BeiChan Temple

BeiChan temple is the earliest religious building in Qinghai. It was first built in the period of Emperor Ming of the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 106). It was first a Buddhist temple, then a Taoist temple. The most famous of BeiChan temple is "nine caves and eighteen caves". The structures of these ancient caves are different. Some of them have no nested caves, while others have nested caves. There are statues of gods and Buddhas in the cave, as well as Taoists' respect for gods. There are a lot of strange things in the cave, and there are plank roads between the caves. Some murals from Sui and Tang Dynasties to Yongqing period are still preserved in the existing caves of BeiChan temple. The ningshou pagoda on the top of the mountain is the highest in Xining

Ancient buildings, here you can have a panoramic view of Xining.

BeiChan Temple

BeiChan temple is located on the Beishan Mountain which is more than 2400 meters away from the coast of Beihuang River in Xining city. It is commonly known as "Beishan Temple", also known as Yongxing temple. Beishan Mountain is also called Tulou mountain because of its overlapping cliffs, which looks like Tulou pavilions standing high in the distance. Therefore, BeiChan temple is also called Tulou temple.

BeiChan temple, formerly a Buddhist temple, is the earliest religious building in Qinghai. It was first built in the period of Emperor Ming of the Northern Wei Dynasty (506 A.D.), more than 1500 years ago. Later, due to the prevalence of Taoism, it became a Taoist temple.

The whole building of BeiChan temple, with its back against Beishan Mountain, is basically built from west to East according to the natural fault of red sandstone in the hillside, with dangerous rocks on the top, deep valleys on the bottom, pavilions on the bottom, with wonderful structure and orderly arrangement of temples. It is said that "misty rain in Beishan" is one of the "eight sceneries of Xining".

The origin of history

In history, BeiChan temple has many names. Before the Ming Dynasty, there was a "Shrine" on the mountain, so it was called "Tulou Shrine".

The name of Yongxing temple came into being in the Ming Dynasty because of the name given by Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty. It has a history of 580 years. Because of the layer after layer, clear-cut, like a Tulou, it is known as "Tulou mountain". Li Daoyuan, a traveler of the Northern Wei Dynasty, trekked to Xining and boarded Tulou mountain. In his notes to the water classic, he wrote: "the Yellow River flows eastward, passing Tulou to the south, with Tulou on the top and the mountain to the north. The peak is more than three hundred feet high, if you cut it into a stone. "

Tulou has Taoist temple, so it is called "Tulou Temple". Beishan Mountain is like a chick Phoenix trying to fly, while Tulou mountain is like the wings of a chick Phoenix. From then on, another nickname has been added, which is called "Fengyi mountain".

Places to visit

Although there are many names, Beishan temple is the most used one. The temple in the mountains is one of the great places of interest in Xining. Because of its unique geographical location and unique style, it has become a place for people to visit. Beishan temple was recorded in shuijingzhu in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the location of Beishan temple was also indicated in xipingting (now Xining City) in the situation map of Qinghai in the Northern Wei Dynasty. It can be seen that the popularity of Beishan temple is quite high.

In its prime

Tulou mountain and Shanzhong temple were recorded in the annals of thirteen states in Beiliang (397 or 401-439).

In the fifth year of emperor Wei Ming, Buddhism prevailed in Shanzhou (today's Xining). Some believers made niches between the broken rocks of Tulou mountain, painted caisson paintings, carved walls, built Temple pavilions and plank roads, and worshiped on mountaineering.

BeiChan temple, more than 1400 years ago. Around the fifth year of emperor Wei Ming, Hou Liang Lu Guang occupied Wuwei and Hexi Corridor, and the north silk road was blocked. Some monks went to India from Lanzhou to Ledu, Xining via Beichuan, Daban mountain and Zhangye. From then on, Buddhism prevailed in Hehuang area.

In the Ming Dynasty, an Indian monk once presided over the mountain temple. During the reign of Yongle, Sanger Jiaduo, a monk of the temple, entered the capital. Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, personally declared the name of "Yongxing Temple". After the Qing Dynasty, most of the ancient cave temples were destroyed by war. It was at the end of the Qing Dynasty that Taoism entered Tulou mountain.

tourist attraction

After the founding of the people's Republic of China, the old appearance of Tulou mountain has gradually improved. In the 1950s, it was turned into Beishan park. Since 1983, Xining Municipal government has assigned the temple Pavilion cave of Tulou mountain to Taoism and named it "Tulou Temple". However, the masses follow each other for a long time, which is still called BeiChan temple. Now beishansi has built a canal at the foot of the mountain to divert water and plant trees. It has become a new tourist attraction.

Architectural features

BeiChan temple was built according to the special Danxia landform of Tulou mountain. The rocks here are purplish red sandstone and conglomerate with gypsum and mirabilite layers. The lithology is soft and hard. Under the action of long-term geology, flowing water and weathering, the Danxia landform characterized by red cliff, caves and dangerous peaks has been developed.

The soft rock strata are concave inward to form caves of different sizes. The local people call them "nine caves and eighteen caves", in which there are statues of jade emperor, GuanShiYin, Manjusri, Puxian, Guan Yunchang and other gods and Buddhas. The images of gods, flowers, landscapes and moons painted on the walls of the cave have the artistic style of Han and Tibetan Buddhism painting, and once had the reputation of "Xiping Mogao Grottoes".

From the perspective of artistic style, it is a relic of the late Tang and song and Yuan Dynasties. Because it is a Taoist temple, there are Kuixing tower, spirit palace and other buildings in the temple.

