelike. It is worth mentioning that although the Great Buddha Hall was built in the Yuan Dynasty, its overall framework is based on the four mountains of the Han Dynasty, and now it is on the top of the Great Buddha Hall

Chinese PinYin : Pu Jing Si