Yongtai Temple

This is where three princesses once practiced. They were Princess Zhuangzi of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Princess mingqiong of the Southern Dynasty and Princess Yongtai of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Among them, Princess Yongtai became a monk here, so it was named Yongtai temple.

Yongtai Temple

Yongtai temple is located in the West foot of Taishi, about 11 kilometers northwest of Dengfeng City, Henan Province. It faces Shaolin Temple from east to west, backs on the majestic Wangdu peak, faces the beautiful Zijin peak in the north, and has the shishishan mountain and the rippling Shaolin reservoir in the south. Surrounded by mountains, green peaks, lush trees, lingering streams, pagodas, the scenery is quiet. Dengyan tourist road in front of the temple is 1 km southbound and connected with national highway 207, with convenient transportation. Yongtai temple is the first female monk temple built after the introduction of Zen Buddhism into the Central Plains. It is also the earliest Buddhist nun temple in China. It is the first batch of provincial key cultural relics protection units in Henan Province.

summary

Yongtai temple is located 11 kilometers northwest of Dengfeng City in Zhengzhou. Built in the Tang Dynasty, it is a single-layer brick tower with 13 levels of dense eaves. The plane is square. The base of the tower is 5.05 meters long and the tower is 37.6 meters high. The tower gate is arched and faces south. From bottom to top, the height of each layer of the tower decreases evenly, the eaves of the tower gradually retract, and the contour of the tower is a beautiful parabola.

The interior of the tower is still square and empty. The Tasha is composed of Yanglian and Xianglun, which has been destroyed. 50 meters southwest of the tower is a square double-layer brick tower built in the first year of Jin Da'an (1029), which is more than 3 meters high. The Tasha has been destroyed.

About 150 meters northeast of the tower, there is a brick Lama tower built in 1638, about 6.18 meters high. Yongtai temple is located in the southwest of the pagoda. It was built in 512, the second year of Zhengguang reign of emperor Xiaoming of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Most of the existing buildings are Qing Dynasty buildings, with a construction area of 989 square meters.

After Yongtai temple, there is an ancient pagoda with typical architectural style of the prosperous Tang Dynasty Yongtai Temple Pagoda. The tower is a single-layer brick tower with dense eaves. The plane of the tower is square. The height of the tower is 24 meters. It is made of yellow mud bricks. The interior of the tower room is still square. The upper part of the tower is empty tube shaped and straight to the top of the tower. There are 11 layers of dense eaves on the top of the tower. The outline line outside the dense eaves is parabola shaped, soft, beautiful and beautiful. The top part of the tower is a treasure Temple composed of Yanglian, wuchongxianglun, etc It is one of the few outstanding tangtasha in China.

The existing buildings of Yongtai temple are divided into five entrances, Tianwang hall, zhongfo hall, Daxiong hall, Huanggu building, and the wing rooms include Jialan hall, liuzu hall, etc. Red walls, green tiles, iron horse nails, exquisite architectural skills, simple and elegant, on the hillside of the temple are: Tang Yongtai temple tower, Jin Dynasty Junan main tower, Ming Dynasty solemnity, Wuwei Putong tower, these ancient towers, beautiful shape, beautiful and straight.

There are more than 40 pieces of Steles and stone carvings from the Tang Dynasty scattered in the temple, with fine carving and fluent calligraphy. The ancient and famous trees are: the precious bodhi tree in China, the big poplar known as the flagpole of Buddhism, the ginkgo tree bearing single fruit, and the "shepherdess tree" in the first martial action film Shaolin Temple in China. It has luxuriant branches and leaves and is full of vitality.

These cultural relics are of high historical, scientific and artistic value. In 1963, it was announced as a provincial cultural relics protection unit. It has become a bright pearl in the Songshan cultural relic group. Besides the temple, there are also some places of interest, such as the magical taizigou, the map of Damo crossing the river with a reed, yahuangou, zijinfeng, wangdufeng, huanggudong, chenzaigou, Shirengou, qixingshi, wanrengongde Road, huangguqiao, etc., which constitute a complete scenic spot with Buddhist and Buddhist culture as its characteristics. With the promotion and increasing efforts, Yongtai temple has regained its former glory and great popularity As a result, the number of tourists has gradually increased, and a large number of international friends have been received (such as the Korean eminent monk, Dharma shin, etc.). In addition, according to the cultural background of Yongtai temple, a women's martial arts school of Yongtai temple has been set up recently to carry forward the quintessence of Chinese culture. While making contributions to local tourism, it also carries out exchanges and cooperation with domestic friends, so as to promote Yongtai temple to the world and show the right Buddhism of Yongtai temple.

brief introduction

Relevant information shows that the Yongtai temple tower, located on the hillside behind the temple, was built in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. It is a single-layer close eaves building with a plane of body shape, a height of 24 meters and a wall thickness of 4.8 meters.

The outer wall of the pagoda is covered with a thin layer of white ash. The pagoda body is towering. In the south, there is a gate with a height of 2.6 meters and a width of 1.74 meters. From the gate to the pagoda room, the interior of the pagoda room is still in the shape of a square hollow tube. There are 11 layers of dense eaves on the pagoda body. The connecting lines of the external contour of each eaves are in the shape of a soft parabola. The pagoda is composed of Yanglian and quintuple phase wheel. Its exquisite shape is one of the best existing Tang pagodas in China The best. According to the inscriptions, Yongtai Temple Pagoda was built for the sacrifice.

It has been announced as a national cultural relics protection unit.

Awe inspiring inaction tower

The tower of awe inspiring inaction in Ming Dynasty is a joint burial tower.

