JingYe temple

JingYe temple

Jingye temple, one of the Eight Buddhist sects in China, is the ancestral court of "Luzong" and one of the Eight Temples in Fanchuan. Located in the north foot of Zhongnan mountain, Chang'an District, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, about 35 kilometers away from Xi'an city. According to the summary of Chang'an ancient temple, "Jingye Temple of Luzong is the same as Ci'en Temple of xiangzong. Because of the way xuanzhu Zhongnanshan, also known as nanshanzong, this temple for the jungle crown

Jingye temple was built in the Sui Dynasty. It was a place for eminent monks to preach Buddhism in the early Tang Dynasty, so it became the ancestral court of Buddhism. After that, he was passed on to Japan by Jianzhen, a disciple of daoxuan, and became the ancestor of Japanese law school. Later generations studied the Sutra on the basis of the interpretation and regulations of daoxuan. Up to now, most of the monks in China still take daoxuan's theory as their example.

Jingye temple is one of the 142 national key Buddhist temples in Han nationality areas determined by the State Council. On the top of the temple, there is a Buddhist serretta standing tall, which occupies an important position in the history of Chinese Buddhism.

geographical position

Jingye temple is located in Fenghuang Mountain (also known as Houan mountain) at the north foot of Zhongnan mountain, Chang'an District, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province. Fenghuang mountain is like a phoenix in shape, with a long and soft earth vein, an ancient and high mountain, and a deep forest gully. Jingye temple is located on the hillside, facing south in the north, cliff in the north, Qinghua mountain in the East, Fengyu River in the West and broad in the south. There are Cuiwei temple in the East, West Guanyin Temple in the west, Fengde temple in the north and inspiration temple in the northwest outside the pass.

Historical evolution

Jingye temple was founded in 581, the first year of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty. In 624, taoxuan, an eminent monk, studied Dinghui in fangzhanggu (Fengyu) of Zhongnan mountain. Where he lived, there was no water, so he dug the ground to get water. There was a foot in the ground, and the clear spring gushed out. Therefore, he called his residence "Baiquan Temple". The Daochang, which is used to practice and propagate laws, has become the birthplace of Buddhism.

Daoxuan lawyer lived in Fengde temple during the Zhenguan period. It is said that the Dharma protector told him: "the Jingye temple is a pure official village. The place is a treasure, and the way can be learned.". The name of Jingye temple comes from this, which also shows that Baiquan temple and Jingye Temple belong to the same temple. According to song minqiu's Chang'an annals, in the second year of Linde (665), Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty ordered daoxuan to build a stone altar here.

On October 3, the second year of Qianfeng (667), lawyer daoxuan passed away and was buried in the stone room of Tangu. Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty ordered the temples all over the world to offer the portraits of daoxuan lawyers, and ordered the famous craftsman Han Botong to make them. Mu Zong of Tang Dynasty once praised and said: "there are perfect people in the dynasty, who are the envoys of the Tathagata. The dragon and the ghost return, and the gods serve. The sound flies five days, the words startle ten thousand li. Jinwu sinks to the West and Buddha rises to the East. Jishou was converted to Zhaolu Later generations lived in Zhongnanshan for a long time because of daoxuan, and respected him as "Nanshan sect" and "Nanshan law ancestor". There are thousands of law preaching disciples under daoxuan's family. The famous ones are Daoan and daozong, the disciples of Daci, Wengang and Wengang. Later, Jianzhen, the second disciple of daozong, spread the law to Japan and became the founder of Japanese law.

In the Tang Dynasty, Jingye Temple flourished because of the promotion of Taoism and Legalism. After the Tang Dynasty, Jingye Temple gradually declined and remained incomplete for hundreds of years.

In 1437, the abbot monk Yunxiu raised money to repair it.

In 1460, the abbot Seng Benquan and the abbot Huihai of Fengde temple were rebuilt to restore their ancestral inheritance.

In 1555, an earthquake occurred in the 34th year of Jiajing reign of emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty, and daoxuan relic tower collapsed. It was rebuilt in 1567 when Emperor muzong of the Ming Dynasty Longqing.

In 1681, Zen master Yan an preached the precepts here and built the stupa after his death. In the 52nd year of Kangxi (1737), Dade, the elder of Zhushan, initiated the reconstruction of daoxuan relic pagoda. In 1812, the abbot monk Jigui rebuilt the hall and house. In the 12th year of Daoguang (1832), master Mingchuan repaired the temple, bought land and set up a statute tablet.

In 1921, Zhihai, a master from Fujian Province, came to Jingye temple to witness the decline of the ancestral court. He raised money in Nanyang to buy property for the temple and support Jingxiu virtue. In order to inherit the ancestral tradition, several thatched canopies were built in the east mountain valley of the temple for monks living in the mountain. Master Zhihai once invited Qiu Ximing, who was the lecturer of Ci'en College of Da Ci'en Temple, to teach the theory of FA Xiang Zong Jing in Jingye temple. Although many efforts have been made, the overall situation of Jingye temple is still conservative.

