Dinghui Temple

Dinghui temple was built in the Xingping period of the Eastern Han Dynasty, with a history of more than 1800 years. It used to be Puji temple, Puji temple in Song Dynasty, Jiaoshan temple in Yuan Dynasty, and Dinghui temple in Qing Dynasty. Dinghui temple has a large scale. The Ming Dynasty was at its heyday, with 98 temples and 3000 monks. Tens of thousands of monks participated in Buddhism. In addition, there are 18 temples on both sides of Dinghui temple, which are called "Eighteen rooms". Therefore, it has a prominent position in Buddhist temples. It is a famous ancient temple in ancient China, once known as "ten square jungle" and "ancestral court".

Dinghui Temple

synonym

Dinghui Temple (Dinghui temple, Rugao City, Jiangsu Province) is generally designated as huichan temple

Dinghui temple, built in 591 A.D. in the 11th year of kaihuang reign of Sui Dynasty, is an ancient temple with a unique architectural style and a north facing Mountain Gate. Dinghui temple is located in the southeast corner of Rugao ancient city, No.2 panchi Road, covering an area of about 16 mu.

Dinghui temple, according to the continuation of the biography of eminent monks written by monk daoxuan of Tang Dynasty, in November of the 11th year of emperor kaihuang of Sui Dynasty, King Yang Guang of Jin Dynasty (later Emperor Yangdi of Sui Dynasty) set up a thousand monks' Association in Jincheng Hall of Yangzhou. Master Zhiyi, the actual founder of Tiantai Sect of Buddhism, was invited to teach Bodhisattva Precepts in Yangzhou. Through Rugao, zhumaojian temple was named Dinghui temple, and a seven level pagoda was built at the same time.

Historical origin

Dinghui temple, according to the continuation of the biography of eminent monks written by monk daoxuan of the Tang Dynasty, in November of the 11th year of emperor kaihuang of the Sui Dynasty, King Yang Guang of the Jin Dynasty (later Emperor Yangdi of the Sui Dynasty) set up a thousand monks' studio in Jincheng Hall of Yangzhou, inviting master Zhiyi, the actual founder of Tiantai Sect of Buddhism, to a banquet. Master Zhiyi was invited to Yangzhou to teach the Bodhisattva Precepts. He passed through Rugao and found that the sky above Rugao was full of Buddha light. He believed that this was a treasure land It was here that Mao Jianlu was killed. At that time, it was named "Dinghui Temple".

In the Song Dynasty, due to the looting, Dinghui temple was decadent, leaving only the broken walls.

Jinshi of song and Yuan Dynasties: Shi Sheng, a former magistrate of Rugao County, wrote a poem about Dinghui Temple: the name of the temple is Dinghui; the bridge and ancient stele do not remember the year; the old trees crow in the evening; the new dishes dance in the hometown. The seven storied pagoda turns into a road, and the five colored clouds scatter into the sky; only the water in the Yulian pool and the old dragon sleeping in the deep of the waves.

Reconstruction period

The existing main building of Dinghui temple was rebuilt during the Wanli period of Ming Dynasty. At that time, a monk named Sufang came to Dinghui temple with two disciples, Xingqian and Xingde. After a little repair, he stayed temporarily. Xing Qian is determined to repair Dinghui temple. In order to raise money, he used oil lamp to bake his ankles and iron rope to plate his chest to show his piety. The faithful men and women were deeply moved and donated one after another.

In the thirtieth year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty (1607 AD), the temple reconstruction project started. Soon, the main hall was completed. Xing Qian also vowed to carve Buddhist statues in sandalwood. So he was partial to the south. Later in yulinzhou (today's Yulin City, Guangxi), a giant sandalwood tree with a length of 10-6 feet was obtained from a merchant ship returning from overseas, and it was carved into a statue of the Great Buddha of Pilu.

The origin of prosperity

In the 43rd year of Wanli (1615), the Buddha statue arrived in Rugao and was placed in the main hall. During this period, master Zhanming built the bell and Drum Tower, master Yunshi built the Sutra collection tower, and master Delin bought the Sutra collection in Jiahe (now Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province).

The master of Delin has a profound influence on both morality and learning, and Dinghui temple is flourishing unprecedentedly.

In the Qing Dynasty, the main hall of Dinghui temple, the bell and Drum Tower, and the Sutra collection building were renovated many times, and the ancient buildings were well protected.

At the end of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, the Dongyue Temple in Duihe of Dinghui temple was demolished and built into a normal school. The prison was afraid that the house of the temple would be occupied. Through Yi Zhe, the prime minister and Prince of Qing, they obtained the plaque of "Huiying Zhonghua" written by Empress Dowager Cixi. However, the Empress Dowager Cixi's father Huizheng was predestined, so she ordered to preserve the temple. In order to avoid the taboo of Empress Dowager's father, Dinghui temple was renamed as "Dinghui Temple".

Before the "Cultural Revolution" in 1966, Dinghui Temple basically maintained the style and features of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. During the ten-year turmoil of the cultural revolution, the cultural relics in the temple were destroyed and looted, the monks were driven out of the temple, all the Buddha statues were destroyed, and the temple buildings were seriously damaged.

After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, the religious policy was implemented. In November 1983, the people's Government of Jiangsu Province approved the restoration and opening of Dinghui temple. Today, with the reappearance of gold statues, the splendor of the temple, the cigarette smoke, and an endless stream of believers and tourists.

Ancient and modern status

The layout of Dinghui temple is in the shape of "Hui", with buildings outside and temples inside. The layout is neat and the building is magnificent. It is a thousand year old temple with a long history, unique style and a large number of eminent monks. People call it the most ancient temple in Rugao.

