Fayuan Temple

It is the oldest existing temple in Beijing. It was first built in the 19th year of Zhenguan (645) of Tang Dynasty. It was called Minzhong temple in Tang Dynasty. It was rebuilt and changed to its current name in Yongzheng period of Qing Dynasty. In 1965, the Chinese Buddhist Academy was established in the temple.

Fayuan temple, covering an area of 6700 square meters, has a grand scale and rigorous structure. It adopts a central axis symmetry pattern. From south to north, there are Shanmen, Zhonggulou, Tianwang hall, Daxiong hall, minzhongtai, Jingye hall, Wuliang hall, Dabei altar, sutra Pavilion, dabianjue hall, etc

Fayuan Temple

Fayuan temple, located in the east of the southern end of Jiaozi Hutong outside xuanwumenwai, Beijing, was built in the 19th year of Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan reign (645 AD). It is the oldest temple in Beijing.

Fayuan temple was named Minzhong temple in Tang Dynasty. It was rebuilt and changed to its present name in Yongzheng period of Qing Dynasty. In 1956, the Chinese Buddhist Academy was established in the temple. In 1980, the Chinese Buddhist Library and cultural relics museum was established in the temple. It is a religious museum under the Chinese Buddhist Association.

Fayuan temple was identified by the State Council as a key Buddhist temple in China in 1983. On June 25, 2001, as an ancient building in the Qing Dynasty, Fayuan temple was approved by the State Council as the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Historical evolution

According to the records of Yuan Yi Tong Zhi, Fayuan temple was built in the Tang Dynasty and was initially named "Minzhong Temple".

In the 19th year of Zhenguan (645), Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty Li Shimin issued an imperial edict to set up a temple here to commemorate the soldiers who died in the northern expedition to Liaodong, but failed to do so. Long live Empress Wu, the first year of Tongtian (696) the project was completed and named "Minzhong Temple".

During the Anshi rebellion, it was once renamed "Shuntian Temple", and the name of "Minzhong Temple" was restored after the rebellion.

During the period of Jingfu (892-893) at the end of Tang Dynasty, Li Kuangwei, the governor of Lulong army in Youzhou, renovated it again and built the "Minzhong Pavilion" as a gift. The pavilion is very magnificent, with the praise of "showing sympathy and loyalty to the pavilion, and going to heaven to hold it".

In 1057, the Minzhong temple was destroyed by the Youzhou earthquake. After restoration in 1070, it was renamed "daminzhong Temple", thus forming today's scale and pattern.

Repair period

In the second year of the Ming Dynasty (1437), master Xiangyu, a monk of the temple, raised money to repair it, which was renamed "Chongfu Temple".

In 1734, the temple was designated as the Luzong temple, teaching precepts, and officially changed to "Fayuan Temple".

Since 1949, the Millennium Temple has been protected by the government, and it has been built many times with funds.

In 1956, the Chinese Buddhist Academy was established here.

In 1963, the Buddhist Conference of 11 Asian countries and regions was also held here.

In 1980, the "Chinese Buddhist Library" was founded, making it one of the centers of Buddhist culture and Buddhist studies.

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Layout structure

Fayuan temple covers an area of 6700 square meters. It has a large scale and strict structure. It adopts a central axis symmetry pattern. From south to north, there are Shanmen, Zhonggulou, Tianwang hall, daxiongbao hall, minzhongtai, Jingye hall, Wuliang hall, Dabei altar, cangjing Pavilion, dabianjue hall, East West Corridor and veranda. It has seven courtyards and six courtyards. It is the oldest ancient temple in Beijing Temple complex.

In the middle of the main hall, there are the "three saints of Huayan", viz. The statues of Buddha, Manjusri and Bodhisattva. They were made in the Ming Dynasty. The wooden body was covered with gold and lacquer. In the middle, the Buddha of viluzana sits on the seat of Xumi, with a height of 2 meters and a halo behind it, with a height of 3.97 meters. Manjusri and Puxian are separated on both sides, with a height of 2.14 meters. These three statues, magnificent and exquisitely carved, can be rated as the best in the Ming Dynasty.

Facilities in the temple

On both sides of the hall are the seated statues of the eighteen Arhats, which are about 1.35 meters high and made in the Qing Dynasty. In the main hall, the stone pillar base of the southern and Eastern Qing Dynasties is made of rolled leaf lotus petals. It is estimated that it is the original of the temple in the early Tang Dynasty. Its pattern is similar to the pattern of the stone building lost in the temple in the 14th year of Tang Tianyuan (726). Minzhongtai is also called Guanyin hall. The base is more than one meter high, surrounded by brick columns, and the hall is built on the platform. The structure of this hall is unique. The exterior wall is supported by 12 columns, and the interior is supported by 12 columns. The style is the same as Wanchun Pavilion, the imperial garden of the Forbidden City.

The stone carvings and Scripture buildings of the past dynasties of Fayuan temple are preserved here. Among them, the Tang Dynasty's Ode to Wugou Jingguang pagoda, the collection of relics in Minzhong temple, Chengjin's building of the Dharma Sutra for Chan Master Ruofu (Yingli, 957) and the Liao Dynasty's Buddhist relic letter in the Bodhisattva underground palace of damingzhong temple in Yanjing are the most precious.

On the gable outside the hall, there is also a remnant column base of the Tang Dynasty's "Yunhui general stele" copied by Weng Fangwang of Qing Dynasty, and other inscriptions such as "eight chants of Fayuan" and "Heart Sutra", which are important materials for the study of Buddhism and the history of Fayuan Temple.

