Lingyin Temple

Lingyin Temple

Lingyin Temple, also known as Yunlin temple, is located in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, with its back to the north peak and its face to Feilai peak. It was first built in the first year of Xianhe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (326), covering an area of about 87000 square meters.

The founder of Lingyin Temple is Huili monk, a monk of West India. In the Southern Dynasty, Emperor Liangwu granted farmland and expanded it. Qian Liu, the king of Wu and Yue in the Five Dynasties, asked master Yongming Yanshou to revitalize and open up, and named it Lingyin new temple. During the Jiading period of ningzong in Song Dynasty, Lingyin Temple was known as one of the "Five Mountains" of Zen in Jiangnan. During the reign of emperor Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty, the abbot Lingyin, the great master of Zen Buddhism, raised money for reconstruction. It took 18 years for the temple to be built, and its scale ranked the top in the southeast

. In 1689, Emperor Kangxi paid a visit to the South and named it "Yunlin Temple".

Lingyin Temple is mainly composed of Tianwang hall, Daxiong hall, pharmacist hall, Fatang hall and Huayan hall as the central axis, with 500 Luohan hall, Jigong hall, Huayan Pavilion, Dabei building and Abbot building on both sides. The current abbot is master Guangquan

.

Lingyin Temple in Zhejiang Province is a national key cultural relic protection unit

.

Historical evolution

Eastern Jin Dynasty

Lingyin Temple was built in the first year of Xianhe (326).

The southern and Northern Dynasties

In the third year of emperor Liang Wu's Tianjian reign (504 A.D.), Xiao Yan issued an imperial edict to "give up the way and return to the Buddha". He regarded Buddhism as the national religion. Then he built a large-scale construction project, built a temple and built a tower. Lingyin Temple was favored by emperor Liang Wu. It was granted land for expansion, with a large scale and gradually prosperous incense.

During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (561-578), he once declared the abolition of Buddhism and ordered the monks to return to the secular life, burn the Buddhist scriptures, and use the temples as public property. This time, the monasteries in the north were hit hard, but the monasteries in the South were better. Some timid monks, hearing the sound of the Dharma calamity, sneak away, return to the secular and live in seclusion, which leads to the desolation of Lingyin Temple.

Sui Dynasty

In the second year of Renshou (602), Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty restored Buddhism and sent monk Huisheng to Hangzhou to promote Buddhism. In front of Lingyin Temple, the shenni relic pagoda was built on the plank road between Feilai peak and Lianhua peak.

Tang Dynasty

In the fifth year of Huichang (845) of emperor Wuzong of Tang Dynasty, another large-scale "Huichang Dharma disaster" occurred in the history of Buddhism. Wu Zongli ruled to abolish and ban Buddhism. Lingyin Temple is doomed, the temple is destroyed, the monks are scattered, the bells in the temple are quiet, and the fireworks are out.

Five Dynasties and ten states

During the period of Qian Miao, the king of Wu and Yue, there were abundant cliff stone carvings, Buddha statues and Buddhist scriptures carvings. There were temple gardens and Buddhist pagodas everywhere. There are more and more people learning Buddhism and Zen, and there are more and more poems and articles about Buddhism and Zen.

In the 12th year of Tianfu in the later Han Dynasty (947), Qian Hongfang, the king of Wu and Yue, expanded Lingyin Temple into nine floors, eighteen pavilions and seventy-two halls. At one time, there were as many as 3000 monks, and foreign monks often came to learn scriptures.

In 960, Qian Hong, the king of Wu and Yue, invited the eminent monk Yanshou from Fenghua to preside over Lingyin Temple. More than 500 new monk houses and two stone buildings were built. Maitreya Pavilion is built in the East, and a garden in the West. There are more than 1300 halls and houses. The corridors and verandahs are zigzag, connecting the abbot from the left and right of the mountain gate, which is called "Lingyin new temple".

Northern Song Dynasty

In 1007, Lingyin Temple was changed to Jingde temple in Lingyin mountain.

Zhenzong Tianxi five years (1021), given the name "Jingde Lingyin Temple.".

In 1030, more than 13000 mu of fertile land in Hangzhou and Xiuzhou (now Jiaxing) was given to Lingyin Temple as a temple property for the sake of congee making.

In 1035, abbot Yanshan moved two jingchuangs, which were chiseled in 969 and placed in Fengxian Temple (now abandoned) of Wuyue Wangjia temple, to Tianwang Hall of Lingyin Temple.

In the first year of emperor you's reign (1049 A.D.), he gave the imperial embroidery two volumes of Guanyin Heart Sutra, huiluan tablet and feibai Huangluo fan.

During the reign of Qingli, Prime Minister Han Qi and political counsellor Ouyang Xiu granted three books (Jiayou Collection) and Fujiao Pian, which were written by Qi song, namely, zhuanfa Zhengzong dingzu Tu, zhuanfa Zhengzong Ji, zhuanfa zhengzonglun, etc. Song Renzong ordered the court to compile it into the Tibetan scriptures, and granted Qi song the title of "master of Ming religion". Since then, Lingyin Temple has become famous, and Buddhist believers at home and abroad have come to explore Buddhism. At that time, Lingyin Temple had become the holy land of Zen.

