Longquan Temple

Longquan Temple

Longquan Temple is located in the valley where Jiangjun mountain and broken arm cliff meet in Yuhuatai District of Nanjing city. It was built in the Tang Dynasty and has a history of more than 1000 years. It was originally called the Buddhist temple of Helin xuansu and got its name because of the presence of Longquan in the temple. It was rebuilt in the early Ming Dynasty and renamed Tongshan temple.

Longquan Temple was rebuilt in the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty. It is called Longquan Temple again. The temple is built on the mountain and has three entrances. The temple forehead "Longquan Temple" is inscribed by Zhao Puchu. In front of the temple, there is an ancient Chimonanthus, which was planted by Zen master xuansu of Helin. On the left side of the temple gate is Longquan, and the spring water flows out from the mouth of the dragon. On the side of the spring is a "Longquan" stele inscribed by Zou Lu, the elder of the Republic of China, when he lived in seclusion here in the 1930s. There is a Guanyin cave on the right side of Longquan Temple, under which is a stone statue of Guanyin sitting. Under the stele is Zou Lu's "Longquan zashi".

Historical origin

He Lin xuansu, a famous monk of the Tang Dynasty, visited here for the first time. He had unique insight. Seeing the excellent landscape and geographical situation here, he chose a place to give lectures. When it comes to the wonderful place, colorful clouds appear in the sky, and colorful light appears in the clouds, which gradually recedes after three days. Countless faithful men and women look at the sky and worship, for a long time do not want to disperse. Later, Longquan Temple was famous for its strong fragrance. In Longquan Temple, there is a Chimonanthus praecox planted by Zen master xuansu of Helin in Tang Dynasty. It is said that this tree is quite magical. When the temple is prosperous, it has luxuriant branches and leaves and rich fragrance of flowers; when the temple is declining, it has fallen leaves and withered branches and flowers. It is said that this plum was planted by Zen master xuansu of Helin in the Tang Dynasty. Although it has gone through more than 1200 cold and hot days, it is still in full bloom. It is said that the withering and flourishing of this Chimonanthus praecox is very regular. When the temple is prosperous, the branches and leaves are luxuriant and the fragrance of the flowers is strong. When the temple is declining, the leaves are falling, the branches are withered and the flowers are residual. However, regardless of the prosperity and decline of the temple, drought and flood, its roots are always full of vitality.

Longquan Temple is located in the valley where Jiangjun mountain and broken arm cliff meet in Yuhuatai District of Nanjing city. It is adjacent to Niushou mountain and two tombs of the Southern Tang Dynasty. It is close to mountains and rivers. It is a geomantic treasure land favored by emperors, generals and many people with lofty ideals. During the Anti Japanese War, the ancient temple was destroyed in the war, and now there are only remains such as broken arm cliff and Guanyin cave.

Reconstruction period

In order to restore the style of this millennium old temple, the cultural relics department of Nanjing city led the reconstruction of Longquan Temple with 1 million yuan from Li daobang, a Hong Kong patriot. The newly built Longquan Temple covers an area of 8000 square meters, twice the area of the original temple. All the temples are designed and built in accordance with the architectural style of the Tang Dynasty, including the main hall, the dizang king hall, and the auxiliary rooms. Longquan Temple is in the shape of a ladder, with three entrances in front and back. The whole building is built with bricks and stones.

Although the main hall of the temple is rebuilt, it is still simple and elegant, with a sense of grandeur and delicacy. There is a thousand year old plum in the courtyard. The main scenic spots of Longquan Temple are broken arm cliff, Guanyin cave, Longquan, dizang hall, etc. The cliff is 6 meters high, 12 meters wide and 4 meters deep. It is wide in front and narrow in back. It is like a Buddhist niche. It is said that in the Southern Song Dynasty, Yuefei fought against Jin Wushu in NIUSHOUSHAN. One of Yuefei's generals had his arm cut off by the Jin soldiers, so he hid in the cave to recover his wounds. Later, he was found by the local people. In memory of the anti gold general, local people called it "broken arm cliff" and called the mountain "broken arm mountain". Guanyin cave is 1.13 meters high and 0.81 meters wide, and a stone statue of Guanyin is dedicated.

The water of Longquan seeps out from the rocks and gathers beside the temple to form a small pool. The pool is about 60 cm deep, 70 cm wide, yellow and transparent with high density. There is a stone tap on the pool. The water flows from the mouth of the dragon, so it is called "Longquan". This two character sign was inscribed by Zou Lu in the winter of the 26th year of the Republic of China (1937) and embedded on the stone wall of Tantou. The rebuilt Longquan Temple is as quiet and beautiful as it used to be. Now it has "Twelve Longquan sceneries", which are: Youjing Taoran, Helin Wenxian, wangyunfenggao, Guanyin grottoes, Huilong deep stream, broken arm cliff, Longquan ganyin, Shengui exixiu, Kangjin ancient fortress, guzhuolingmei, stone waterfall galloping, Ziqi Mengluan. Longquan Temple was built in Tang Dynasty.

Prosperous scene

According to Jinling fanchazhi, "to the north, 35 li away from jubaomen, formerly known as Longquan Temple, is the place where Buddhist monk xuansu of Tang Helin said.". Before the Tang Dynasty, there were few people here. Zen master Helin xuansu set up temples and preached scriptures in some Jielu temples. Longquan Temple was famous for its strong fragrance. After the Tang Dynasty, it was reduced to an ancient battlefield, where the Buddhist incense was cut off and the temple was desolate. In 1130, the four years of Emperor Gaozong's Jianyan in the Southern Song Dynasty, the Jin soldiers invaded the south. Yue Fei, a famous anti Jin general, led his army to build military fortifications around NIUSHOUSHAN and hanfushan, and sniped the Jin soldiers. The famous battle of "Yue Fei fighting NIUSHOUSHAN" took place in history.

In the early Ming Dynasty, a Zen master in the mirror rebuilt the temple at the old site of Longquan Temple, which was renamed "Tongshan Temple". In the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong visited Jiangnan. After that, the temple gradually declined. In 1801, it was rebuilt and renamed Longquan Temple.

The significance of Tourism

In 1995, the local government and cultural departments organized experts and scholars to conduct a comprehensive investigation and demonstration of the Longquan Temple site, and carried out a comprehensive restoration of the Longquan Temple. In early 1996, a grand opening ceremony was held, which became a new tourist attraction.

Address: Houzhuang, Tiexinqiao street, Yuhuatai District, Nanjing

Longitude: 118.759894

Latitude: 31.928538

Ticket information: free.

Chinese PinYin : Long Quan Chan Si