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historical significance

When was the Dinghui temple in Rugao built? One is that it was built in the Zhenguan period of Tang Dynasty (627-649 A.D.) and the other is that it was built in the Tianxi period of Song Dynasty (1017-1021 A.D.). However, more people think that it was built in 591 A.D., and there is no doubt that it has a history of at least 1000 years.

The rulers from Tang Dynasty to Qing Dynasty all respected Buddhism. In urban and rural areas of Rugao County, Buddhism has a far-reaching influence. Before liberation, there were more than 60 Buddhist temples in Rucheng alone. Among them, Dinghui temple has the longest history, the largest scale and the largest number of monks.

From the middle of the 17th century until the outbreak of the Anti Japanese War, Dinghui temple was regarded as the "richest man" in Rugao county. It owned more than ten thousand mu of leased land, and set up village houses in Zhangjiabao (now near chaoqiao in Rudong County) and silibandou (now near dingjiasuo in Hai'an County) to collect rents.

A large amount of land rent income is the main source of monks' living and Buddhist expenses, and also one of the reasons for its long-standing reputation.

Opening to the outside world

In November 1983, the people's Government of Jiangsu Province approved the restoration of Dinghui temple and its opening to the outside world. During the ten years of turmoil, the cultural relics in the temple were destroyed and looted, the monks were driven out of the temple, all the Buddha statues were smashed, and the temple buildings were seriously damaged. After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, the religious policy was implemented. Today, with the reappearance of gold statues, the splendor of the temple, the cigarette smoke, and an endless stream of believers and tourists.

Dinghui temple covers a total area of about 16 mu. The plane layout is slightly in the shape of Hui, with a hall on the outside and a palace on the inside. It is rare that the mountain gate faces north.

The most obvious feature of Dinghui temple is that the gate faces north, and the gate is a nine purlin hard mountain building with three wide faces. Inside the mountain gate, there are many halls and squatters on both sides of the central axis of Tianwang hall, Daxiong hall and Sutra library.

On the east side, there are ancestral hall, Guanyin hall, shadow hall, Abbot's room, Guandi hall, yunshuitai, Gongdelin and so on. On the west side, there are Huayan building, nianfo building, Zhaitang, Jiaojing hall, Liaofang and so on, forming a pattern of "building embracing Temple".

Now after a large-scale restoration of the Dinghui temple, the Mountain Gate standing in the shade is a nine purlin through the bucket type hard mountain building, which is made of water polished blue brick, with four convex gold characters of "Dinghui Temple" written in regular script on the forehead.

There is a pair of stone lions in front of the door. There is a hairpin on the door and a drum stone on the bottom.

Entering the mountain gate is the temple of heavenly kings. In the middle of the gate is a smiling Maitreya Buddha with a simple manner. On both sides is a pair of intriguing couplets: "when you open your mouth, you will smile, but now you will laugh at everything; the Buddha's belly can accommodate heaven, earth and people.".

Maitreya's back seat is a statue of Wei Tuo, who sits and stands.

Main building

There are four statues of heavenly kings on both sides of the hall, one holding a sharp sword, one holding a lute, one holding an umbrella and one catching a dragon beast. It is said that when the four heavenly kings take charge of heaven and earth, they will have good weather and good harvest. They have different faces and postures; the king of heaven holds a sharp sword with his eyes wide open; the king of heaven holds a Pipa with his hands and looks up high; it's often heard that the king of heaven holds an umbrella with his face ferocious; the king of heaven with wide eyes catches dragons and beasts with his hands and his muscles bursting. However, their swords have no scabbard, their harps have no strings, their umbrellas have no bones, and their dragons have no scales.

In the middle of the courtyard, there is a tripod more than Zhang high, which is donated and cast by the believers. Through the courtyard, along the nine stone steps, is the majestic majestic, resplendent hall. The hall is more than 10 meters high, and is a brick and wood structure of jiuxie mountain style. Copper bells are hung on the four high cornices. In the middle of the back of the hall, the newly installed two meter high "guide to bliss" makes the hall more graceful and spectacular.

Daxiong hall is the main building of Dinghui temple. It is a palm shaped brick and wood structure with copper bells hanging at the four corners. In the center of the hall, the Tathagata Buddha, which is one foot and six feet high, sits on the lotus flower. The Buddha's forehead is inlaid with a night Pearl. The whole body is pasted with red gold. It is red and yellow, with bright luster. There are thousands of Buddhas in the light behind the Buddha, with beautiful posture and different expressions. It is known as China's "center of murals" Wang's Professor Yuan Yunfu once stood in front of the Buddha for a long time, and improvised: "the crown of contemporary Chinese Buddha.". There is a scroll corridor in front of the Sutra collection building. Under the eaves of the corridor is a bucket arch with dense eaves. Under the eaves of the building is a plaque of "magic treasure Pavilion". It is written by Zhao Puchu, President of China Buddhist Association. The octagonal seven storey Guanyin pagoda of Dinghui temple was rebuilt in recent years. The pagoda is 45 meters high, carved with marble statues of Guanyin, and embedded around the inner wall of each floor, with a total of 84 statues. Overlooking from the pagoda, the Longyou River and the Yudai River pass around the temple, sparkling. The release pool is like a piece of jade inlaid on the jade belt. The temple has been surrounded by cigarettes for many years, and the buildings, halls, halls and Zhai in the sun are bathed in Buddha light, which often makes visitors forget to return.

In the hall of Mahatma, the newly sculpted Pilu Buddha (commonly known as the Tathagata Buddha) is as high as one foot and six feet high, with a smile and a smile

Chinese PinYin : Ding Hui Si