Cixiang Temple

Cixiang Temple

Cixiang temple is located in the northeast corner of Jiguo village, 10km away from Pingyao County. It is called "Shengju Temple" in ancient times. Cixiang temple was founded in the period of emperor suzong of Tang Dynasty (756-763). The Lutai pagoda was built in the Qingli period of emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty, and it was changed into Cixiang temple in 1051. At the end of the Song Dynasty, the temple was burned and destroyed. During the reign of the Jin Tian Hui, the old pagoda was built, and more than ten temples and pavilions were built.

Cixiang temple, except the main hall and brick pagoda, is a relic of the Jin Dynasty, the rest is rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty.

geographical position

Cixiang temple is located in the north of Jiguo village, 7.5km east of Pingyao County, Shanxi Province. It was originally named Shengju temple. It was built in the Qingli reign of emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty. It was changed into Cixiang temple in 1051. At the end of the Song Dynasty, the temple was burned and destroyed. During the reign of the Jin Tian Hui, the old pagoda was built, and more than ten temples and pavilions were built. Apart from the main hall and brick pagoda, the rest of them were rebuilt in Qing Dynasty.

Sit north and south

The temple sits in the north and south, and enters the courtyard three times. It covers an area of 22427 square meters with hills in the South and Yingjian River in the north. On the central axis, from south to north are the mountain gate, stage, front hall, main hall and Lutai tower. There are bell and drum towers and porches on both sides. In addition, there are 8 steles and 5 ancient cypresses in the temple.

Layout structure

The main building has five main halls, with the top of the hall suspended in a mountain style. It is made of huge and simple materials. There are more than 100 square meters of sitting statues and murals of the "three body Buddha" in the hall. They are all works of the Jin Dynasty and are masterpieces.

Lu Tai pagoda is octagonal in plane, 48.2 meters high, nine story Pavilion style brick pagoda. In the south of the tower is Xiamen, surrounded by 16 kiln holes. The second to seventh floors of the tower are built with bucket arches, and the eighth and ninth floors are plain. The top of the tower is in the shape of a lotus petal covered basin, and the Tasha has been destroyed.

The tower is hollow, with floors and wooden ladders between each floor, and North-South windows on each floor. The stele of Mount Tai at the foot of Shengju temple in Xihe County of the great song dynasty (1046) in the sixth year of Qingli period of the Song Dynasty, which is more than five meters high, is a precious material for studying the art of calligraphy.

Cultural relics protection

On June 25, 2001, Cixiang temple, as an ancient building from the Northern Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, was approved by the State Council to be listed in the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Historical evolution

Cixiang temple is located in the northeast corner of Jiguo village, 10km away from Pingyao County. It is called "Shengju Temple" in ancient times. According to the stele of Cixiang temple in Pingyao County, Fenzhou (1194) in the fifth year of jinmingchang (1194), there was a great scholar who came from Xiji and said that there was no famous teacher. He had been sitting in Lutai mountain for 40 years. Emperor suzong of the Tang Dynasty called the capital to be his friend. At the beginning of the Shang Yuan Dynasty, Shi Hua was sent to the temple in the palace city, and the imperial edict was sent back to the mountain. " In 1201, the first year of jintaihe, the inscription on the pagodas of monks in Cixiang temple, Jiguo village, Pingyao County states: "since emperor suzong of the Tang Dynasty, it has set up a temple and its original name is Shengju. It's the person who presided over the religion at that time, that is, the nameless master of the ancestor. " It can be seen from this that Cixiang temple was founded at the latest in the period of emperor suzong of Tang Dynasty (756-763).

According to the records of Pingyao County annals and historical sites in 1882 of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, Temple monks built the Lutai Pagoda in Shengju temple during the reign of emperor Qingli of the Song Dynasty and collected the ashes of the unknown ancestor. According to the stele of the sixth year of Qingli (1046) of the Song Dynasty, the Shengju temple at that time could accommodate thousands of monks, which shows its large scale. In 1051, Shengju temple was renamed "Cixiang Temple". At the end of Song Dynasty, only the main hall and Mountain Gate of Cixiang Temple survived.

Reconstruction period

During the reign of Jin Tian Hui (1123-1135), the pagoda was rebuilt on the site. From the picture of holy eye medicine of nameless Bodhisattva in Cixiang temple in Jiguo, we can see that there is still a temple in the north of the tower (indicating that the river bed on the back of Cixiang Temple moved southward in the later period). During the reign of Jin Dading (1161-1190), Cixiang temple was greatly repaired. In 1194, the palace was rebuilt.

According to the records of the stele of rebuilding Cixiang temple in 1783, the temple collapsed after hundreds of years of wind and rain erosion. In 1649, the temple suffered from the disaster of war. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, the temple behind the pagoda was destroyed by the river. Qianlong 46 years (1781) renovated the East and West porch kiln, the next year the maintenance of the Guandi Temple (Hall). In 1786, yuelou and Shanmen were rebuilt. In 1810, the second floor of Zhonggu was built.