The hard rock strata protrude outwards like eaves. The temple is built on it, and the temple is suspended. The corridor connects the pavilion with the cave group, so that there are holes in the temple, and there are holes in the cave, and there are Buddhas in the cave. The corridor is close to the cliff, and even suspended. Therefore, it is called "the second largest suspended temple in China".

Main building

Lingguan Hall

At the foot of the mountain, the first thing you see is Lingguan hall. Lingguan hall was built in Hongwu Period of Ming Dynasty and rebuilt in 1915. In 1910, all walks of life in Xining donated money to renovate Lingguan hall.

Inside the hall, there is a sacred official of the Dharma protector. Lingguan red face three eyes, hand gold whip. Wang Lingguan is a Taoist Dharma protector. He is similar to Wei Tuo in Buddhism. Some books say that he is the commander of five hundred Lingguan in Wudang Mountain. His name is Marshal Huaguang, also known as five xianlingguan. In the Song Dynasty, another "train king Lingguan" appeared. According to the records of new Soushenji, Wang Lingguan's real name was Wang Shan, who was born in Huizong of Song Dynasty.

Queen Mother Hall

Behind the Lingguan hall is the Queen Mother hall. The Queen Mother hall is the main hall of the whole tuguan building, and also the main place for religious activities. The hall was on fire in 2007. What we see now is the one rebuilt in 2008. It is said that the main activity area of Queen Mother of the west is in Qinghai, and this is the holy land of Queen Mother of the west, so it is mainly for Queen Mother of the West. BeiChan temple is now one of the Taoist activity centers in Qinghai Province. Every year, many Chinese at home and abroad come for sightseeing, and grand religious pilgrimage activities are held here from time to time. In recent years, every night of the Double Ninth Festival, BeiChan temple will be decorated with lanterns. At that time, tens of thousands of people gather here, which is even more lively.

The main hall of queen mother is divided into upper and lower levels. The lower level is dedicated to the queen mother, and the upper level is dedicated to the highest god of Taoism, namely, the three Qing Dynasties: the heaven God of Yuqing Yuanshi, the heaven God of Shangqing Lingbao, and the heaven God of Taiqing morality.

Chenghuang Hall

In the west of the Queen Mother hall is the God of wealth hall, and in the East is the city god hall. The hall of the God of wealth is dedicated to Bigan, Guansheng and Zhao Gongming, while the hall of the City God is dedicated to the city god of the province and Deng Xun, the commander of protecting Qiang in Xining during the Eastern Han Dynasty. According to records, Deng Xunsheng was born in 40 and died in 92. He was the son of Deng Yu, a famous founder of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Deng Xun, as the captain of the school, was deeply loved by the Qiang people. When the Qiang people heard about the training of the soldiers, they all roared, or cut themselves with knives, and then assassinated their dogs, horses, cattle and sheep, saying, "ambassador Deng is dead, and I, Cao, are dead."

Vajra in the open air

Further up the hall of the queen mother is a steep ladder. Climbing up the ladder, you will be under the "nine caves and eighteen caves" of Tulou mountain. In the middle of Tulou mountain, there are two open-air vajras. One in the East is connected with the other in the West. The two open-air vajras are more than 30 meters high. These two vajras were originally the protruding parts of the two cliffs, which were eroded by the wind and rain after being washed by the mountains and rivers, forming a peculiar shape landform. During the Wei, Jin and Southern Dynasties, the majority of believers carved them into two large Buddha statues on the basis of the original landform, which were called "open-air Vajra",

The two open-air vajras are also called gods and kings, and the local people are called flash Buddha, meaning to flash out of the mountains. The one on the west side has been weathered and collapsed, but the one on the east side is still intact. From a distance, the Buddha's head, body, lower limbs and facial features are clear and bold, with the artistic style of the Tang Dynasty. It is a perfect combination of natural landscape and human landscape. To the west of shanfo, a series of halls and pavilions are built according to the mountain. From left to right, they are Zhaitang, Yuhuangge, houchenghuang, Doumu hall, Kuixing Pavilion (tuguanlou), Western Sansheng hall and Guandi hall.

Ningshou pagoda

At the top of the Tulou peak, there is a ningshou pagoda. The pagoda is a six sided, five story, angle warping pagoda. The pagoda is solid and made of green bricks. First, it was built in 1386 by Geng Bingwen, the founder of the Ming Dynasty and the Marquis of Changxing in Xining. Second, it was built in the Qing Dynasty. It is said that when the misty rain, the mountains hidden in the fog, vast,

In the distant view of the temples in the clouds, the pagodas and temples in the caves appear and disappear from time to time. Just as the ancient poem says, "the trees in the North Mountain are indistinct, and the misty rain enters the painting in the morning", "how many buildings are covered by the clouds and trees, and the natural painting in the village of Mijia", "the misty rain in the North Mountain" gets its name from this. Standing on the top of the mountain, you can overlook the towering mountains and enjoy the whole city of Xining.

From Tulou mountain down, by offering three churches, Yingxian bridge, Baihua Pavilion, you can get to Wansheng hall. Wansheng hall, also known as Wumu hall, worships Wang Mu, di mu, Dou Lao, Lishan laomu and Guanyin laomu. On the left side of the Wansheng hall is the Xuannv palace dedicated to the goddess of heaven, the goddess of vision, and the goddess of sending her son. On the East and west sides of the Xuannv Palace are Huixian Pavilion and Juxian Pavilion. Through Xuannv palace,

Chinese PinYin : Bei Chan Si