Dabei Temple

It is a temple dedicated to the Buddhas of all directions. It was built in the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty. The spiritual bones of Tang Monk Xuanzang were also worshipped in the temple. The original statue of Avalokitesvara with thousand hands carved in cypress wood was destroyed in the "ten years of turmoil"; now there is a gold statue of Avalokitesvara with thousand hands, 3.6 meters high and 4 meters wide, which is made in modern times.

There are two outstanding features of Dabei courtyard: one is that hundreds of bronze, wood and stone sculptures from the Wei, Jin, southern and Northern Dynasties to the Ming and Qing Dynasties were collected in the main hall of Daxiong in the center of the courtyard, which is a rare fine art in the world; the other is that Su Zhai of Dabei courtyard has always been famous for turning bean products into miraculous food. There is a memorial hall of master Hongyi in Dabei temple. There are many pictures of master Hongyi and calligraphy works in the hall. It is an important place for Buddhists to hold religious activities in Tianjin.

Dabei Temple

Dabei temple, also known as Dabei temple, is located in Tianwei Road, Hebei District, Tianjin, covering an area of 42000 square meters. Dabei temple was built in Shunzhi period of Qing Dynasty. It has been repaired and expanded several times, including Tianwang hall, Daxiong hall, Dabei hall, master Xuanzang's scripture hall, master Hongyi's memorial hall, etc. Among them, there are hundreds of statues of Buddha and Bodhisattva from the Wei and Jin Dynasties to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Guanyin Bodhisattva is merciful, seeking life and saving suffering, which is also the name of "great compassion Zen house". He once worshipped the spiritual bones of master Xuanzang, a famous monk in Tang Dynasty. The current abbot is master Zhiru.

Dabei Buddhist temple is a cultural relic protection unit and a special protection level historic building in Tianjin. It is one of the national key Buddhist temples in the Han nationality area.

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Historical evolution

Dabei temple, also known as Dabei temple, is a ten square jungle temple in Tianjin, located in Tianwei Road, Hebei District, Tianjin. From 1658 to 1659, Cao Bin, a garrison in Tianjin, donated money to build a temple and built three courtyards. Dabei temple was renamed Dabei temple. It was rebuilt in 1669. In 1679, Zen master Shi Gao and more than ten famous scholars in Tianjin, such as Zhang Lin, Zhang Kai, long Zhen, Liang Hong and Huang Liuji, formed a "thatched cottage community" in the temple, where they sang together. In the 35th year of Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty (1770), the abbot rebuilt the great compassion temple. In 1872, Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili, led his troops to move to the temple and changed the name of the temple to Dasheng temple. In 1890, master Xianglin, the abbot of the Qing Dynasty, began to preach the precepts.

From 1942 to 1947, master juxu rebuilt the whole temple.

In 1945, the abbot and other masters invited the parietal bones of master Xuanzang from Beijing to worship in the temple.

In 1954, the Tianjin municipal government appropriated funds to renovate the great compassion temple, oil decorated Buddha Hall and corridor, and to build squatters and gables. Wang Xiang, director of Tianjin Municipal Museum of culture and history, Oracle expert and famous calligrapher, was invited to inscribe the temple forehead of "ancient temple Dabei Temple". On July 28 of the same year, the Tianjin Buddhist Association was established. Abbot Hui Wen was elected president of the association, and the office was located in the Dabei temple.

In 1956, at the request of the Indian government and under the instruction of Zhou Enlai, the then prime minister, the parietal bone was sent to the site of Nalanda temple, where Xuanzang was once a monk in India.

In 1956, the abbot Huiwen opened "Hongyi Memorial Hall" to commemorate the sages of the village at the suggestion of Gong Wang.

In October 1956, at the request of Indian Prime Minister Nehru, China sent the parietal bone of master Xuanzang to Beijing. In January of the next year, it was sent to the site of Nalanda temple in India to build a temple for worship.

In 1957, the three bronze statues of Sakyamuni Buddha, pharmacist Buddha and Amitabha Buddha in the original Dafo Temple (now the second Central Primary School in Hebei District) were moved to the Dabei temple and worshipped in the main hall.

During the "Cultural Revolution", many monks were demobilized, and many Buddhist statues, magic weapons and temples were destroyed.

In 1979, the Ming Dynasty bronze Buddha statue of Sakyamuni was moved from Jinghai to be worshipped in Daxiong hall.

In 1982, Tianjin municipal government allocated funds to rebuild the Dabei temple and add new Shanmen.

In 1986, it was officially opened to the outside world.

In 1987, the three bronze Buddhas in the original Mahavira hall were moved to lianzong temple in Nanshi. Master Daguang of Hong Kong came to Tianjin and offered 11 pieces of relic to the temple.

In 1988, Tianjin Buddhist orchestra was established with Gong Wang as its leader. The Buddhist orchestra is located in the great compassion courtyard.

In 1993, a 1.6-meter-high Burmese jade Buddha was offered to the temple by Mr. Cheng Guochuan of Singapore.

In July 1995, the new two-story Abbot's courtyard and the municipal Buddhist Association office building were completed.

In 1996, 7600 square meters of the original fire fighting equipment factory in the rear of the temple was requisitioned for expansion.

