Kaiyuan Temple is located in the West Street of Licheng District, covering an area of 78,000 square meters. Built in the second year of Wu Zetian in Tang Dynasty (AD 686), it has a long history of 1300 years. It is a national key Buddhist temple and a key cultural relic protection unit. There are 86 large stone pillars in the Daxiong Hall of Kaiyuan Temple, which is called Baizhu Hall. It is said that when the main hall was built, Ziyun floated around on the ground, so it was also called Ziyun Hall. Kaiyuan Temple is most famous for its twin towers, Zhenguo Tower in the east and Renshou Tower in the west. They are more than 40 meters high and are the tallest stone pagodas in China. On both sides of the door niche of each floor of the tower, there are reliefs such as samurai, heavenly king, king kong and arhat. The twin towers that survived the storm are still standing. It is a unique symbol and symbol of Quanzhou ancient city, and also a treasure of ancient stone buildings in China. The East Tower is listed as one of the four major stamps of China Ancient Pagoda in 1994. Kaiyuan Temple was originally named Lotus Temple, and later changed to Xingjiao Temple and longxing temple.
In the 26th year of Kaiyuan in the Tang Dynasty (AD 739), Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty ordered all states in China to build Kaiyuan Temple and change its name. Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou is located in Pingyuan West Street, Licheng District. Only Ziyunping, a symbolic barrier in front of the mountain, is isolated from the world, which virtually shortens the distance between the world and Buddhism. The uniqueness of Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou is that it lacks the background of famous mountains and rivers, but it has more intimacy between good men and women. Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou is a national key cultural relic protection unit and one of the top ten scenic spots in Fujian Province. How can Kaiyuan Temple become famous at home and abroad? The gate of Kaiyuan Temple is also called Tianwang Hall. It was built by Wu Zetian in the third year of Tang Dynasty (AD 687), and was destroyed and rebuilt by fire several times before and after. The existing buildings were built in the 14th year of the Republic of China (AD 1925). The upper and lower ends of the stone pillar are slightly thinner, and the middle part is thicker, showing a spindle shape. According to textual research, it is a stone pillar style in the Tang Dynasty, which is very old. There is also a wooden couplet hanging on the stone pillar. This place is called Buddha country, and the streets are full of saints. This was written by Zhu, a Dali scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty, and a master monk in modern times. It is a true portrayal of Quanzhou, an ancient city with strong religious and cultural colors. Sitting on both sides of the Tianwang Temple are the tantric King Kong and the Brahma King, which are arranged according to the provisions of the tantric Buddhism. They glared, held their heads high, and looked very dignified, which was quite different from the four donkey kong sculptures in general temples. Some people call them the army of two generals. Cross the mountain gate to Baiting. Standing here, we can see the East-West Pagoda rising from the ground and the spacious and bright East-West Corridor symmetrically arranged on both sides, and our position is on the central axis of Kaiyuan Temple. Buddhism was introduced into China 1000 years ago, and it blossomed in China, blending with China culture. The layout of Kaiyuan Temple highlights the characteristics of ancient buildings in China, which are dominated by the south and the central axis. The Dashiting in front of the worship pavilion is a grass-free worship hall for the sacrifices and activities of officials and people in ancient and modern times. On the 26th day of the lunar calendar, there is a sea of people here, and there is the voice of Bai Fan, which is a scene of Buddhism in South China.
There are eight big banyan trees on both sides of the stone court, which are 200 to 800 years old, hidden in the sun and intertwined with each other, adding the quiet and solemn atmosphere of Kaiyuan Temple. There are 1 1 ancient buildings, small pagodas and two different forms of Tang, Song and Ming Dynasties under the tree. There is also a 3-meter-high stone carving silk burning furnace with buttons and squats, and there are patterns carved around the furnace body. Decorative patterns such as dragons, auspicious clouds, lotus petals and creeping weeds are beautifully shaped. In the 15th year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty (A.D. 1 145), two square stone pagodas donated by Liu Sanniang in Nanxiang, Quanzhou, are carved with the story of Prince Sahammer giving his life to feed the tiger, which is the trace left by Hinduism in the Southern Song Dynasty. The main building on the central axis is the Great Hall in front of us. According to legend, Ziyun built land when the temple was built, so it is also called Ziyun Hall. Above the main hall, this huge plaque reads four Weibei-style mulberry law tycoons in response to Sankai Anbaili's statement. As early as the early Tang Dynasty, Quanzhou was rich in silk. This land was originally the mulberry garden of Huang Shougong, a rich man, and was later donated to Master Kuanghu to build a temple.
