Tongjue Temple

Tongjue Temple

Tongjue temple in Taicang City was built in Yongle period of Ming Dynasty, with a history of more than 600 years. It is said that emperor Jianwen took refuge here and planted a ginkgo tree (the existing tongjue Temple Park). The name of "tongjue Temple" was also named after the "Huangjue Temple" of his grandfather Zhu Yuanzhang, because emperor Taizu of Ming Dynasty achieved the imperial career as a monk, and Emperor Jianwen implied the hope of recovering the imperial career from the monk status.

brief introduction

Tongjue Temple

In the past dynasties, incense flourished. The statue of Avalokitesvara, which was worshipped in the temple, was well-known for its wonderful appearance. The ten faithful men and women came to the temple one after another. They were well-known for their desire. "Tongjue Temple"

”It is located in the South Ring Road of Fuqiao Town, covering an area of 63 mu. It is composed of Mountain Gate, bell tower, Drum Tower, Tianwang hall, Dabei Pavilion, Wanfo hall, sutra collection hall, Daxiong hall, pagoda and other halls. The building of the hall is magnificent and the law is solemn. The 66 meter high pagoda is towering and colorful. The pure and elegant winding corridor of tongjue Temple Park, the pavilions in the river pool, the temple and the pagoda complement each other. It has become a temple integrating temples and gardens, and a Buddhist holy land and tourist attraction in the port area.

Architectural landscape

Shanmen Hall

"Shanmen" is called Shanmen hall. There are two reasons for the name of Shanmen. The first is "sanjiemen", which includes wuxiangmen (East), Kongmen (middle) and wuzumen (West). The other is that in the past, temples were also called "jungles". The so-called "jungles" are mostly famous mountain monks. "Jungles" are generally among famous mountains and rivers. "Shanmen" is also used as the entrance to the mountains, which means that they are isolated from the world!

"Shanmen hall" is dedicated to Maitreya, who is fat, smiling, big bellied, carefree and welcoming visitors from all over the world. Maitreya is also the successor of Sakyamuni Buddha, but it will be 5.67 billion years after Sakyamuni's death before he comes to the world and officially becomes Maitreya Buddha. Under the Longhua tree, Maitreya will say "three meetings" and spend all living beings. Back to back with Maitreya Bodhisattva and facing the temple of Heavenly Kings is Bodhisattva Weituo, who is the patron saint of the Buddhist temple and also protects the Buddha from harm. There are two main postures of sculpting Wei Tuo Bodhisattva: one is standing with legs upright, hands together, two wrists horizontal and a magic pestle. It's said that the temple where Wei Tuo is made into this posture allows monks to hang up bills; the other is holding pestle and leaning on the ground with the left hand and forking waist with the right hand, which looks extraordinary and majestic. It is said that the temple, which made Wei Tuo into this posture, refused the visiting monks to hang up their bills.

bell tower

"Bell tower" is commonly known as Bell striking hall, bell hall, bell platform and fishing bell hall. It is one of the seven halls. In Sanskrit, Qianzhi is translated as bell or chime. It's a magic weapon knocked by the temple to tell the time and gather people. "Zengyi ahan Jing" says: "Ananda was promoted to the lecture hall, holding Qianzhi in his hand, and said: I am now beating this Tathagata faith drum, and all those who have Tathagata disciples should be collected. Er Shifu said this verse: there is nothing more than the knot to subdue the magic resentment. When you hit Qianzhi in the open, you can hear from bhikkhu. All the people who want to hear about the legal person will live and die. When you hear this wonderful sound, you should gather here. The 108 rings of the bell in Buddhist temples sooner or later means that all living beings can get rid of 108 kinds of troubles, and the bell can make all living beings of the three evil ways temporarily rest their suffering. Therefore, the monks in Buddhist temples are merciful and knock the bell sooner or later. When you knock on the bell, you can sing and recite the song of knocking on the bell, one sentence at a time, in order to pray that all living beings who are suffering will be able to worry less, wisdom more and Bodhisattva more after hearing the bell.

drum-tower

"Drum Tower" is a building with hanging drums. Looking opposite to the bell tower, it has been called "left bell and right drum" since ancient times. The drum is placed at the top of the drum tower. It is used as an instrument to tell the time for monks and common people. When eminent monks and great virtues come to the temple, the bells and drums sing together to show respect and respect. The temple's drumming in the morning and evening is in harmony with the bell. In the morning, the bell is rung first, followed by the drum, and in the evening, the drum is rung first, followed by the bell, so it is called morning bell and evening drum.

The drum is sometimes used to compare the Dharma that Buddha said. The Dharma can make all living beings suffer like a demon army. It is just like the battle between two armies, beating the drum to make the soldiers attack the enemy. Therefore, the Dharma is compared to the drum. For example, the volume of wuliangshoujing says: "buckle the drum and blow the conch". From here we can further see that all the Dharma tools in Buddhism have their own inner meaning, implying a certain aspect of the characteristics of Buddhism, and our generation of scholars should experience it carefully.

