Guangji Temple

Guangji Temple

Guangji temple is located at 25 fuchengmennei street, Xicheng District, Beijing. It covers an area of 2.3 hectares.

Guangji temple, built in the late Song Dynasty, is called xiliucun temple. It will be rebuilt in the early years of the Ming Dynasty. In 1466, Emperor Xianzong issued an edict to name "Hongci Guangji Temple".

Guangji temple was burned in 1931 and rebuilt in 1935. The structure of the temple maintains the pattern of the Ming Dynasty and is divided into three parts. There are many precious cultural relics in the temple, such as the statues of the third Buddha and the eighteen Arhats in the Ming Dynasty, the white jade platform built in the Kangxi period, and the bronze tripod built in the Qianlong period.

Historical evolution

Guangji temple was founded in the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) and was initially named xiliucun temple. In the Yuan Dynasty, it was renamed Baoen Hongji temple, which was destroyed in the war.

Tomorrow, the reconstruction of the original site will begin in the first year of Shun (1457) and will be completed in the second year of Chenghua (1466), which will be renamed "Hongci Guangji Temple". In the 11th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1583) and the 38th year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1699), it was rebuilt twice. During the period of the Republic of China, the temple was burned twice and rebuilt twice.

In the early days of liberation, the government funded the restoration of all the monasteries. In 1953, it was the site of the Chinese Buddhist Association. After that, the temple was repaired twice to preserve its original appearance.

Cultural relics protection

In 1984, it was announced as a cultural relic protection unit in Beijing.

In 1972 and 1976, Guangji temple was repaired twice.

On May 25, 2006, Guangji temple, as an ancient building of the Qing Dynasty, was approved by the State Council as the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Layout structure

Guangji Temple faces south, covering an area of about 2 hectares. On the central axis, there are Shanmen, Zhonggulou, Tianwang hall, daxiongbao hall, Guanyin hall and cangjing Pavilion. In the West courtyard, there are zhifanlu hall, Jietai, Jingye hall and Yunshui hall. In the West courtyard, there are magic ware storehouse and Yanshou hall.

The main hall is the main hall of the temple, with five sides, and the other is a vast area of yellow, glazed tiles, and a single eaves. The highest ridge is located in the middle of the temple. The middle reaches of the temple are the world of the world of Chinese and Tibetan. The sea is commonly called the "fragrance sea". The whole is a mountain shape. The water pattern, lotus and Sanskrit, which are fired from the glazed bricks, are the symbols of the eternal world, neither dying nor born. This hall ridge is not found in other temples in Beijing.

Guangji temple, the center of the hall for the third Buddha, the East and west sides for the eighteen bronze Arhats placed in the niche. There is a platform in front of the hall, with white marble guardrail, and there are three buildings in front of the platform.

Facilities in the temple

Guangji Temple worships a lot of Buddhist statues of Ming and Qing Dynasties, and also collects many precious Buddhist scriptures, inscriptions and other cultural relics. There is a bronze tripod, more than 2 meters high, cast in the 58th year of Emperor Qianlong (1793) in Daxiong hall. It is placed on a carved stone base. The tripod body has patterns of Buddhist eight offerings (wheel, snail, umbrella, cap, flower, bottle, fish, knot) and so on. It is a precious art treasure with simple and elegant shape and exquisite workmanship.

On the back wall of the main hall, there is a picture of the miraculous fruit, which was painted by Fu Wen, a famous painter in 1744. It is 5 meters high and 10 meters wide. In the picture, Sakyamuni sits on the lotus seat and talks to the believers with a kind face. More than 100 disciples around listen attentively. Interestingly, among the audience were Chinese historical figures such as Guan Yu, Guan Ping, Zhou Quan and the cloth bag monk.

traditional culture

The bronze Buddha statues are displayed in the tall and bright glass cabinets on both sides. There are many precious gifts presented by Buddhist visitors from Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Japan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Vietnam, the United States, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

Guangji temple has a vast collection of Buddhist classics. There are 23 kinds of texts, 100000 volumes of Buddhist classics and works in the library alone, and 12 versions of the collected "Dazangjing". It is an important historical material for studying the occurrence, development and evolution of Chinese Buddhism, and also an important part of Chinese traditional culture.

There is also a Tibetan Tripitaka printed by Zhuoni temple in Lintan County of Gansu Province from 1721 to 1753, which contains 231 packages. It is a precious text in Buddhism.

Tourism information

Address: located at Xishi intersection, Fuchengmen, Xicheng District, Beijing

The best time: Beijing's spring and autumn is neither cold nor hot, and the climate is moderate. It is an ideal tourist season, especially in autumn. It is a "golden Beijing" praised by Chinese and foreign tourists. The best travel months of the year are April, may, September and October.

Address: Wutai Mountain Scenic Area, Wutai County, Xinzhou City

Longitude: 113.2481918335

Latitude: 38.726402282715

Ticket information: no ticket required. Included in Wutai Mountain tickets, Wutai Mountain tickets: 168 yuan in peak season (April 1 - October 31) and 140 yuan in off season (November 1 - March 31).

Chinese PinYin : Guang Ji Si