Qixia Temple

Qixia Temple

Qixia Temple, also known as Qixia ancient temple, is located at the West foot of Qixia mountain, Qixia District, Nanjing city. It was built in 484, Yongming second year of the Southern Qi Dynasty, and has a history of more than 1500 years. It is one of the four famous temples in China, and the ancestral court of "Sanlun sect". It has an important position in the history of Chinese Buddhism. In the Southern Dynasty, it is as famous as Jiming temple and Dingshan temple, and is one of the most famous Buddhist temples in China during the northern and Southern Dynasties Heart.

In the second year of Yongming (484) of the Southern Qi Dynasty, monk Shao lived in seclusion in Jiangcheng mountain (Qixia mountain). Because the house was Qixia jingshe, it was the beginning of Qixia Temple. Nanliang monk Lang was called the first ancestor of Jiangnan Sanlun Zong when he preached the doctrine of Dahong Sanlun. During the period of emperor Gaozu of the Sui Dynasty, he built a relic tower in eighty-three prefectures, which was headed by Qixia Temple of Jiangzhou. During the period of emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty, it was called Gongde The temple is a large-scale one. It is also known as the four thickets in the world together with Lingyan temple in Shandong Province, Yuquan temple in Hubei Province and Guoqing temple in Zhejiang Province. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong, the emperor Zhengjun stele of Ming Dynasty was made, and Gongde temple was changed to Yinjun Qixia Temple because of the imperial edict. It was rebuilt in 1392, and was granted the title of Qixia Temple. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty, the temple was stationed in Qixia Temple for five times, and more than 2000 FA buildings were built, Most of them are in the southeast.

In April 1983, Qixia Temple was identified as the national key Temple of Buddhism in the Han nationality region, and Qixia Mountain Branch of China Buddhist College was established in the same year; in January 1988, it was announced as the national key cultural relics protection unit by the State Council; in 2009, it was listed as the national AAAA tourist attraction.

Historical evolution

Qixia Temple in Sheshan is an ancient temple in the Southern Dynasties. It was originally called Qixia jingshe. It has many herbs in the mountain, so it is called Sheshan.

In the early Qi Dynasty, Shao, a monk of Ming Dynasty, lived in seclusion here and practiced Buddhism. The master came from Huang Long and spoke the book of wuliangshoujing in Shanshe. Monk Shao deeply respected it because she was a temple. It was the seventh year of Qi Yongming. Master Lang, the late monk, came from Liaodong. He was the founder of the three theories in Jiangnan. After that, his learning became more and more prosperous. First, Seng Shao failed to build a Buddha statue in this mountain. His son Zhong Wei continued his ambition to build the boundless longevity Buddha and two Bodhisattvas with Zen master DU on the stone wall of Xifeng, which were more than three feet high.

In Datong of Liang Dynasty, Prince Wen Hui of Qi and other kings spared no effort to build statues of Buddhas in Thousand Buddhas.

In the first year of Renshou of Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wen of Sui dynasty built the relic Pagoda in 83 prefectures. The relic pagoda was headed by Qixia Temple in Jiangzhou.

In Tang Dynasty, it was renamed Gongde temple and Yinjun Qixia Temple. In Tang Dynasty, the temple was prosperous, so it was known as the world's four unique temples together with Taizhou Guoqing temple, Jingzhou Yuquan temple and Jizhou Lingyan temple. Monk Jianzhen's fifth journey to the East has not been completed, and he once stayed here on his way back.

In the Southern Tang Dynasty, Qixia Temple was rebuilt and renamed Miaoyin temple.

In Song Dynasty, it was renamed puyun temple, Qixia Temple, yanyinchongbao temple, Qixia Temple in Jingde and Huxue Temple (also known as Huxue mountain because of Qixia mountain).

In 1372, it was renamed Qixia Temple. At the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, Yungu juelang second division was repaired.

Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty set up a palace in Qixia during his five tours to the south.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom fought against the Qing soldiers, Qixia Temple was destroyed in the war. After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it became depressed.

