Tai'an Temple

The ancient Tai'an temple was first built in the Tang Dynasty and rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty. It was once a temple with a lot of incense at the foot of the mountain behind Qingcheng. There are many famous monks, and it is a Buddhist holy land that Zen disciples yearn for.

This quiet ancient temple was damaged in the Wenchuan earthquake. It reopened in 2012 and held a grand opening ceremony. Now, this ancient temple with a thousand years of history is still beautiful, attracting pilgrims to Qingcheng to burn incense and pray.

Tai'an Temple

Tai'an temple is located in the ancient town of Tai'an in the back mountain of Qingcheng, which is the oldest existing Buddhist temple in Qingcheng Mountain. According to the ancient books, "it was built at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty and revived in the Ming Dynasty; the building and hall are magnificent, and the first is in Qingcheng." Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, it has been a holy land for Buddhist disciples and a place for Buddhist teaching. After the repair and reconstruction of various generations, the existing main hall, Tianwang hall, Dabei hall and Sangha zhaifang and other buildings. There are three ancient steles of the Qing Dynasty in the temple, and the "ancient Tai'an Temple" on the mountain gate is inscribed by Zhao Puchu, former president of the Chinese Buddhist Association. Outside the temple, there is a famous monk Jiansui Buddhist pagoda of the Ming Dynasty. Around the temple, there are dozens of towering trees, such as ancient red bean trees, ginkgo trees and pines. Tai'an ancient temple is a perfect place for the residents to worship Buddha, meditate and recuperate.

brief introduction

Taian ancient temple is located in Taian ancient town of Qingcheng Mountain. It is the oldest existing Buddhist temple in Qingcheng Mountain. According to the ancient books, "it was built at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty and revived in the Ming Dynasty; the building and hall are magnificent, and the first is in Qingcheng." Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, it has been a holy land for Buddhist disciples and a place for Buddhist teaching.

"Yudi Jisheng" of the Song dynasty recorded that "Changping mountain is above Weijiang River, with Tai'an temple, the gate of which covers Huaping (now shaping) Laoze road." According to the local records of Guanxian County in the Qing Dynasty, "temples in Tai'an began in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Ming Dynasty. Building hall of the strong, a in the southeast Peng Xun's "Qingcheng Mountain" also contains "(Tai'an Temple). It is said that it was built in the early Tang Dynasty and revived in the Ming Dynasty. Building hall magnificent, a green city. It was destroyed in the late Ming Dynasty and rebuilt in the early Qing Dynasty. " In quantangwen, Du Guangting of the Tang dynasty recorded that Chan Master Huijin of changpingshan (Tai'an Temple) was ordered to build Qingchengshan zhangren temple in his articles such as Xie en Xuan Shi Xiu zhangren Temple Gong Bi Biao.

Temple Landscape

Daxiong hall is the main hall of Tai'an temple and the largest hall in the temple. There is a broad platform in front of the hall, the structure of the beam frame on the top of the hall is magnificent, and the arch system inside the hall is various. It is a wooden building with national tradition. In the center of the hall, there are five golden Buddha statues, called five square Buddha, which are the original works of the Jin Dynasty. It is the only Liao Dynasty building not destroyed by the war in Tai'an temple. The main hall stands on a 3.3-meter-high platform with a memorial archway and a bell and drum pavilion built in 1616. The main hall is 7 rooms wide, 40.7 meters; 5 rooms deep, 25.5 meters, with single eaves and five ridges. There is an octagonal caisson on the top of the hall. There are two layers of brackets in the inner circle. The lower layer is made of seven pavilions, and the upper layer is made of eight pavilions, which are stacked from bottom to top. The hall also adopts the method of reducing columns to arrange columns, so the space is wide.