Main buildings

The general layout of Cixiang Temple strictly abides by the ancient Chinese architectural system. It sits north to south, emphasizes the central axis and is strictly symmetrical. After the Song Dynasty, the location of the pagoda was usually behind the main hall, and so was the Lutai pagoda. The existing temple covers an area of about 6000 square meters, together with the architectural sites in previous years, covering a total area of 18365.5 square meters. Today's temple is composed of Mountain Gate, yuelou (only gaotaiji), Guandi temple and its left and right bell and drum towers, main hall, East and West porch kiln, and nameless master's pagoda.

The front end of the temple is the mountain gate. The platform is built high. It has three wide faces and one deep depth. It has a hard top. Mingjian of the mountain gate is a passageway, which is connected with the Chuandong under the foundation of lelou platform.

In front of Guandi temple, the terrain is open, 33.8 meters away from lelou in the south. The building is 3 rooms wide and 1 room deep. The front porch is suspended on the top of the mountain, and there is a platform in front of the temple. The second floor of the bell and drum is close to the East and West gables of the temple. The plane is nearly square. The arch is built under the platform and the cross is built on the top.

The main hall is one of the main buildings of the temple. It is 21.77m away from Guandi temple in the south, 5 rooms wide, 21.28m wide, 3 rooms deep, 15.80m deep and 14.40m high. Hanging on the top of the mountain, the structure of seven rafters, four columns in front and four columns in back, and moving column method in front. The beam frame is made from the top. The front eaves of the five pavilions, single copy single under the high, heavy arch heart made, out of the real high, under the mat huatouzi. Make up for one. The back eaves are arched and the head is turned over to the neck. The roof is made of gray cylinder tile. The doors and windows are placed under the breast of the vertical line of the lower plane, and are processed by means of light, and the vertical lattice windows of the partition doors are decorated. Based on the analysis of the above structural characteristics, this hall should be a legacy of Jin Dynasty, and the local technique is very significant. There are three colored statues (three body Buddha) in the hall. Although they have been decorated by later generations, the style of Song Dynasty and Jin Dynasty can still be seen in the body pleats. The two Gables are full of murals. The characters are vivid and the lines are concise. They should be the works of Jin Dynasty.

The nameless master's pagoda is a brick pagoda rebuilt in the reign of the Jin Tian Hui (1123-1135). The tower is 15.6 meters away from the main hall, 48.2 meters high, and is octagonal nine story Pavilion style. The base of the tower is octagonal, 13.5 meters long and 1.3 meters high. The first floor of the tower is surrounded by an additional 16 hole Gallery built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Due to the south of the gallery, there are three buildings on the top of the hard hill, which is the entrance of the tower. The tower room is octagonal with an inner diameter of 3.3 meters. The walls are made of wood like Dougong. Above the Dougong, it is gradually folded and retracted. The top of the tower is left with octagonal folded patio, which leads to the second floor. There is a ticket door on the west wall of the tower room, which adopts a wall through structure and leads to the footpath. It is folded on the thick wall and ascends to the second floor around the half circle. Above the second floor, the internal structure of each floor is changed to the thick wall hollow tube structure, and wooden lintels, wooden floor boards and wooden stairs are installed for climbing. At the top of the tower, there is a brick caisson.

The shape of the tower is simple, the weather is magnificent, and the height of each layer decreases from bottom to top. The eaves and flat seats are made by overlapping and reverse overlapping methods. The eaves and flat seats of the first tower have been destroyed. On the second floor, false windows are made on all sides of the tower. The eaves are set with PU Pai Fang, one corner Dou Gong is set on the top, and three inter Dou Gong are added. The single copy and double bottom are raised, and the raised bamboo style is made. Melon seed arch is the first arch of mandarin duck. Above the third floor, the Dougong is simplified layer by layer, and there is no Dougong in the eighth and ninth floor. The higher the tower, the shorter it will be. Starting from the third floor, each floor will have a brick straight window or false window. On the top of the tower, there is an octagonal base, on which there is a lotus, a bowl in the petals, and a pearl on the bowl. On the inner wall of the second tower, the remains of the early thousand Buddha murals are considered to be the works of Jin Dynasty.

There are nine existing steles in Cixiang temple, including the stele of Shengju temple at the foot of Mount Tai, Xihe County, Song Dynasty (1046), the stele of Cixiang temple built in Pingyao County, Fenzhou (1194), the stele of monks' pagodas in Cixiang Temple (1206), the stele of rebuilding Cixiang Temple (1783) in the 48th year of Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty (1783), and the incomplete "unknown Bodhisattva God" Anecdotes of shengyanyao, etc. are of great value.

Address: Jiguo village, 8 km east of Pingyao County, Jinzhong City

Longitude: 112.28131866455

Latitude: 37.246433258057

Chinese PinYin : Ci Xiang Si