In front of Jingye hall, there is a huge stone bowl with double stone seats. The sea water pattern and the images of mountain dragon, seahorse and eight treasures are carved around it. The carving is very exquisite, which is almost comparable to the Dushan jade sea in Tuancheng, Beihai.

A bronze statue of Pilu Buddha of Ming Dynasty is worshipped in Jingye hall. It is 4.58 meters high on the roof and has three floors. The lower floor is the giant seat of Chiba lotus petals, and each petal is carved with a Buddha statue. The middle floor is the square Buddha facing east, West, South and North. The top floor is Pilu Buddha. There is no scale Jingguang Pagoda in the southwest corner of Fayuan temple. The tower, built in 757, is of brick structure, about 3.3 meters high.

Main landscape

In the middle of the main hall, there are the "three saints of Huayan", viz. The statues of piluzana Buddha, Manjusri Bodhisattva and Puxian Bodhisattva, all made in the Ming Dynasty, with wooden body, gold and lacquer. In the middle, the Buddha of piluzana sits on the seat of Xumi, 2 meters high, with a backlight behind his head. The height of the seat is 3.97 meters.

Manjusri and Puxian are separated on both sides, with a height of 2.14 meters. These three statues, with exquisite carving technology and solemn appearance, are the best of the statues in the same period of Ming Dynasty.

On both sides of the main hall are the seated statues of the eighteen Arhats, which are about 1.35 meters high. The statues are made of wood and gold. They are made in the Qing Dynasty. In the main hall, there are two stone column bases along the south side, and the switch is rolled leaf lotus petals. Judging from the pattern, it should be the original of the temple in the early Tang Dynasty.

In the center of the heavenly king hall of Fayuan temple, there is a bronze statue of Bodhisattva Maitreya made in the Ming Dynasty, which is 1.12 meters high, bare chested and humorous. Behind the Maitreya statue is the valiant and powerful Dharma protector, the sitting statue of Weituo, which is made of Ming Dynasty copper and is 1.70 meters high. On both sides of the hall are the four statues of heavenly kings made of Ming Dynasty copper, which are extremely precious and 1.20 meters tall.

Buddism godness Guanyin Temple

Guanyin hall is the original location of "Minzhong Pavilion". "To heaven a grip" of the tower is now only a platform, more than one meter high, surrounded by brick fence, Guanyin hall is built on the platform. This hall imitates the structural style of Wanchun hall in the imperial garden of the Forbidden City. The exterior wall is supported by 12 columns, and the interior is also supported by 12 columns. The historical stone carvings and Scripture buildings of Fayuan temple are preserved here. Among them, the Tang Dynasty's Ode to Wugou Jingguang pagoda and the collection of relics in Minzhong temple, and the Liao Dynasty's Ode to the relic pagoda of Bodhisattva underground palace in Yanjing daminzhong temple are the works of Li Beihai, a great calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty.

Dabei altar is a palace of Buddhist cultural relics. It displays Buddhist statues, stone carvings and Buddhist art treasures of past dynasties: the earliest Buddhist statues in China -- ceramic Buddha sitting statues in the Eastern Han Dynasty, pottery bottles in the Three Kingdoms and the eastern Wu Dynasty, whole stone statues in the northern and Southern Dynasties, stone Buddha statues in the Tang Dynasty, iron Buddha statues in the Five Dynasties, wooden arhat statues in the Song Dynasty, bronze Avalokitesvara statues in the Yuan Dynasty, and wooden arhat statues in the Ming Dynasty, They are extremely precious cultural relics.

The last one to enter the hall is the Sutra collection building, which is paved with green bricks and houses the huge wooden Buddha statues of Ming Dynasty and various precious sutras. The Buddha statue is made of dry lacquer from wooden body, which is a fine art of Ming Dynasty. In May 1980, when the statue of master Jianzhen, the national treasure of Japan, returned to China for a tour exhibition, it was consecrated here for seven days, and 160000 believers and the masses came to see it.

In front of the Jingye hall stands a huge stone bowl with double stone seats. Around the bowl are carved patterns like waves and the images of mountain dragons, seahorses and eight treasures. They are skillful and exquisite. A bronze statue of Pilu Buddha in the Ming Dynasty is worshipped in Jingye hall. It touches the roof of the hall (4.58 meters high) and is divided into three layers. The lower layer is a huge seat with thousands of lotus petals, and each lotus petal is engraved with a small Buddha. The middle layer is a square Buddha, facing east, West, South and North. The top layer is a statue of Pilu Buddha, solemn and solemn.

Related allusions

The original no scale Jingguang Pagoda in the southwest corner of Fayuan temple was built in 757, the second year of Zhide period of Tang Dynasty. The body of the pagoda is of brick structure, with a height of 3.3 meters. It collapsed in the great earthquake in 1057.

The remaining stele of "Ode to Wugou Jingguang pagoda" in the temple was written by Zhang Bujin and written by Li Beihai in the second year of Zhide period of Tang Dynasty. It was originally inlaid on the wall of the pagoda, with a height of 1.20 meters and a width of 0.73 meters. Another tablet said: "Zhide was built on October 15 in the second year of Zhide. It was written by Zhang Bujin who joined the army. It was written by Su Lingzhi who joined the army."

Su Lingzhi is the signature of Li Beihai. The uniqueness of this stele lies in that it is the only stele written from left to right in ancient China, which is the only existing special example.

Cultural relics Buddhist scriptures

Many valuable Buddhist books and works of art are collected in Fayuan temple, especially in the great compassion altar

Chinese PinYin : Fa Yuan Si