The main hall was built in Liao Dynasty and rebuilt in Jin Dynasty. The main hall is seven wide and five deep, with two flat base caissons in the middle, and the rest of it is made by the top exposed. Douba caisson is surrounded by two layers of Dougong. The lower layer is made of Qipu, and the upper layer is made of BAPU. The carving is exquisite. Its shape and technique are the same as the main hall's beam frame structure and bucket arch structure, which is a legacy of Liao Dynasty. In the center of the Buddhist altar in the hall are five clay statues with golden body, which are called five square Buddhas. They are the original works of the Jin Dynasty. They are solemn in appearance, elegant in posture, fluent in clothing patterns, and superb in carving skills. Although they have been decorated by color paintings of past dynasties, they still retain the artistic style of Liao and Jin statues. The huge rosette is decorated with lotus petals, beads, triangle persimmon stalks and lion heads. It is a relic of the Liao Dynasty. There are also disciples and Bodhisattvas around. On both sides are the 24 heavens. These standing statues are about 2 or 5 meters high. The characters are vividly depicted in different shapes. We can see their ages, personalities, literary officials or military generals. They are male, female, old, young, beautiful, ugly, literate, martial, or emperor's clothing, or minister's image, or bare chested and barefoot, wearing gauze clothes, or wearing armor and fur to resist the cold wind of northern China. The atmosphere of life is rich. It's very infectious. It can be regarded as a national treasure. Among them, the most outstanding ones are the six arm "rigong Tianzi" on the east side and the "Yuegong Tianzi" on the west side. Rigong Tianzi has beautiful eyebrows, plump and mellow skin, slender figure, fluent clothing, implicit expression, kindness and kindness. The sculptors have molded them as women, and they are more graceful and magnificent. The jade arms are light and dynamic, which leave a deep impression on people. The statues of the sun palace emperor and the Moon Palace emperor are like two living virtuous and quiet young women standing there. They are indeed the crystallization of the creative work of the artists in the Jin Dynasty, worthy of being a masterpiece. The West and south walls are painted with stories about Buddhism. There are two floors of bells and drums on the left and right. On the east side of the hall is the Manjusri Pavilion site, and on the west side is the Puxian pavilion built in the second year of Jin Zhenyuan. Puxian Pavilion, with three wide faces and three deep depths, is a Liao style pavilion with three square, double eaves and nine ridges. It adopts the method of flat and dark floor (that is, there is a dark floor between the two Ming floors), and still has the style of Tang Dynasty Pavilion. The detailed structure is similar to the Yingxian Wooden Tower built in 1056. In 1953, the inscription "yixingzao" was found in the second year of Zhenyuan (1154), which proved that it was the reconstruction of Jin Dynasty. With exquisite structure and simple shape, Puxian Pavilion stands high in the temple. It was built in the second year of Zhenyuan (1154 AD) of Jin Dynasty. Pavilion sitting West to East, pavilion built-in wooden ladder, you can climb the pavilion overlooking. In the south of the pavilion, there is a five dragon wall made of colored glaze, which is gorgeous and magnificent. On the other side, an iron ox is well preserved, strong and moving. It used to stand in Xiyan of Yuhe River to suppress the river demon and eliminate the flood. Move back here. Puxian Pavilion and Manjusri pavilion are symmetrical pavilions, which are located on the East and west sides between the main hall and Sansheng hall, also known as the East Tower and the West Tower. The Manjusri Pavilion on the east side was destroyed by fire in the early Republic of China, while the Puxian Pavilion on the west side was rebuilt in 1154. Sitting from west to East, it is a two-story pavilion with three square faces and three deep depths. It has double eaves and nine ridge roofs. The lower eaves are flat seats, and the upper eaves are covered with bucket arches. The two eaves are covered with tubular tiles. The appearance is exquisite and the proportion is even. It is a precious object for studying the architecture of China's Liao and Jin Dynasties.