In the early years of the Republic of China, Zongyang, a poet monk, came from Jinshan and revived a little, but he died before he had achieved all his success. Later, the monks repaired the thousand Buddha rock with cement, painted the head of the Buddha distorted, and recognized Zang ma. Since liberation, the government has paid much attention to this famous temple. Qixia Temple was rebuilt in 1919.

In 1963, people from all walks of life in China and Japan held a grand event to commemorate the 1200 years of monk Jianzhen's death. Japanese Buddhist circles presented a statue of monk Jianzhen to China and worshipped this temple.

In 1966, during the four evils' rebellion, most of the sutras and magic weapons were destroyed. The monks scattered in all directions, and the Buddha head of Qianfo rock was destroyed. The temple was protected by the troops, and Jianzhen statue was also well. The Chinese Buddhist hall worships the statue of Jianzhen as a memorial of the friendship between China and Japan for generations. How to protect such a thousand year old temple in the future? It is also the responsibility of building the temple. This paper briefly describes the rise and fall of Qixia Temple in order to remember the past.

In 1979, it was restored and opened to the public as a place for Buddhist activities. Zhao Puchu, President of China Buddhist Association, wrote the inscription on rebuilding Qixia Temple, which summarizes and introduces the 1500 year history of Qixia Temple.

In November 1983, the Chinese Buddhist Association decided to establish the Qixiashan branch of the Chinese Buddhist College in Qixia Temple, Nanjing.

In September 1984, the Qixiashan Buddhist College enrolled 56 monks from 43 temples in 19 provinces. They studied for two years here and systematically studied more than ten courses, such as the history of Buddhism, the three Sutras of Buddhism, the theory of baifamingmen, the theory of Wuyun, the thirty theory of knowledge only, commandments, Chinese, history, geography, current affairs and policies, foreign languages, etc.

In July 1986, the first graduates graduated, some of them applied for further study in China Buddhist College, and some of them returned to the original temples to engage in Temple educational administration and management.

architectural composition

Qixia Temple covers an area of more than 40 mu. It has Pilu hall and Sutra collection building. It is a three-way service. It rises layer by layer according to the mountain situation, and the pattern is neat and beautiful. In front of the Qixia Temple is an open green lawn, with a mirror lake as flat as a mirror and a white lotus pond as crescent moon. It is surrounded by lush trees and flowers. In the distance, there are winding peaks. The air is fresh and the scenery is quiet and beautiful. The main buildings in the temple include Mountain Gate, Maitreya hall, Pilu hall, Dharma hall, chanting hall, sutra collection building, Jianzhen Memorial Hall and relic pagoda. In front of the temple, there is a stele of Ming Zhengjun, and behind the temple, there are many places of interest, such as thousand Buddha rock.

On the left side of the temple is a stele of Zhengjun of the Ming Dynasty, which was erected in memory of Shao monk of the Ming Dynasty in the early Tang Dynasty. The inscription is written by Li Zhi, emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and by Gao Zhengchen, a calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty. The word "Qixia" in the Yin of the stele is said to be written by Li Zhi himself. This is one of the ancient steles in the south of the Yangtze River. It is a precious cultural relic.

Entering the mountain gate is Maitreya hall, which is dedicated to Maitreya Buddha with a bare chest and a smiling face. On his back, he carries the heavenly king and stands tall. It is the main hall of the temple, Zao Da Xiong hall, where the 10 meter Sakyamuni Buddha is worshipped. Then there is the Pilu hall, which is majestic and solemn. In the middle of the hall, the golden body of Pilu Zana Buddha, about 5 meters high, is worshipped. The disciples, the Vatican king and the emperor Shi, stand on both sides of the hall. Behind the Buddha is the statue of Guanyin on the island. Guanyin stands at the top of the list, beside shancai and Longnv. The embodiment of Guanyin 32 Ying is all over the island. The statues in the hall are exquisite in craftsmanship and vivid in style.