Tianwang Hall

On the left and right sides of the "Temple of heavenly kings" are the four well-known heavenly kings, who were originally gods in ancient Indian mythology. Buddhism believes that Xumi mountain is the center of the world, surrounded by the sea, and there is a continent on each side of the sea. A heavenly king leads a general yecha to guard one side of the Buddhist kingdom. The four heavenly kings are: the heavenly king of the East, named titur raqi, the heavenly king of the south, named piliuli, the heavenly king of the west, named piliuguocha, the heavenly king of the north, named Pishan, and the magic tools held by the four heavenly kings, Each of them has a symbolic meaning: the southern growth heavenly king holds a sword, symbolizing "wind"; the eastern heavenly king holds a lute, symbolizing "tune"; the northern Heavenly King hears more about holding an umbrella, symbolizing "rain"; the western Guangmu heavenly king holds a snake, symbolizing "Shun". All in all, it is "good weather", symbolizing the harvest of grain. Therefore, the four heavenly kings seem to be ferocious, but in fact, they express people's yearning and praying for a better year and a peaceful life.

main hall

"Daxiong hall" is a place dedicated to the founder and supreme leader of Buddhism. "Daxiong" is the honorific name for Sakyamuni Buddha, specifically refers to the Buddha's great power and boundless power. It can subdue four demons, such as "five Yin demons", "trouble demons", "death demons" and "emperor demons". The main Buddha statue worshiped in the "Mahavira hall" of the temple is "Wang Sanshi Buddha", where "Shi" refers to three spatial worlds. Because of its simultaneous existence, it is named "Heng III" as Sakyamuni Buddha in the middle of the Saha world. On the left is the chief pharmacist Buddha of the Oriental glass world. On the right is Amitabha, the leader of the Western Paradise.

Eighteen Arhats

Dragon subduing arhat: it is said that he once subdued the dragon. The seventeenth of the eighteen Arhats, that is, the venerable JIAYE, was appointed by Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty.

Luohan sitting on the deer: bingduluoba, the venerable luotuoge, once took the deer to the palace to persuade the king to study Buddhism. Sitting on the deer, you can feel thoughtful, calm and noble.

Ju Bo Luo Han: the Sui court of kanoka Ba Li is a traveler of Tuo Hua Yuan. One of the eighteen Arhats, the venerable nuogabalita was originally a monk of Huayuan. His way of making love is different. He raised an iron bowl to beg for food. After he became a Taoist, the world called him "a Luohan who raised a bowl".

Arhat crossing the river: Lord batra, crossing the river is like a dragonfly skimming the water. He carried the Scriptures, passed the Scriptures eastward, waded through mountains and rivers, and helped all living beings. The free translation of batora is virtuous, but there is another reason why this arhat was named batora. It turns out that there is a rare tree in India, called batra. His mother was pregnant and gave birth to him under the batra tree, so she named him batra and sent him to the temple gate to become a monk.

Fu Hu Luo Han: he once subdued the fierce tiger. It is said that outside the temple where Lord Fu Hu lived, there was often a tiger wheezing because of hunger. Lord Fu Hu shared his food with the tiger. After a long time, the tiger was subdued by him and often played with him, so he was also called "Luohan Fu Hu".

Sit in arhat: he is a great arhat, and he has great power because he was a warrior in the past. They are pure in mind, serene in manner, auspicious in celebration, and in bliss. Nojiluo can be translated as Hercules. This Rohan is a powerful Rohan. He used to be a soldier with incomparable strength. Later he became a monk and achieved good results.

Arhat with long eyebrows: it's said that there were two long eyebrows when he was born. The kind-hearted old man, the eminent monk of Tao, has a good command of the great thousand, and understands them. Ashido is a very correct transliteration of Sanskrit. This arhat's Tewei was born with two long white eyebrows. It turns out that he was also a monk in his previous life, because his eyebrows fell off when he was old enough to practice. He took off and shaved two long eyebrows, but still could not achieve the right result. After he died, he was reincarnated. After he was born, someone said to his father, "Sakyamuni Buddha also has two long eyebrows. Your son has long eyebrows, which is the Buddha's appearance." So his father sent him into the temple to become a monk, and finally he became a Luohanguo.

Cloth bag arhat: because of Jietuo, he often carries a cloth bag and laughs. Wuliangshou Buddha and heaven and earth treasure bag are happy and happy. Yinjietuo is said to be a snake catcher in India. He catches snakes for the convenience of pedestrians to avoid being bitten by snakes. After catching the snake, he took out its poisonous tooth and put it in the deep mountain. Because of his kindness, he achieved good results.

The gatekeeper arhat: he is a man of tea and devotion to his duty. It is a powerful benchmark, a watchful gaze, a master of Zen staff, and a brave and blazing evil spirit. Zhucha bantuojia is one of the disciples of Sakyamuni, the Buddha. He goes to various places for almsgiving. He often uses his fists to ask the people in the house to give almsgiving. Once, because his house was rotten, he broke it carelessly. As a result, he had to apologize and admit his mistake. Later he went back to ask the Buddha, the Buddha said: "I give you a stick, you go to Huayuan, don't hit the door, use this stick to shake on the door of people's home, people who have fate will open the door, if you don't open the door, people who don't have fate will go to another home!" it turns out that there are several rings on it, and when shaking, the sound of "tin" comes out. When people heard the sound, they opened the door.

Probe hand arhat: bantuojia venerable, because after meditation, he often raises his hand and stretches his waist, so he gets this name.

You are comfortable, yawn, stretch your waist, smart and comfortable. It is said that bantuojia is the son of banzharo, the God of medicine fork.

Meditating on arhat: arhula, Buddha

Chinese PinYin : Tong Jiao Si