Relevant information shows that the tower of solemnity and Wuwei Putong is located about 150 meters northeast of the Tang tower of Yongtai temple. It was built in 1638, the 11th year of Chongzhen reign of the Ming Dynasty. It is a Lama style brick tower.

The tower is divided into three parts: base, body and top. The base is a tall hexagonal xumizuo, 1.18 meters high. The tower is shaped like a bottle, 2 meters high and low. There are two closed and locked stone doors carved from bluestone at the connection between the lower part of the front and the base. There are 25 breast nails on each door, a total of 50. Flowers and plants are engraved on the door frame and lintel. The stone gate is 0.43m high and 0.3m wide.

The stone gate is inlaid with a tower forehead, which is 0.55 meters high and 0.36 meters wide. The surrounding line is engraved with cirrus cloud pattern. The inscription on the tower inscription is "Ming Dynasty passed away, benevolent master solemnly has no taboo, worshiping guojueling and establishing zuputong tower". The top of the tower is about 3 meters high. It is composed of thick and simple five layer phase wheel, low stone column, lotus basin, lotus basin and flame shaped pearl.

The shape of the whole tower is rough, but the lines are smooth and elegant. As the tower is in disrepair for a long time, the second half of the tower foundation has collapsed. Two nuns, solemnly and Wuwei, were buried in the tower. This kind of tower with two monks and nuns buried in one tower is only one example in Songshan area.

Main tower of Junan

The main tower of Junan temple is located about 30 meters behind Yongtai temple. It was built in the middle of the first year of Jin Da'an (1209). It is a quadrangular double-layer brick tower with a height of 3.5 meters. The base of the tower is xumizuo, surrounded by brick patterns. There is a square brick door in front of the tower. The outside of the door is decorated with brick carvings. The inside of the tower is empty. On the back of the tower, there is a carved stone named "the record of the main tower of Jun'an temple in yongchan Temple of Songshan Mountain".

The stele records the situation of the two princesses Minglian and Yongtai before and after they became monks in the Northern Wei Dynasty, as well as the merits and life of the nunnery master. According to local people's legend, there is a "bone wrapped statue of Princess Yongtai" in the tower, so the tower is commonly known as "bone wrapped pagoda of Princess Yongtai".

However, according to the inscription that the Lord of Jun'an "has gone to the West alone and left it in the pagoda of Zhenrong", the bony statue in the pagoda is not the one of Princess Yongtai, but the one of the Lord of Jun'an. The Tasha has been destroyed.

Original name

Yongtai temple, formerly known as transfer nunnery, is the place where the daughter of emperor Wencheng of the Northern Wei Dynasty transfers the princess to practice. During the Southern Dynasties, the daughter of emperor Liang Wu, Princess Minglian, was influenced by her father and deeply understood the Buddha nature. Later, she became one of the four disciples of the Dharma Master by worshiping Dharma, the first Zen ancestor of Shaolin Temple. Because Princess Minglian is a female monk after all, it is inconvenient to practice together with other monks. Emperor Liang Wu built a large-scale nunnery Temple beside the transit nunnery, Minglian temple, for her daughter, Princess Minglian, to practice Buddhism here.

In the second year of Zhengguang (521) of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Princess Yongtai, the younger sister of emperor Xiaoming, was extremely dissatisfied with her mother, Empress Dowager Hu, for her licentiousness and cruelty, her control of the government, and her arbitrary and independent behavior. She resolutely gave up her honor and wealth and came to the Ming Lian temple to practice Buddhism. Because she was kind and charitable, she often provided her money and food to the suffering people around her People's respect and love. Yongtai's father Yuanke, Xuanwu emperor, and her elder brother Yuanyu, Xiaoming emperor, built their own palaces in Songshan mountain. Yongtai accompanied her father and elder brother to visit Songshan mountain. Attracted by the beautiful environment and peaceful monastic life in Songshan Mountain, she repeatedly asked to become a monk in Songshan mountain.

In order to satisfy his younger sister's request, Emperor Xiaoming granted her a temple to forgive jianni, and let Princess Yongtai pass on Buddhism, because the temple was built in the Southern Dynasty, the daughter of emperor Liangwu. Beside the princess Minglian tower, one of the four disciples of Dharma, the first ancestor of Zen, it was named Minglian temple. His living expenses were provided by the imperial court, and Princess Yongtai often gave money and food to the people around him. Therefore, in Songshan area, the majority of monks and nuns respect and love Princess Yongtai very much.

Historical development

course

In the second year of Zhengguang (521) of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Princess Yongtai, the daughter of Yuanke, Emperor Xuanwu, went out to enter the Tao to become a nun. Yuan Xu, the emperor of Xiaoming, built a nunnery Temple beside the Minglian pagoda at the foot of Zijin peak. His younger sister, Princess Yongtai, was invited to serve the Buddha and preach the Dharma. He also liked to spend more than 100 women in the official and ordinary people's families as nuns. Yongtai temple was first named in July 25, 706, the second year of Emperor Li Xian's divine dragon in the Tang Dynasty. The capital of Songyue temple, Weina abhorred Daoying, played a role in the imperial court, which showed that Liansi was "better than secluded living in the mountains with water. It was not false that it could work more and live in it.". After the completion of the renovation, because "Tianen is Princess Yongtai, so Jialan set up a temple. Please take Yongtai as your name, and hope to have two or seven monks..." Since then, it has gone through 185 years from its foundation to its change of name to Yongtai temple.

The origin of the name

In the Jin Dynasty, Yongtai temple was even more yongchan temple, which was a kind of Buddhist temple

Chinese PinYin : Yong Tai Si