The three saints hall is the central hall of Tai'an temple. The three statues in the center of the hall are "three saints of Huayan". The mountain gate is the main gate of the temple, in which there are four statues of the heavenly king. These four Buddhist Dharma protectors give people the impression of awe inspiring and inviolable. There is also a five dragon wall in Tai'an temple. The five dragons are colorful, adding a lively and cheerful atmosphere to the temple. Sansheng hall was built in 1128, the sixth year of jintianhui. The hall has five rooms in width and four rooms in depth. Its structure is in line with the architectural characteristics of song and Liao dynasties, and has a unique style. It can be said that it is a representative wooden building in the early Jin Dynasty. In the hall, four columns and four auxiliary columns are used to support the beam frame, which is the top type of the hall. There are 60 degree oblique arches on the left and right, which are like blooming flowers. Oblique arches are popular in the Jin Dynasty, and the most magnificent ones are in this way. Four gold pillars are used to support the roof of the hall, which is a prominent example of the method of reducing and moving columns in Liao and Jin Dynasties, and fully shows the national and simple style of ancient architecture. There are three standing statues inside, with Sakyamuni Buddha in the middle, Puxian Bodhisattva on the right and Manjusri Bodhisattva on the left. They are called the "three saints of Huayan" and named the three saints hall. Before the Sansheng Buddha, there were two assistant Bodhisattvas standing. Behind the altar, there was a statue of Dharma protector Wei Tuo holding a magic wand, which was extremely powerful and powerful. There are also four stone tablets in this hall. In order to study the important documents of the temple, Zhu Bian's "golden tablet" is regarded as an outstanding one for the first time in the history of building the tablet, the exquisite carving of the forehead, the gorgeous wording of the tablet, and the exquisite calligraphy of the tablet. Jin Ji Zhu lived in the temple for 14 years. He witnessed the restoration of the temple, so it is not only full of literary talent, but also full of reliable records.

The Sansheng hall is located on a platform more than one meter high. It is a typical wooden structure in the early Jin Dynasty. It was built in the sixth year of the golden heaven society. The hall is rectangular, 28 meters long from east to west and 13.5 meters wide from north to south. It has five wide surfaces, four deep depths, five ridge roofs with single eaves, and a variety of oblique arches between left and right. This kind of inclined arch is a unique form of Liao and Jin architecture. It not only carries the weight of eaves, but also has a strong decorative effect. Liang Sicheng once commented on this kind of "Dougong" and said: "greatness, containing unlimited power, is quite enough to show that the vigor was in the ascendant at that time." I think it's so big and eye-catching, "competing with the roof for sight", which is very different, solemn and depressing. In the hall, only four main columns and four auxiliary columns are used to support the beam frame. The top of the hall adopts the method of "fully exposed" to increase the space and facilitate Buddhist activities. It is a typical example of column reduction method.

The gate of the mountain is also the temple of the heavenly king, with a single eaves and five ridges. It is 27 meters wide and 10 meters deep. Watch out for the door. There are 6 eaves pillars in front and back of the gate, which are well distributed; there are 6 middle pillars in the longitudinal direction, which are 18 in total. The inner and outer pillars are the same height, which are chiseled and neat, and the shape is beautiful. It is the existing giant structure of the gate in Jin Dynasty. The plaque of "Wei De Hu Shi" is hung at the gate of the mountain, and the font is thick and powerful. Up to now, many cultural relics are collected in Tai'an temple, including the Zhenhe iron ox on the West Bank of Yuhe river outside the east gate of Datong City, as well as the Five Dragon Wall photo of the Ming ribbon glass in Xingguo temple outside the south gate. These two important cultural relics obviously add a lot of color to Shanhua temple.

Temple layout

The layout of Tai'an temple is as follows: in the front, the middle road is the mountain gate, in the left and right of the mountain gate are the bell tower and the drum tower, in the front is the heavenly king's hall, in which there are four statues of Vajra, in the back are the Mahatma hall and the Sutra library, and the monk's room and the Zhaitang are on the left and right sides of the middle road. The main hall is the Buddha

Chinese PinYin : Tai An Si