After the Pilu hall, the temple of Dharma, the hall of chanting Buddha and the Sutra library are built on the mountain. There are 7168 volumes of Dazangjing in Chinese and 14000 volumes of various scriptures in the library. A jade statue of Sakyamuni is worshipped in the Buddhist niche. On the left side of the Sutra building is the "cross the sea master Memorial Hall". In the hall, there is a statue of monk Jianzhen taking off gauze, a picture of Jianzhen's sixth eastward journey, a memorial collection of monk Jianzhen and other cultural relics, which are presented by Japanese Buddhist circles and historical witness of friendly exchanges between Chinese and Japanese Buddhist circles.

A 1.5-meter-high Jade Buddha statue weighing 390 kg is consecrated in the middle of the temple. The carved jade Buddha is decorated with gold and color. It is donated by master Xingyun, a monk from Taiwan. On the two walls of the Jade Buddha building are the colorful pictures of Sakyamuni Buddha.

On the right side of the temple is the relic tower, which was built in the first year of Renshou (601) of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty. It has seven levels and eight sides, and is made of white stone, about 15 meters high. There are stone railings on four sides of the tower base, and xumizuo is on the base. On eight sides of the base, there is a picture of Sakyamuni Buddha's "eight phases into Tao". There are white elephants born, born under the tree, Jiulong bathing prince, traveling to Ximen and juecheng, bathing, meditating, becoming Tao, subduing demons and nirvana. Above the eight phase diagram is the first tower body. The first tower body is very high, octagonal, with leaning columns in each corner. The tower body is engraved with reliefs of Manjusri, Puxian Bodhisattva and four heavenly kings. The distance between the upper and lower eaves of the above floors is short. The eaves of the fifth floor are collected layer by layer from bottom to top, and the tower body is also collected. On each side, there are two stones on the beach and one Buddha sitting in the niche. On the slope under the eaves, there are also sculptures of flying Apsaras, Rakuten and supporting heaven and man, which are similar to the flying Apsaras in Dunhuang Grottoes of the Five Dynasties. The brake column on the top of the tower is lotus shaped. It is not only a representative work of stone carving in the south of the Yangtze River in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, but also a precious object for the study of ancient Buddhism, art and culture.

Main attractions

Sarita

Qixia Temple relic is a relic of the Southern Tang Dynasty. It is one of the oldest stone pagodas south of the Yangtze River and the largest relic Pagoda in China. It was built in the Sui Dynasty. In 602, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty ordered 83 states to build Renshou relic pagodas. Qixia Temple is one of the most valuable ancient buildings in Qixia Temple. It was rebuilt in the Southern Tang Dynasty in the 10th century. Stone pagoda octagonal five, about 15 meters high. The base is surrounded by stone railings, which are used to restore the original objects of the Five Dynasties. Sea water, dragon, Phoenix, fish and shrimp are carved on the ground of the base, but only part of them remains. Under the pagoda, there are eight Sakyamuni phases on each side of xumizuo. On the first floor, the pagoda is very high. The front and back of the pagoda are carved with plate doors. In the northeast and southwest are the statues of Manjusri (destroyed) and Puxian Bodhisattva, and in the other four sides are the statues of heavenly kings. On top of it are five levels of dense eaves, in which there are small niches. Each eaves imitates the wood structure tile surface, the corner beam end has the ring temple bell duo, there are still a few. The top of the pagoda was originally a metal brake, with iron chains leading to the heavy beast back iron ring at the ridge end. Later, it was replaced by a pagoda top made of several layers of stone carved lotus flowers. The pagoda is a masterpiece of Buddhist art in the Five Dynasties of China. After thousands of years of wind and rain, although some of the stone eaves have been destroyed, they still stand tall and become the witness of the flourishing Buddha spirit in Jinling.

Grand Buddha Pavilion

The Great Buddha Pavilion, also known as the three holy halls, is for the Buddha of limitless longevity. It was excavated for Shiyi in the Southern Qi Dynasty and is located in the east of the relic tower

Chinese PinYin : Qi Xia Si