Great Buddha Temple

Longxing Temple

synonym

Dafo Temple (Dafo temple in Zhengding County, Hebei Province) generally refers to Longxing Temple (national AAAA tourist attraction in Zhengding County, Hebei Province)

Longxing Temple, also known as Dafo temple, is located in dongmenli street, Zhengding County, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province. It used to be the Longteng garden of yanmurongxi after the Sixteen Kingdoms period of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It was rebuilt in 586 ad (the sixth year of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty). It was called longzang temple at that time. It was changed into Longxing Temple in Tang Dynasty and Longxing Temple in Qing Dynasty. It is an earlier, larger and well preserved Buddhist temple in China One of the hospitals. The temple covers an area of 82500 square meters, with more than ten temples, which are distributed on the north-south axis and its two sides. It is an important example to study the architectural layout of Buddhist temples in Song Dynasty.

Longxing Temple is approved as China's AAAA tourist attraction

The first batch of key cultural relics protection units in China

One of the top ten famous temples in China

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In February 2020, in order to pay tribute to the vast number of medical workers fighting in the front line of prevention and control, Longxing Temple scenic area will provide free tours for medical workers with doctor's and nurse's certificates from the date of resumption of operation to December 31, 2020.

Evolution of Architecture

Longxing Temple was originally the Longteng garden of yanmurongxi in the Sixteen Kingdoms period of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In 586, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty rebuilt the temple in the garden, which was called longzang temple. It was renamed Longxing Temple in Tang Dynasty.

In the second year of Kaibao in the Northern Song Dynasty (969), song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin came to Hedong and stayed in Zhenzhou (later Zhengding). When he went to the Dabei temple in the west of the city, which was founded by the eminent monks of Tang Dynasty, he learned that the original bronze Bodhisattva was four feet and nine feet high, and that there were two disasters of later Han Khitan and later Zhou Zong ruining the Buddha and casting money, Therefore, it was ordered to recast the body of the great compassion Bodhisattva and build the great compassion Pavilion in Longxing Temple. The project was started in the fourth year of Kaibao (971) and completed in the eighth year of Kaibao (975). With this as the main body, the central axis layout was adopted for Daxing expansion, forming a Song Dynasty architectural complex with north-south depth, large-scale and momentum.

In 1858, the palace on the west road was occupied by the Catholic Church, and the buildings on the middle and East roads were also damaged. There are few visiting monks in the temple, and the gate is deserted.

In 1961, it was announced by the State Council as a national key cultural relics protection unit.

architectural composition

The main buildings of Longxing Temple are distributed in a north-south axis and its two sides. In front of the temple, there is a large glazed screen wall, which goes northward through the three roads and three holes stone bridge. The order is: Tianwang hall, Tianjue Liushi Hall (site), Mani hall, altar, Cishi Pavilion, zhuanlunzang Pavilion, Kangxi imperial tablet Pavilion, Qianlong imperial tablet Pavilion, yushulou (site), Dabei Pavilion, Jiqing Pavilion (site) and Mituo hall. In the northeast corner of the temple wall, there is a Longquan well Pavilion. On the east side of the temple are the Abbot's temple, Yuhua hall and xiangxingzhai, which are the subsidiary buildings of Longxing Temple. They were originally the residence of the abbot monks and monks.

Main attractions

The altar

Abstinence altar is a pavilion type building. The existing wood structure was rebuilt in Qing Dynasty. From the outside, the altar has three floors and four sides. On each side of the first floor, there are six pillars. Above the pillars, there is a Dougong structure, which supports the eaves of the whole altar. The top of the altar is a cusp type roof, with four ridges and six sacred animals on each ridge. This shows that the level of the altar is still very high.

Inside the altar, there are two-sided statues of Buddha made of copper in Ming Dynasty. The two Buddhas sit with their backs connected. Facing the south is Amitabha, the leader of the Western Paradise. Facing the north is the pharmacist Buddha, the leader of the Oriental pure glass world. Generally, Sakyamuni Buddha or youpuli, one of his ten disciples, is worshipped on the altar. Because Youpo is the first to keep the precepts, she worships her image in the altar. It is also rare in China that Amitabha, the leader of Western Paradise, and pharmacist Buddha, the leader of Oriental jingliuli world, are worshipped on the altar of Longxing Temple. In addition, this double-sided bronze Buddha has obvious style of court statue in the middle of Ming Dynasty, which is extremely rare among the people.

Abstinence altar is a place where Buddhist monks hold religious rites when they are disciplined. In ancient times, smaller temples were not qualified to have altar. Since the expansion of Longxing Temple in Song Dynasty, it was rebuilt by Emperor's edict in Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty. The altar of Longxing Temple is one of the three major arenas in North China. The other two arenas are Jietai Temple in Beijing and Qingliang temple in Wutai Mountain.

Dabei Pavilion

Dabei Pavilion is the main building of Longxing Temple, located at the back of the central axis. The pavilion is 33 meters high, seven rooms wide and five rooms deep. It is a three story pavilion with five double eaves. It was formerly known as "Buddhist Pavilion" and "Tianning Guanyin Pavilion". According to records, the pavilion was first built in 968-976 (Kaibao period in the early Song Dynasty).

