Fengguo Temple

--Fengguo temple is one of the three existing temples in Liao Dynasty in China. Its landmark ancient building, Daxiong hall, is the largest Buddhist hall left in ancient times. There are the oldest and largest clay colored Buddha statues in the world in the hall.

--The main building of the temple, Daxiong hall and the temple as a whole, is the most typical example of Liao and Jin temples. Among them, Daxiong hall is the highest achievement of Buddhist architecture in Liao Dynasty, representing the highest level of Chinese architecture in the 11th century.

--The wanfotang Grottoes near Fengguo temple are of great ornamental value and can be visited together.

Fengguo Temple

Fengguo temple is located in Yixian County, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, China. It was built in 1020, the ninth year of Kaitai of Liao Dynasty. It was named Xianxi temple at the beginning, and later changed to Fengguo temple. Fengguo temple covers an area of about 60000 square meters.

Fengguo Temple flourished in the Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties. Only the main hall remained in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the Qing Dynasty, six horned Bell Pavilion, four horned stele Pavilion, Wuliang hall, memorial archway, xiaoshanmen and Xigong temple were built. Fengguo temple is one of the three existing temples in Liao Dynasty in China. Its landmark ancient building, Daxiong hall, is the largest Buddhist hall left in ancient times. There are the oldest and largest clay colored Buddha statues in the world in the hall.

The main building of Fengguo temple, Daxiong hall and the temple as a whole, is the most typical example of Liao and Jin temples. Among them, Daxiong hall is the highest achievement of Buddhist architecture in Liao Dynasty, representing the highest level of Chinese architecture in the 11th century.

In 1961, it was announced by the State Council of the people's Republic of China as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

In 2009, it was rated as AAAA scenic spot by China National Tourism Administration.

Historical evolution

Fengguo temple was first built in 1020, the ninth year of Kaitai period of Liao Dynasty. It was a royal temple built by yelulungxu, the reincarnated emperor of Liao Dynasty, in the "family fiefdom" of his mother empress Xiao (Xiao Chuo). It was originally named Xianxi Temple (also known as big Buddha temple or seven Buddha temple for worshiping seven big Buddhas).

It was renamed dafenguo temple in Jin Dynasty.

Since its foundation to the Qing Dynasty, the temple has undergone more than 10 times of renovation, and two times of earthquake disasters have been recorded. Among them, the large-scale repairs include the third year of Jin Tianjun (1140), the seventh year of Yuan Dade (1303), and the 23rd year of Chenghua (1487).

Inside the back door of the main hall, there is a statue of Guanyin sitting upside down, which was rebuilt in 1603.

After the 16th year of Jiaqing (1811) of the Qing Dynasty, Wanshou hall was built on the site of the former Guanyin Pavilion. Five mountain gates were changed into three. The main hall was surrounded by stone walls, and the inner Mountain Gate and brand house were added. Liao Dynasty architecture, only more than the main hall.

In 1961, the State Council of the people's Republic of China announced it as a national key cultural relics protection unit.

In the 1970s, Fengguo temple cultural relics preservation office was established to be responsible for the protection and management.

In 1984, a comprehensive renovation focusing on the main hall was carried out, which improved the fire prevention and lightning protection facilities and expanded the protection area.

In 2005, it was nominated by the people's Government of Liaoning Province to apply for the preparatory list of China's world cultural heritage.

In 2009, Fengguo temple was rated as a national AAAA scenic spot by the National Tourism Administration.

In 2013, Fengguo Temple entered the preparatory list of world cultural heritage.

Architectural pattern

The overall layout of Fengguo temple is basically the same as that of dule temple and Shanhua temple in Datong. There are more than ten steles of Fengguo Temple rebuilt in Jin, yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. The gate, archway and Wuliang hall were all built in Qing Dynasty. Fengguo temple is divided into temple gate, middle hall and main hall. There is an exhibition of unearthed cultural relics on one side. Fengguo temple is a typical layout of Chinese Buddhism temple, covering an area of about 60000 square meters. It faces south in the north. Along the central axis, there are outer gate, inner gate, memorial archway, Tianwang hall and Daxiong hall. On the east side of Daxiong hall are the God of wealth hall and Bodhisattva hall, on the west side are the Western Sansheng hall and Yixian unearthed cultural relics exhibition room, and on the west side of Tianwang hall are the shopping center of the scenic spot. There are 5 Buddhist halls in the temple, offering a total of 44 Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, including seven Buddhas in the past, one male statue sitting upside down in Guanyin, two generals of hem ha, 14 Bodhisattvas, one Maitreya Buddha, one Weituo Buddha, four heavenly kings, four Bodhisattvas, seven God of wealth and three Western saints.

Main buildings

Tianwang Hall

Tianwang hall, originally named Wanshou hall, was built in 1141, the third year of Tianjun in Jin Dynasty. It was rebuilt in 1710, the 49th year of Kangxi in Qing Dynasty. On October 14, 2008, it was renamed Tianwang Hall Based on the traditional pattern of Han Dynasty temples. The Tianwang hall is a single eaves Xieshan peak, with three rooms wide and two rooms deep. It is 16.14 meters wide and 12.22 meters deep.

