Erzu nunnery

Erzu nunnery

Erzu nunnery, located on the top of Boyu peak in Shaoshi mountain opposite to the Shaolin Temple scenic spot in Dengfeng City, Henan Province, is the tallest building in Shaolin area. Because the nunnery is opposite to its northern ancestor nunnery, the local people call it "Nan nunnery". According to the old records, it is said that Huike, the second patriarch of Zen, went to the top of the bowl peak to recuperate after breaking her arm. The temple monk built this nunnery in memory of Huike, the second patriarch. It was founded in the late Northern Song Dynasty at the same time as the early ancestor. The environment here is quiet and the scenery is pleasant. There are well holes in the four corners of the courtyard in front of the hall. "The water is cold and very close to each other. The taste of the water is different." it is called "bitter, spicy, sour and sweet well". According to legend, it was opened by Dharma with his staff. It is also known as "zhuoxi well" or "zhuoxi spring".

history

According to the book of Wei Shi Lao Zhi, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty in the 19th year of Taihe (495 AD) appointed Shaoshi mountain as the batuoli temple, an Indian monk, named Shaolin. In the third year of Xiaochang (527), Bodhidharma went to Shaolin Temple. In the ninth year of facing the wall in the stone cave at the foot of the west mountain of the temple, he taught scholars with four volumes of the lenga Sutra, founded Zen and preached Huike. His idea of "becoming a Buddha by seeing one's nature" was consistent with the Confucian idea of "cultivating one's mind and nourishing one's nature". Therefore, Bodhidharma was respected as a Chinese Zen in the history of Buddhism Huike is the second ancestor.

Master Huike was born in Luoyang. He became a monk when he was young and was familiar with Confucian and Buddhist classics. At the age of 40, Li Damo was a teacher. He got the essence of the teacher and inherited his will. He had great Dharma skills. Tang Dezong granted him the title of "Zen master Dazu" and became the first Zen master in China.

Main remains

Erzu temple is 34 meters long and 28.5 meters wide. It used to be a complete courtyard with a gate in front, a side hall in the East and West, and a main hall in the north. The mountain gate is for Weituo, also known as Weituo hall; the West Hall is for jinnara, also known as jinnara hall; the East Hall is for Bodhisattva, also known as Bodhisattva hall. The mountain gate and the East and west side halls have long been destroyed, and only the main hall remains. The main hall, named erzu hall, is a hard mountain building with three rooms in width and two columns under the front eaves.

Erzu Hall

Inside the hall is a statue of Huike, the second ancestor. Erzu nunnery was built in Jiajing, Wanli, Tianqi, Chongzhen of Ming Dynasty, Kangxi and Daoguang of Qing Dynasty. In 1988, the main hall of erzu'an was rebuilt, and in 1990, a simple gate with courtyard style was built at the original Mountain Gate, and the wall was rebuilt.

Big iron bell

Under the East eaves of erzu'an hall, there is a big iron bell cast in the first month of the sixth year of Tianshun (1462) of the Ming Dynasty, which was cast for Seng Jiang Naihua yuan, the abbot of erzu'an. There are inscriptions around the bell, weighing 1000 Jin, with eight lips and eight trigrams. The clock is still in good condition and its sound is loud.

Gujing

There are four ancient wells in the erzu temple. It is said that the four eye ancient well was formed by Huike zhuoxi, the second ancestor, because it was named zhuoxi well or zhuoxi spring. According to the old records, the four wells have different tastes, so the local people call them "bitter, spicy, sour and sweet" four wells. The four wells are actually dug by people, and zhuoxide well is only a legend. At the end of Jin Dynasty and the beginning of Yuan Dynasty, Yang Huan's poem "zhuoxi spring" said: "up to now, zhuoxi land has a spring in yingche." In the second year of Xuande (1427) of Ming Dynasty, Zhou Jian's poem about Shaolin Temple has "Zhuo Xiquan left by the mountain". In the ninth year of Wanli (1581) of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Shixing wrote in his travels to song: "when the spring leaves, the taste is different." As a result, the ancient well was dug at the end of the Jin Dynasty, with a history of at least 700 years.

other

Nine ancient steles and several ancient cypresses of the Ming and Qing Dynasties are preserved in the nunnery. There are three ancient pagodas in front of Er zu'an, namely, the nameless pagoda built in 696, the first year of Tang Wansui Dengfeng, the pagoda of yuangong'an in 1324, and the pagoda of Yinguang Pugong in 1629. There are nine stone tablets of Jiajing, Wanli, Tianqi, Chongzhen of Ming Dynasty, Kangxi of Qing Dynasty and Daoguang of Qing Dynasty in erzu nunnery, all of which are used to record the restoration of erzu nunnery.

There is a high cliff about 500 meters away from the south of the nunnery. According to the records of Shaolin Temple, it is the "Jingxing place" for Huike, the second ancestor of the nunnery, which is also called "yangbangtai" and "lianmengtai". On a sunny day, you can see the Yi River, Luo river and Yellow River.

Address: the top of Boyu peak in Shaoshi mountain opposite to the tourist attraction of Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng

Longitude: 112.9436416626

Latitude: 34.475429534912

Ticket information: no ticket required. Included in the Shaolin Temple pass 100 yuan

Chinese PinYin : Er Zu An