Lingwu Temple

Lingwu Temple

Lingwu temple, also known as God Temple and Yuhuang temple, was originally named Xuanwu temple. It was built in the 20th year of kaihuang reign of Sui Dynasty (AD 600). In the Song Dynasty, in order to avoid the taboo of Zhao Kuangyin, the emperor ordered the world to change Xuanwu temple into Zhenwu temple. According to the location indicated in the landscape map of Lingzhou in Jiaqing, the location of Gaomiao is exactly where the Ming Dynasty city wall was built. From this we know that since the 17th year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty (1384 AD), the location of Gaomiao has not changed. As the building is located at the highest place in Lingwu City, people often call God's temple the high temple.

brief introduction

The overall architecture of Gaomiao temple is the crystallization of ancient Chinese architectural art. It has a rigorous layout, and the height is increased step by step. The main building is always distributed on a central axis, with side halls on both sides, with the same structure and area.

detailed information

There are three stories in the high temple, each of which consists of double towers, pavilions and corridors, cornices and ridges. According to some old people's recollections, in order to build the high temple well and make it fully absorb the architectural style of various places, on May 3, 1941, when the high temple was rebuilt, highly skilled folk craftsmen were hired from Hebei, Shaanxi and other provinces to build the high temple. Historically, Lingwu is an important border town with a developed economy and culture. There are many temples in the old city, such as Huo temple, Jingzhong temple, Luban temple and so on. Due to the flourishing incense, in addition to local people's worship of Buddha and incense, people from Shaanxi, Mongolia and other surrounding provinces also came to participate in the activities. Since the completion of the construction, the temple has been well cared by the people, and its popularity has greatly increased. However, due to the unstable political situation in the old society, especially the repeated disasters in previous wars, the temple was finally destroyed in the war of Qing Dynasty. In 1940, Guo Chuangye, a well-known figure in Lingwu, and some officials and common people moved to fund the reconstruction, which was supported by all parties and completed in the summer of 1945. The construction of Gaomiao drew some lessons from history, improved its height, shape, shockproof and other techniques, adopted the structural advantages of Zhongwei Gaomiao and other ancient buildings, and made Gaomiao a fine ancient building with exquisite sculpture and painting. During the "Cultural Revolution", the Gaomiao Temple suffered another catastrophe. The base of the Gaomiao temple was hollowed out and reformed into an air defense headquarters. All the demolished wood was used for the construction of township hospitals. After the reform and opening up, with the implementation of the party's ethnic and religious policies, Zhao Jie, a Lingwu man, and others jointly wrote to the county Party committee and the county government,

They demanded that the high temple be rebuilt. In March 1991, with the approval of the Cultural Department of the autonomous region, the temple was rebuilt according to its original appearance. In August 1993, the reconstruction project was completed. The reconstruction of Gaomiao temple is based on the principle of relying on the original appearance, higher than the original appearance, high standards and strict requirements. The Management Committee of Gaomiao entrusted Xi'an ancient architectural design institute to carry out the design, making the new Gaomiao more majestic and magnificent. Now the temple covers an area of 5000 square meters, the temple building area is 2000 square meters, the main hall is 30 meters high, the platform is 11 meters high, and the overall Temple faces south. The main buildings are Nantianmen, Guanyin Pavilion, Wuliang hall, Wangmu hall, Yuhuang hall and Sanqing hall. There are 11 buildings on both sides, including bell and Drum Tower, Wenchang Pavilion, Wuchang Pavilion and Tianwang hall. Walking into the high temple, you can see the Mountain Gate of the high temple. The mountain gate is carved with a pair of couplets. The first couplet is "kindly advise all living beings not to do evil". The second couplet is "be willing to save the maze, and all good things must be carried out". The second couplet is "protect the country and the people". On the top of the two side doors are inscribed two warning brick plaques of "suppressing evil" and "promoting good". When you enter the mountain gate, you will see the majestic temples. Along the 33 steps, you will see the main gate of the temple, with a plaque of "Nantianmen". There is a couplet on both sides of the door. The first couplet is "meikaierdou Temple reappears its majestic posture", and the second couplet is "people gather in Lingzhou and add splendor". There are two side halls on both sides of the South Gate of heaven, which are the spirit palace and the gods and Buddhas of the heavenly king. Pass through the south gate, enter the second gate, and enter the courtyard to form the middle floor of the temple. The upper floor of the courtyard is the Guanyin hall, and reach the main hall in the north through the corridor. There are two independent temples and pavilions on both sides. The bell tower and Wenchang temple are on the east side, and the drum tower and Wuchang temple are on the west side. The main hall, with triple eaves and three layers of slopes, is the largest in the whole temple group. There is a couplet at the gate of the main hall. The first couplet is "brilliant buildings, outstanding people, thousands of historical sites", and the second couplet is "great achievements, abundant resources, people's peace and prosperity for thousands of years". The main hall is divided into three levels. The first level is the Mahatma hall, with Buddha statues of Sakyamuni and Tathagata. There is a corridor behind the main hall. There are two wooden ladders to climb the second floor. On the second floor, the Jade Emperor and the gods are molded. The second floor is connected with the Guanyin hall by wooden paths, and there are wooden ladders on both sides to go up to the third floor. In the three-story hall, there are statues of taishanglaojun, Yuanshi Tianzun and moral Tianzun. The main buildings of the whole temple are located on the central axis, and the distance between layers is gradually increased. The auxiliary building is located on both sides, balanced and symmetrical, which sets off each hall with dignity and generosity. The pavilions and corridors of the complex are connected, the cornices peck each other, and the circle twists and turns. The gate building is exquisitely carved and the color of the caisson on the roof is gorgeous. Wall celebrity calligraphy and painting ink dripping, each with a thousand years. Some historical legends have vivid paintings, rich imagination, vivid images and exquisite brushwork. Their artistic value and craft level are much higher than those of the high temples built in the 1940s.

Looking from afar, the Yellow River winds northward, with thousands of hectares of rice waves, luxuriant fruit forest and fragrant flowers and fruits. The neon lights are flashing at night, and the temple stands in the starry sky with another graceful posture.

In 2007, the Gaomiao Temple received 20000 tourists and achieved a ticket revenue of 100000 yuan

Address: Fuxing street, Lingwu, Yinchuan

Longitude: 106.33577621025

Latitude: 38.095961386052

Chinese PinYin : Ling Wu Gao Miao