Southern Song Dynasty

In the fifth year of Shaoxing (1135), Lingyin Temple was changed into "Lingyin Temple worships enxianqin Temple". Gaozong and Xiaozong often went to Lingyin Temple to offer incense. In their spare time, they wrote calligraphy. Song LiZong changed the name of the main hall of Xianqin temple to juehuang hall. In addition, he wrote the word "miaohuangyu".

In 1172, Emperor Xiaozong of Song Dynasty visited Lingyin in person, xuanhuiyuan played the right role, and was given the title of "blind hall Zen master". He changed the name of Dharma hall to "zhizhitang", and granted the seal of "zhizhitang" to blind hall Zen master.

In the 28th year of Shaoxing (1158), Lingyin Temple imitated Jingci temple and built the "Tian Zi Dian" with 500 Arhats.

element

From the first year of Emperor Wu Zong to the first year of emperor DA in the Yuan Dynasty (1308), the juehuang hall, which was given the title by Emperor Li Zong of the Song Dynasty, decayed and rebuilt. It took four years to complete and was completed in the first year of emperor Zong's reign in Yuanren (1312).

In 1359, the temple was destroyed by fire and suffered heavy losses. Although the abbot Fu Liang rebuilt it in 1363, only the Abbot's room and Jialan hall were built. The prosperity of Lingyin Temple is no longer.

bright

In the third year of Hongwu (1370), Emperor Taizu of Ming Dynasty called the abbot of Lingyin Temple Jianxin back to Beijing, which caused a stir in the government and the public. Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty made him one of the "top ten eminent monks" and gave him gold shabby cassock. He also ordered him to write four proverbs of "rectifying the heart", "respecting the origin", "observing the Tao" and "respecting the sages".

When the Ming Dynasty was founded, it advocated Buddhism. Soon, in the name of rectification, it took various restrictive measures on temples. The ten day "legal disaster" tragedy of Lingyin Temple monks came again, and they took the initiative to return 13000 mu of temple fields in Hangzhou and Xiuzhou (now Jiaxing) to the court, so as to avoid the disaster of extinction. This practice of Lingyin Temple monk was appreciated by Emperor Taizu of Ming Dynasty, so he gave some of the fields back to Lingyin Temple. In 1370, the Lingyin Temple caught fire and suffered heavy losses.

In the 17th year of Hongwu (1384), abbot Huiming rebuilt juehuang hall and changed the name of the temple to "Lingyin Temple". Due to the lack of funds, the statue of Buddha in the temple was not plasticized until the first year of Yongle (1403), and the monk shancai raised money to decorate the Buddha's heaven and offerings. Juehuang hall suffered many disasters, and was destroyed by fire again in 1430.

In the seventh year of Xuande (1432), the abbot tanzan built the left and right wing gate and the mianbixuan, and then the abbot Liangji rebuilt the juehuang hall.

In the 11th year of Zhengtong (1446), the monk Xianli built zhizhitang, which was written by Zhang Jizhi. At this time, Maitreya Pavilion, Lianfeng Pavilion, thousand Buddha Hall, Yanbin Water Pavilion, Wanghai Pavilion, Baiyun nunnery, Songyuan nunnery and so on have been restored in the temple, which is a bit of the old scale.

In 1569, the whole Lingyin Temple was destroyed by thunder fire, leaving only zhizhitang.

The Lingyin Temple was rebuilt in the winter of 1583, which was completed in five years. The main hall was built in imitation of the Tang Dynasty, with 48 flat headed pillars and 16 stone pillars. The juehuang hall was changed into the "Great Hall".

In the 18th year of Wanli (1590), the Ligong tower was rebuilt and 500 luohanyong walls were built in the main hall. In the former site of Maitreya Pavilion, Sanzang hall was built, followed by zhizhitang and Abbot's room. On the left of the Abbot's room is Miaoying Pavilion, on the right is xuanfo Zhai, for which Zhang Han wrote a record.

In 1640, the Lingyin Temple suffered a disaster. The whole temple was careless and caught fire. Except the main hall and zhizhizhitang hall, the rest of the temple survived.

clear

In 1689, when Emperor Kangxi visited Hangzhou, he was lucky to visit Lingyin Temple. At that time, the abbot was Dihui, who asked Emperor Kangxi to inscribe a plaque. Kangxi personally wrote the word "Yunlin", and Lingyin Temple was renamed "Yunlin Temple". After that, Emperor Kangxi arrived at Lingyin in 1699, 1703 and 1705, all of which were recorded in his poems.

In the early years of Qianlong, the abbot Jutao inherited fadihui, learned a lot of books, and had profound attainments in Buddhism. At that time, Wang yinggeng, the young minister of Guanglu, came to visit Lingyin. He met Jutao at first sight. He donated money to rebuild Daxiong hall and dozens of other halls, halls, pavilions, pavilions, buildings and pavilions. He also decorated 500 Arhats and repaired Hejian bridge, Longhong cave, Jiufeng path, etc., with a total cost of more than 20000 taels of silver. It took three years from October in 1741 to October in 1744.

During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, Emperor Qianlong drove six times to Lingyin in 1751, 1757, 1762, 1765, 1780 and 1784, respectively. All these poems and articles were printed on the stone.

In the autumn of 1816, Lingyin Temple was destroyed by fire. From July 7, 1823 to April 16, 1828, more than 137000 taels of silver were used to restore the spirit

Chinese PinYin : Ling Yin Si