There is a touching legend about this matter: One day, Huang Shougong dreamed that a monk asked him to raise land to build a temple. He said that he would provide land and became attached to the mulberry tree in Bai Lianhua after it opened. A few days later, all the mulberry trees in the garden bloomed in Bailian. Huang Shougong was deeply moved by this boundless Buddhism, so he donated this mulberry garden. In fact, Huang Shougong was originally a charitable person, and the saying that Mulberry opens lotus was made by people worshiping Buddha, but this magical legend was relished by Quanzhou people and passed down from generation to generation, so Kaiyuan Temple also got the reputation of Mulberry Law. Daxiong Hall was built in the second year of the Tang Dynasty (AD 686). It was influenced and rebuilt several times in Tang, Southern Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties. The existing building is a relic of the tenth year of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty (AD 1637).
The main hall is 20 meters high, nine rooms wide and six rooms deep, with an area of 1387.75 square meters. The arch of the main hall is far-reaching and magnificent in appearance, which preserves the magnificent architectural style of the Tang Dynasty. In the center of the Ursa Mahayana Hall is the Pilu Jinna Buddha, which is given by the imperial government. Translated into Chinese, it is the highest god of Tantric Buddhism. On both sides are four giant buddhas molded during the renovation of the Great Hall of the Five Dynasties. They are the Oriental Aroma World Buddha, the South Joy World Buddha, the Amitabha in the Western Elysium World, and the Achievement Buddha in the North Lotus World, which are collectively called Five Dhyani Buddhas, also known as the Five Wisdom Tathagata. These five giant buddhas are glittering, with distinct clothing lines, kind faces and solemn testimonies. Their hands are used for presentation, giving, receiving and meditation, and their craftsmanship is exquisite and amazing. Five Dhyani Buddhas's threats include Manjusri, Pu Xian, Ananda, Ye Jia, Guanyin, Shi Zhi, Wei Tuo, Guan Yu, Brahma Heavenly King, Earth Division, and 10 Fashen. In the middle of the back of the main hall, there is the first holy Guanyin, the tantric six Guanyin, as well as eighteen arhats, dragons, and different wings. The abbots of Kaiyuan Temple converted to different sects in past dynasties, including Faxiang Sect, Legalist Sect, Pure Land Sect, Tantric Sect and Zen Sect. However, it is worth boasting and learning that the main hall can maintain this rare regulation. The Baizhu Hall in the Ursa Major Hall also has an nickname. It was originally planned to set up 100 columns in the whole museum. Later, due to the need to place Buddha statues to make room for Buddhists to worship, the beams were lengthened and the columns were reduced, making it a hundred-column temple with 86 columns.
In the tenth year of Chongzhen (AD 1637), Zeng Ying, a right-wing political affairs and provincial judge, and Zheng Zhilong, the company commander, rebuilt the Ziyun Hall of Kaiyuan Temple and replaced all the wooden pillars with stone pillars. The columns of Baizhu Temple are rich and colorful, including begonia-shaped columns, columns and square columns in the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties. Shuttle column, dragon column, etc. In particular, the pair of 16 angular diabase columns between the verandah behind the temple are carved with 24 stories and flower patterns of Krishna, an ancient Hindu god circulating in ancient India and Ceylon, which have aroused great interest of Chinese and foreign scholars. Together with 72 diabase sphinxes and the lion relief at Sumitomo's waist on the platform in front of the temple, it was removed from the destroyed main Yinjiao Temple during the restoration of the temple in the Yuan Dynasty. They are the historical testimony of Quanzhou's prosperous overseas transportation and friendly cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries during the Song and Yuan Dynasties. At the junction of Five Dhyani Buddhas Dianthus and Liang Heng, there are two rows of 24 goddesses, Sanskrit starlings (Miao Yin birds). They are plump, gorgeous, colorful and spread their wings. According to Buddhist scriptures, this bird has a delicate voice and elegant fairy sound, even Kinnara, the god of songs, is not as good as her. They used to be waiters of the Buddha, but skillful craftsmen embedded their lower bodies in the tenons, their claws and feet exposed under their wings, their upper bodies stretched forward, their heads held high, their coats were half naked, their arms were stretched out, their wrists were tamed with bracelets, their hands were Four Treasures of the Study, and melons and fruits were snacks, dancing like fairies. They not only give people beautiful artistic enjoyment, but also replace the bucket arch, rely on the thick honing beam, reduce its excessive span, and skillfully integrate religion, art and architecture, which is amazing.
On the west side of Baizhutang, there is a thousand-year-old mulberry tree that is said to have opened in Bai Lianhua, namely the Sangpeng Monument. Seeing its doddering appearance, everyone believed that it was over 1000 years old, and most people ignored whether it had ever driven to Bai Lianhua. However, under the old mulberry tree, there is an ancient stone tablet, which seems to be true. /kloc-in a thunderstorm in 0/925, the old mulberry tree was chopped into three sections by lightning, and one of the sections fell to the ground, so the monks lifted it up with a piece of granite and inscribed couplets as a pair of lotus arches for two years, which made the old mulberry tree miraculously survive, flourish and rejuvenate. A few years ago, the strong wind blew the tree off the supported stone, but when people supported it again, it took root. Nowadays, three old mulberry trees with the same root are like a blooming flower, which extends in three directions: east, west, north and south, and is lush all year round.