At the end of 2000, the new main hall was completed.

In the spring of 2006, the reconstruction and expansion project of Dabei temple was officially launched.

In January 2015, the "first floor building" of the West courtyard of Tianjin Dabei temple, which was rebuilt according to the original appearance of the Qing Dynasty, was completed and opened to tourists.

Temple layout

The east courtyard of Dabei Zen hall is composed of Tianwang hall, Daxiong hall, Dabei hall, dizang hall, Xuanzang master memorial hall, Hongyi master Memorial Hall and lecture hall. The West courtyard is the residence of nianfo hall, Abbot's office and Tianjin Buddhist Association. The East Temple is the main part of the temple and the West Temple is the subsidiary part of the temple, which reflects the traditional form of the general Buddhist temple. There is a pair of stone lions outside the door of the Dabei temple. On the forehead of the door are the four characters "true as juechang" written by Mr. Zhao Puchu. Tianwang hall was originally the gate of the temple, which was built in the form of combining the gate with Tianwang hall. In front of the door stood two glass lions with yellow and green bells and beads. Behind the Tianwang hall is the main hall, whose roof is covered with green glazed tiles. In front of Da Xiong hall is Da Bei hall. In front of the hall is a brick corridor. Passing to the right through the door with the title of "Cihang Pudu" is the memorial hall of master Xuanzang. To the left, through the door with the title of "sad wish Hongshen", is the Hongyi Memorial Hall. On the West and east sides of the courtyard are the dizang hall and the lecture hall, both of which are 3 rooms wide. Dabei temple is a temple which combines classical temple style architecture cluster with closed garden courtyard. There is a garden in the temple and a temple in the garden.

Main attractions

Tianwang Hall

The temple is about 20 meters long, 15 meters wide, 3 rooms wide and 2 rooms deep. There are six characters of "Amitabha Buddha in the South" on the walls on both sides of the hall, a pair of glazed stone lions in front of the hall, and six characters of "ancient temple Dabei Temple" written by Wang Xiang on the forehead. The main Buddha worshipped in the center of the hall is Maitreya Buddha. Behind Maitreya Buddha is the Dharma protector, Bodhisattva Weituo, holding a pestle. On the left and right sides of the hall are four statues of heavenly kings: the Oriental Heavenly King holding the lute, the southern Heavenly King holding the sword, the Western Heavenly King holding the dragon, and the northern Heavenly King holding the umbrella. Bodhisattva Weituo is a God in Buddhism. His right hand is supported by an upright pestle, his left palm is up and across his chest, and he faces the main hall with one hand. He is regarded as the patron saint of the temple.

main hall

Daxiong hall is located on a five foot high platform built of big green bricks. Facing it, there are six red pillars with windows and doors. It is the main hall of Dabei temple. It was built in 1940 and planned by master juxu. On the top of the hall door is a gold plaque with big characters, which was written by Hua Shikui. In the center of the hall is an ancient bronze gilded statue of Sakyamuni, a thousand Buddha lotus seat cast in the Ming Dynasty. It was moved from Jinghai District, Tianjin. Together with the bronze seat of the thousand Buddha lotus, it is 5.2 meters high and weighs 6 tons. The lines of the bronze statue are clear and harmonious. The 9999 small Buddhas on the lotus seat are all made of glass fiber reinforced plastics. On both sides of the main Buddha stand the statues of Ananda and Kaya. In front of the bronze statue of Sakyamuni is a jade Buddha statue placed in Kaiguang in 1994. It is 1.6 meters high and weighs 888kg. It was donated by Mr. Zheng Guochuan and transported from Hong Kong. There are 18 clay painted Arhats sitting on both sides of the hall, 2 meters high. Each arhat has a different look and distinct personality. In front of the hall, there are big bells on the left and FA drums on the right. The left rear corner is dedicated to the great wisdom Manjusri Bodhisattva with a powerful lion; the right rear corner is dedicated to the Great Xing Puxian Bodhisattva riding on the six tooth white elephant king. On the back of the statue of Sakyamuni Buddha is the great mercy Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva of the South China Sea. The boy of good fortune and the Dragon Girl serve each other. Guanyin Bodhisattva, shancai and Longnu are all carved with camphor wood.

Da Bei Dian

The platform of the great compassion hall is about 3 feet high, 5 rooms wide and 3 rooms deep. It is located in the back hall of the great compassion temple, namely the great compassion Guanyin Bodhisattva hall. Inside the hall is a statue of 24 arm Avalokitesvara. Guanyin Bodhisattva is merciful, so it is called great mercy hall. In addition to the plaque of "Dabei hall", there is a plaque of "Pudu maze" on the door of Dabei hall. There are two couplets on both sides of the hall door. The statue of Zun Guanyin Bodhisattva, 3.6 meters high, covered with gold, has a solemn and moving look.

There are murals painted by the painting department of Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts in the front and on both sides of the hall. The content of the mural is the story of Sakyamuni's Buddha Yinghua, which is divided into 6 pieces and 10 pictures. It introduces the main deeds of Buddha, such as the birth of Buddha, the completion of Tao, preaching, saying, living beings and nirvana.

Memorial Hall

Chinese PinYin : Da Bei Chan Yuan