Baoguo temple in Suzhou

Baoguo Temple

synonym

Suzhou Baoguo Temple generally refers to Baoguo Temple (Suzhou Baoguo Temple)

Baoguo temple is a protected building in Suzhou city. It is located at No. 3, Chuanxin street, Renmin Road (formerly known as HuLong Street) in the ancient city of Suzhou.

Brief introduction to the temple

Baoguo temple is located in a very superior space. It is adjacent to the famous Yiyuan garden in the north, with twin towers in the East and Canglang Pavilion in the south. It is located in a secluded place in the downtown area. It has the artistic conception of quiet in the noisy and Zen in the quiet.

At present, there are many Buddhist cultural and charitable organizations in Baoguo temple, such as Suzhou Buddhist Museum, Suzhou Honghua society, Suzhou fobo Honghua art academy, Suzhou Honghua society clinic, etc. Now it is a control and protection building in Suzhou.

Historical evolution

Baoguo temple was built in the Xianchun period of Song Dynasty. It was originally in the west of the Confucian temple and was named "Baoguo Chan yuan".

From the Yuan Dynasty to the 22nd year of the Yuan Dynasty, it was donated and rebuilt by Su Zhenglian, an envoy of Hu Dao. Pu Zhao was the abbot, and Zen was very popular at that time.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Kaiyuan Temple was recorded in the Chan court. During the reign of Tianshun in Jingtai, the monks' annals asked the court to change the court into a temple, and then it became a jungle.

Layout structure

During the reign of Chenghua, Chengzhao's residence expanded greatly, with hundreds of temples, guest houses, Zhaitang and storehouses, covering an area of 47 mu.

During the Wanli reign of Jiajing, the southeast was disturbed, the Buddhism declined, and the Baoguo Temple gradually declined. At the end of Wanli, Huiru, a monk, thrived like asceticism. Maolin succeeded him. He accepted things and benefits people with compassion, taught and popularized with wisdom. He held the name of Amitabha Buddha. He received more than 3000 Dharma, more than 10000 precepts, and hundreds of thousands of rice monks. It was the heyday of Baoguo temple.

Prosperous period

After Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty, Buddhism declined again. At the end of Guangxu, monk Chuquan saw that the temple was declining day by day, and he went to Beijing to ask for the Scriptures. After Chuquan left the temple, Cheng Dequan, governor of Jiangsu Province, listened to the lies of his staff and said that there was a temple but no monk in Baoguo temple, so he confiscated the whole temple and rebuilt it into a garden. Chu Quan asked the temple to return to the Soviet Union. The temple had changed its owner, so it had to borrow land to hide. In the second year of the Republic of China, Cheng Dequan retired from office and began to study Buddhism. He was confident and deeply regretted that he had destroyed the temple. In the tenth year of the Republic of China, he paid for the purchase of the former Chinese military office in Chuanxin street to rebuild the Baoguo temple. However, the scale of the temple was relatively small, only about four acres. He invited abbot Chuquan. Chuquan died and his apprentice Mingdao succeeded him.

In February 1930, Yin Guang, an eminent monk, was invited to the temple to cover the pass. After master Yinguang lived in Baoguo temple, he became famous for promoting Dharma and promoting life. There were no less than a million converts. Therefore, in the past, there was no time to meet people in Chuanxin street, which was quite grand.

Related allusions

In 1937, when the Anti Japanese war broke out, master Yinguang broke through the barriers and came to Shanghai to say that he sincerely declared that he would protect the country from disaster. Later, he moved to lingyanshan temple at the request of old monk Miaozhen. After the death of Mingdao, Baoguo temple was changed into the lower courtyard of lingyanshan temple.

After 1950, the temple was borrowed by hospitals and factories.

It became a folk house in 1958.

Buddhist culture

In the autumn of 1992, the Buddha city agreed to take back the property and set up a Buddhist cultural cause. With the support of the government, the property was returned. The City Buddhist Association raised more than 3 million yuan for renovation. The renovated Baoguo temple covers an area of 1300 square meters, with main buildings such as mountain gate, main hall, sutra building, east-west wing room, yinpr room, etc. it has a typical style of Jiangnan temple. The yinpr room is restored according to its original appearance, and the Sutra building is spacious and bright.

Baoguo temple, the main hall of five bay, building area of 144 square meters, magnificent momentum, opened for the Suzhou Buddhist Museum.

Address: No.3 Chuanxin street, Renmin Road, Suzhou

Longitude: 120.62370300293

Latitude: 31.30260848999

Tel: 0512-65230561

Chinese PinYin : Su Zhou Bao Guo Si