The Mana Ring altar behind the main hall was built on the second step of the central axis. It is said that during the Tang Dynasty, nectar often fell here, so a monk named Xing Zhao dug a nectar well here. In the third year of coming to Tianjin in the north (A.D. 10 19), an altar was built in Inoue, so it was called Ganlu Jietan. In the second year of Jianyan in the Southern Song Dynasty (A.D. 1 108), Gao Sangdun thought that Tan Jie was not up to standard, and it was rebuilt to the fifth grade according to Nanshan Tujing, during which the height, width and width were strictly restricted. After many renovations in Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the existing building is a four-eaves octagonal structure rebuilt in the fifth year of Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty (AD 1666). The caisson in the middle of the altar adopts wishful bucket arch, which is folded and gathered, like a spider web, like a brocade, and its structure is complex and exquisite. Around the altar, there are 24 flying musicians in the column arch and workshop, wearing ribbons, holding pipa, erhan, flute and castanet, singing and dancing lightly and dancing like flying. They are not only treasures of architectural art, but also precious image materials for studying Nanyin and Nanxi, just like the bent frame in Baizhutang. There are five floors below the algae well. The top floor of the altar is dedicated to the woodcarving statue of Lushenafo in Ming Dynasty. There is a lotus petal on the lotus seat where it sits, and a 6 cm Buddha statue is carved on each lotus leaf, which is very beautiful. Around Lushena, there are four buddhas, namely, Jinganggou, Jingangsuo, Jingangling and Jingangsuo, as well as 24 Buddha statues, including Sakyamuni, Amitabha, Hanshan, Picked up, Guanyin with a Thousand Hands and General Wei Tuo. Among them, donkey kong Eight Honors is the most important. They glared, barefoot and shirtless, and looked extremely dignified. Around the waist of the altar, there are 64 trump cards of various gods to protect the three conversions and the five precepts. The ring altar is where Buddhists are ordained. This mysterious and solemn atmosphere can make people feel awe, destroy all thoughts and convert wholeheartedly. It is said that this kind of ring altar is rare in the country.
After leaving the altar, it is the sutra depository, which is called the treasure house. It used to be a Buddhist temple, which was built by the eminent monk Liu Jianyi in the 22nd year of Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 1285). During the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, it was rebuilt many times. In the 14th year of the Republic of China (AD 1925), Monk Yuanying was converted into a two-story pavilion with cement imitation wood structure. Downstairs is now a place where monks recite scriptures and worship Buddha. Upstairs, there are more than 3,700 volumes of various versions of scriptures. In the Five Dynasties, King Kaimin accidentally ascended the throne and ruled Fujian and Xinjiang. So when she became the queen of Fujian, she became attached to the Buddha, gained great confidence, made great wishes, converted to her heart and achieved psychological balance. He donated millions of dollars to build halls and other buildings, collected 12,000 gold and silver, and ground them into mud. He asked Master Yiying of Kaiyuan Temple to write two gold and silver tripitages, and there are still pages left on the second floor. In addition, there are the Fire Sutra written by the Yuan Dynasty according to the blood pricking of the mage and the Baye Sutra written in Tamil. They are precious Buddhist classics in China. In addition, the sutra depository also preserved historical relics from the prosperous Tang Dynasty to the Republic of China. Among them, there are 32 jade, bronze, porcelain, wooden Buddha statues, bodhisattvas, arhats, heavenly kings and gods. The calligraphy and wooden couplets of Zhang Ruitu, a great calligrapher in the Ming Dynasty, and Master Hongyi, a modern monk, are also treasured here. There is also a 12 square clock in the lobby on the first floor since the Southern Song Dynasty. Among them, in the 17th year of Qing Daoguang (AD 65,438+0837), the iron bell placed in the suburb of Lugang was cast with the inscriptions of 46 firms that traded with Quanzhou in the suburb of Lugang, which is a very valuable material for studying the economic history of Taiwan Province Province and Quanzhou.
On both sides of the central axis, there are also some buildings: in the east, there is Tan Yue Temple, which was rebuilt by THE TEMPLE OF JIALAN Temple to commemorate the donor Huang Shougong. Descendants of Huang Si 'an (Nan 'an, Hui 'an, Tong 'an and Anxi) and overseas Ziyun families are proud of this. There is Zhunti Zen Forest, commonly known as Xiaokaiyuan Temple, which was originally dedicated to Tiantai Sect Zhunti Bodhisattva. There is a sacred temple in the west, some of which have been opened as a memorial hall for Master Hongyi, and there is an amphibious Buddhist temple for monks to live in.