In the Dabei Pavilion stands a tall bronze Bodhisattva, called "Dabei Bodhisattva". It is 19.2 meters high and stands on the 2.2 meters high Xumi stone platform. It is the best preserved and highest bronze statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva in China. For example, it was made by Zhao Kuangyin, the emperor of Song Dynasty, with 42 arms around it, also known as "Avalokitesvara with thousands of hands and eyes". Each arm holds sun and moon, Jingping, pagoda, Vajra, sword and so on. Unfortunately, 40 pairs of copper arms on both sides have been destroyed and have been changed to wood. Only the two arms on the front chest are cast in the original. The statue of Guanyin has a natural look, even proportion, smooth grain and delicate lines, which is quite of the artistic style of Song Dynasty. According to the records of a Song Dynasty stele in the temple, the casting process is: first, the foundation is cast, and then the great Bodhisattva is cast in seven sections. The first section is cast to the lower lotus seat, the second section to the knee, the third section to the navel, the fourth section to the chest, the fifth section to the armpit, the sixth section to the shoulder, and the seventh section to the head. Finally, forty two arms were cast. The hands of Bodhisattvas are all carved out of wood. They are wrapped with cloth, a layer of paint, a layer of cloth, and then pasted with gold foil.

When the Dabei pavilion was rebuilt in 1944 (33 years of the Republic of China), the Yushu tower and Jiqing Pavilion on both sides were demolished, and the building area was reduced by one third. There are no wall sculptures of Song Dynasty on the East, West and North walls. There are stairs leading to the top floor of the pavilion. You can take a panoramic view of Zhengding ancient city by relying on the railing. The literati and poets of the past dynasties came to this pavilion and chanted poems, leaving many beautiful poems.

In front of the great mercy Pavilion, the east side is the zhuanlunzang Pavilion (Sutra Pavilion), and the west side is the Cishi Pavilion. Zhuanlunzangge sits on the West and faces east. It is three rooms wide and four rooms deep. It has a double eaves on the top of the mountain. Its plane is nearly square. In the center of the pavilion, there is a wooden seven meter diameter octagonal "wheel collection" (i.e. the rotating Sutra collection cabinet): the two gold pillars in the middle give way from left to right, and the beam frame structure makes a curved beam which is connected with the load-bearing beam from the lower eaves and the bucket arch, while the upper beam has the application of large inclined column (fork), which is a masterpiece of early wooden architecture. The Cishi Pavilion is similar to the zhuanlunzang Pavilion in general. The construction of Yongding column and Jianzhu column is the characteristic of its architectural structure. In particular, the columns around the eaves and walls are made of Yongding columns, which is an isolated example of Song Dynasty architecture preserved in China. On the two meter high seat of Xumi in the pavilion stands a seven meter high statue of Maitreya Buddha, or "Tzu Shi Bodhisattva", a relic of the Song Dynasty.

Wumen Temple

There is no mountain gate in Longxing Temple. There is only a tall glazed wall in front of it. Around Zhaobi, from Sanlu single hole stone bridge to the north, facing the temple's first building, Tianwang hall, is a single eaves Xieshan style building with seven sandalwood columns. There is a round arched gate in it. On the top of the gate is a gold plaque of "Chijian Longxing Temple" written by Emperor Kangxi, which also serves as a mountain gate.

The main hall has five rooms in the body and five rooms in the depth. The central part of the hall is the top of the Xieshan mountain with double eaves. The flowers from the middle of the four sides embrace the building forward, reflecting the characteristics of architecture in the Song Dynasty. The top of the hall is decorated with green glazed tiles, and the eaves are decorated with majestic green brackets. The wings are round and slightly upward. It is rare in the early Chinese ancient buildings that the three-dimensional Li Fu Yu changes and the shape is quite special. In the center of the hall, there are statues of Sakyamuni, Manjusri, Puxian, Ananda and Kaya, among which one Buddha (Sakyamuni) and two disciples (Ananda and Kaya) are the original statues of Song Dynasty. On the eaves wall and the fan wall surrounding the Buddhist altar, there are murals painted during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, with the theme of Buddhist stories. The murals are colorful and smooth. On the back of the fan wall is the exquisite Xumi mountain. In the mountains are Arhats, lions and elephants. In the middle is a sitting statue of Guanyin, a colored statue of Ming Dynasty. It has a crown on its head and a ribbon on its shoulder. Its chest and arms are bare and round. One foot steps on lotus, the other foot stands up, and both hands caress knees. The bridge of the nose is slightly high, the willow leaves are thin, the face is quiet and serene, and the posture is elegant and dignified.

Tianwang Hall

On the gate of the heavenly king hall, there is a gold plaque written by Emperor Kangxi, which reads "building Longxing Temple by imperial edict". On the left and right walls of Tianwang hall, there are "rich peonies" carved with glazed bricks. To the south of the heavenly king hall is a magnificent double dragon wall. The wall is 22.9 meters long, 6.8 meters high and 1.2 meters thick. The top and sides of the wall are inlaid with green glazed tiles. The cap and ridge are decorated with birds and animals. The front and back centers of the screen wall are diamond shaped, and the middle is green glass relief with the pattern of two dragons playing with pearls, which sets off the whole wall of the relief in bright red.

There are two lifelike dragons in Zhaobi. It is said that the Hutuo River in the south of Zhengding city is deep and swift. In the early years, there was no bridge, so it was inconvenient to pass. Later, two iron chains were cast to tie the wooden piles on both sides of the river for the convenience of pedestrians and ferries. Over the years, the iron chains became two green dragons, harming the people, and were put to heaven by Zhang

Chinese PinYin : Da Fo Si