Maitreya Buddha, also known as the future Buddha, is worshipped in the middle of the heavenly king hall. In addition, four heavenly kings, namely, the growth, the holding of the state, the hearing and the wide eyes, are offered. According to the different weapons held by the heavenly king, the southern Heavenly King holds the sword and dances the sword to create "wind"; the eastern heavenly king holds the lute and kneads the string to "tune"; the northern heavenly king holds the umbrella to block the wind and rain; the Western heavenly king holds the Pearl and the Dragon (or snake) to surrender to "Shun" The four heavenly kings took one word for each of them, that is, wind, tune, rain and shun. Maitreya Buddha, also known as the future Buddha, is worshipped in the middle. Behind the statue of Maitreya Buddha is Bodhisattva Weituo, the God general who was invited in the 31th year of the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. The murals on the walls around the temple of heavenly kings depict the eight stages of Sakyamuni's life from birth to nirvana.

Da Xiong Hall

Daxiong hall is the largest single-layer wooden structure building in ancient Chinese architecture, known as "China's first Daxiong hall". Daxiong hall is built on a 3-meter-high platform. It is a five ridge single eaves veranda style. It is nine rooms wide, 48.2 meters long, five rooms deep, 25.13 meters wide and 21 meters high, with a construction area of 1829 square meters Square meters, is the top Buddhist building, the main hall for seven Buddha, as the original Liao Dynasty statues, from east to West in order for the Kaya Buddha (noble Buddha, achievement Buddha), detention sun Buddha (Ping'an Buddha), corpse abandoned Buddha (Health Buddha), VIPA corpse Buddha (Xingye Tengda Buddha, wisdom Buddha), visefu Buddha (Zhaoyun Buddha, Facai Buddha), jinahan Nuni Buddha (Guangming Buddha), Sakyamuni Buddha Buddha (founder of Buddhism), seven Buddhas are sitting on the seat of Xumi, with a height of more than 9 meters. Especially in the center of the Buddha is the highest, with a seat as high as 9.5 meters. Because of the juxtaposition of the "past seven Buddhas", Sakyamuni, the Buddha, is one of the unique Buddhists. In addition, there are 14 Bodhisattvas standing opposite each other in front of each Buddha, 2.5 meters high. The Bodhisattvas either look up or down, or stand obliquely or look up, and step on a lotus flower with two feet. The treasure looks solemn and lifelike. At the East and West ends of the Buddhist altar, there is a statue of the king of heaven. It is 3.5 meters high and strong with a pestle and head raised. What's more amazing is that behind the Buddha's corpse, there is a statue of Guanyin sitting upside down in the Ming Dynasty, which retains the charm of Guanyin, a male statue before the Tang Dynasty.

Three temples of the West

Based on the traditional pattern of Han temples, the Western Sancheng temple was renamed on October 10, 2008. The three temples in the West are about 20 meters long and 14 meters wide. The western three saints and Amitabha, Guanyin Bodhisattva and dashizhi Bodhisattva. The three saints in the West are the three gods of the Western Paradise claimed by Buddhism, which are composed of Amitabha, Guanyin and dashizhi. According to the records of Amitabha Sutra, Amitabha Buddha has incredible merits. If all living beings recite his name at the end of their lives, he will lead 25 great bodhisattvas to receive the guidance. Guanyin Bodhisattva and dashizhi Bodhisattva are the first Bodhisattvas of the 25 great bodhisattvas, and are important assistants of Amitabha Buddha to lead all living beings to the Western Paradise.

Temple Law Society

Temple evaluation

Liang Sicheng, an architect, once published an academic report, calling the temples of Liao Dynasty "a thousand year national treasure, a supreme national treasure and a rare treasure.". Fengguo temple is the largest one to build the Liao Dynasty Buddha Hall. "

Du Xianzhou, an expert on cultural relics, praised in the investigation report that "the wooden structure of the main hall of Fengguo temple is still straight and healthy for thousands of years, which is a brilliant achievement in the history of Chinese architecture. The statues of the seven Buddhas in Liao Dynasty are tall and solemn, well balanced, gentle and graceful, with a kind and magnificent look. The flying sky on the beam frame is a rare example of architectural color painting in Liao Dynasty in China

Yang Renkai, a connoisseur and cultural relic expert, commented on the painting of Liao Dynasty in his book Chinese painting and calligraphy. He pointed out that "the painting on the beam frame of the main hall of Fengguo temple is still well preserved and dazzling. Among them, the flying sky has a very good shape and still has the style of Tang Dynasty, which is rare."

Yang lie, a professor level senior engineer of ancient architecture of the State Administration of cultural relics, who has presided over the maintenance project of Fengguo temple, once commented that the main hall of Fengguo temple is "the most grand and complete wooden structure with single eaves and four Gables preserved before the Liao Dynasty (Song Dynasty) in ancient China, with the largest building scale in China."

Cao Xun, a historian of ancient architecture, said: "nine main halls are the limit of Buddhist architecture. There are nine seven Buddha halls in Fengguo temple. There are thousands of ancient temples in China. The main hall of Fengguo temple is extremely magnificent."

Scholar Zhou Decang praised Fengguo Temple highly in his article: "in quite a long period of history, Northeast China was not the center of Chinese culture, but Fengguo temple, with its outstanding characteristics and perfect remains, made the brilliant Chinese culture through architecture, sculpture and color

Chinese PinYin : Feng Guo Si