Historical Records of Guanghua Temple Tower in Putian

Guanghua Temple began in the second year of Chen Yongding in the Southern Dynasties (AD 558). This used to be the place where houses were built. Three brothers from Lu Zheng, a city Confucian, gave lectures. Lu Zheng's three brothers are called "Mr. Nanhu San". Later, a Zen master from Jin Xian came here to practice. Influenced by the Zen master, the three Zheng brothers chose Lu as an nunnery and named it Jinxian Temple, also known as Jinxian Courtyard, which was the predecessor of Guanghua Temple. In the 9th year of Emperor Kai of Sui Dynasty (AD 598), the Infinite Zen Master of Tiantai Mountain raised funds to expand it into "Jin Xian Temple". In the second year of Tang Jingyun (A.D. 7 1 1), Zhi Yanchang was called into the palace to talk about the quartering method, and I heard that the boundless Zen master was reciting the goblet of fire. Because of the Lingchong Bai Quan incident, Zong Rui gave the temple the name "Lingyan Temple", which was inscribed by the great calligrapher Liu Gongquan and became a big jungle in Bamin. In the first year of Xingguo in Song Taiping (AD 976), it was renamed "Guanghua Temple". On the left side of Guanghua Temple stands a Sakyamuni Buddha Pagoda built before the first year of Song Dynasty (1 165). The tower is a pavilion-shaped stone structure with five octagons and a height of about 30 meters. The tower room is hollow, with caisson at the top and stone steps embedded in the inner wall, which can be mounted outside the tower doors of each floor. On the first floor, doors are opened on both sides, and the rest are set up with Buddhist niches; Lohan reliefs on both sides of the gate are lifelike. From the second floor to the fifth floor, the doors are open on all sides and there are Buddhist niches on all sides; The King Kong warrior carved by the door is majestic, and Guanyin Bodhisattva is embossed next to the niche, which is rich and kind. The eaves of towers on all floors are flying. There are three layers under the eaves: relief phoenix, two-headed feathered man, flying concert and exotic flowers and grasses, with exquisite craftsmanship and high artistic level. They are valuable physical materials for studying architecture, culture and art in Song Dynasty. Luo said in China Ancient Pagoda that the sumeru and railings of the pagoda are unique. The mountainside of Sumeru is carved with patterns such as lion rolling hydrangea and peony flowers, which are extremely exquisite in shape. ..... Especially the railings around Mount Sumi are different. The combination of sentry post and truss railing is not adopted, but the lower short railing connected by wave and cloud pattern is adopted, which makes the heavy tower foundation lighter. "Sakyamuni's stupa relief shows the essence of China stone carving art in the Song Dynasty. The architectural structure of the tower is also quite special, such as the melon-shaped leaning column at the top and the paving between the columns. The arch of the tower is made in the form of one fork and one drop, one fork and one drop, four jumps and seven shops, which are only found in the murals of Dunhuang 16 Cave. There are many "tantric" images in the reliefs of stupa figures, which provide physical data for studying the spread of tantric Buddhism in the southeast coast of Song Dynasty. Many inscriptions and ink books of the ancients in Song and Yuan Dynasties are preserved in the tower, which shows the elegance of the ancients when they came here to express their feelings. Although Guanghua Temple has experienced several ups and downs, the tower remains the same, which is a miracle. 196 1 year, this tower was listed as the first batch of provincial key cultural relics protection units, and now it has become a national key cultural relics protection unit. At the peak of Guanghua Temple, there are 10 courtyard and 120 temple under its jurisdiction. The eaves rub against each other, magnificent buildings emerge one after another, the gates are bustling and pilgrims are like clouds. Zhong Zhao, who was buried in the Ming Dynasty, said in a poem: "The school of Zen changed from a stream, and the silence was separated from the forest. Lingyan 120 Temple, how many towers are locked late. "It was a portrayal of the grand occasion of Guanghua Temple in Nanshan at that time. Later, it was abolished several times, leaving only Yue Feng Temple and Pumen 'an Temple during the reign of Qing Qianlong. At present, some of the main buildings of Guanghua Temple were rebuilt in the 16th year of Guangxu (1890). In the early 1980s, thanks to the enthusiastic donations from overseas Chinese, Guanghua Temple was repaired and expanded on a large scale, and the Millennium Temple was a great success. 198 1 During the Spring Festival, Zhao Puchu, president of the Chinese Buddhist Association and a famous calligrapher, came to Pupu to inspect the renovation project of Guanghua Temple, and personally wrote eight magnificent characters of "solemn land, happiness and affection" and the plaque of "Wande solemn", adding luster to this ancient temple with a thousand years.