Before 1949, Zhihai, a monk in Fujian Province, led the people to live in the temple, raised money to buy farmland and maintain Donggu Maopeng. After 1949, there were Buddhist heart and Zhizhen as abbots. After master Zhihai returned to Fujian, master Zhizhen presided over the development and construction of Jingye temple. For example, he changed Jingye temple into a permanent residence in ten directions, and asked all mountains to set up ten directions inscriptions.

In 1957, the monks announced that they would get rid of the old habits and redefine the status of Jingye temple as a Shifang temple. The cultural relics administration commission of Shaanxi Province sent members to investigate the temples and determine the protection of cultural relics.

In 1960, monks rebuilt the temple. At that time, there were Mingwu, Huijing, Yinzhong, Darui and chegang monks, and there were more than 50 permanent monks. There are 18 small thatched awnings in Donggou, and people often look for a retreat. At that time, except for one monk who was younger, the rest of the monks were above middle age and barely lived by farming.

During the ten-year Cultural Revolution, temples were abandoned, Sutras were lost, and daoxuan pagodas were demolished.

After 1976, the religious policy was re implemented, and the religious belief of Buddhists was gradually respected.

In 1983, monks repaired the Buddhist statues in the temple.

In 1988, the government allocated special funds to help build the tap water supply project. After July 2000, the number of temples, houses and trees has increased, and great changes have taken place in monks living in temples.

In 1983, the government allocated funds to rebuild daoxuan pagoda and restore the scale of Jingye temple. Because it is the ancestral court of Luzong, the State Council has designated it as one of the key temples of Chinese Buddhism in China.

After 2000, with the efforts of Abbot Ben Ru, he made a new plan for the construction of Jingye temple. The residents also raised money to rebuild the ancestral court. With the help of the government and the strong support from all walks of life at home and abroad, Jingye temple has undergone its first overhaul in more than 1000 years at a huge cost of four years. A new mountain gate, five mountain pavilions, one Zhaitang and one Zen hall have been built. In addition, the main hall, squatters and mountain roads have been renovated. After this renovation, Jingye temple takes on a new look.

architectural composition

Jingye temple now covers an area of about 10 mu, which is located on the hillside of the sun of Houan mountain, sitting in the north and south.

From the south to the north, there are three King's halls with a side door in the East. The main hall in the north of the courtyard is three rooms wide and two rooms deep. There are two wooden buildings on the left and right side of the main hall. There are five halls in the East and five Zen halls in the West.

There are three caves in the back of the hall. Inside, there are three Bodhisattvas of Guanyin, Puxian and Manjusri. They were carved by the generals of the northwest army in the period of the Republic of China.

Main buildings

Cultural relics

Daoxuan relic tower

On the Fenghuang mountain, there stands the stupa of daoxuan lawyer.

In the second year of Qianfeng reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty (667), daoxuan passed away in the Qinggong jingshe in Zhongnanshan. His disciples built a relic tower for him at the back peak of the temple to commemorate him forever. When Yizong of Tang Dynasty (869), he was granted the posthumous title of Xuangong, which was called Chengzhao and Jingguang.

The pagoda is a hexagonal brick Pagoda with dense eaves. It has five levels and is about 6 meters high. The bottom floor is 1 or 2 meters long, and the south side is provided with a gate. In the middle of each side above, there is a niche, with flat bricks and water chestnut teeth falling out of the eaves, and flat bricks gathering at the top. After the Guanzhong earthquake in 1555, daoxuan relic tower collapsed and was rebuilt in 1567. The relic pagoda was rebuilt by the elders of Zhushan in 1713. It was overhauled in 1832.

inscriptions on a tablet

In Jingye temple, there is a piece of stele of Tang daoxuan's remains, which was re engraved in the Ming Dynasty (1457-1464).

In front of the hall, the stele of Jingye temple was rebuilt during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795).

During the reign of Daoguang (1821-1850) of the Qing Dynasty, the sutras and tablets of the Dharma Sutra of tuoroni were set up on the top of the Buddha.

In the southeast of the relic tower, there is an empty seat, which used to be a martial arts training platform. In the center stands a sutra building, engraved with the Heart Sutra.

Value significance

The ancestral court of Luzong

Jingye temple is the Taoist center of daoxuan (596-667), the founder of Buddhism, and thus becomes the ancestral court of Buddhism.

Law is discipline. For Buddhism, commandment is the first rule of cultivation; from the ancient books, commandment is one of the classics, the law and the treatise on Sanzang; from the doctrines, commandment is the first of the "three learning" of commandment, calmness and wisdom. According to Buddhism, the Sutra is "said" by the Buddha, and the law is "made" by the Buddha. Arhats and Bodhisattvas can create treatises, but they can't "say scriptures" or "make laws.". The so-called "only the Buddha can make the golden rule" is of course a myth. After the northern and Southern Dynasties, there were many famous scholars of law, among which daoxuan was the most famous. Because daoxuan lived in Zhongnanshan in his later years, he was named "nanshanzong" in the Department of law. According to the synopsis of Chang'an ancient temples, "Jingye Temple of Luzong is the same as Ci'en Temple of xiangzong. Because of the way xuanzhu Zhongnanshan, also known as nanshanzong, this temple for the jungle crown

Chinese PinYin : Jing Ye Si