Fengqiao Hanshan Temple is a famous tourist attraction in Suzhou.
Fengqiao Scenic Area is a provincial-level scenic area with the "Five Ancients" of Hanshan Ancient Temple, Jiangfeng Ancient Bridge, Tieling Ancient Pass, Fengqiao Ancient Town and the Ancient Canal as its main tourist content. Hanshan Temple Maple Bridge is one of the important components of Suzhou’s scenic spots and has unique historical and cultural value.
If you don’t visit Hanshan Temple in Suzhou, you are not considered a guest in Suzhou. Because, like Suzhou gardens, Hanshan Temple is a symbol of Suzhou and the pride of Suzhou people.
Hanshan Temple is located in Fengqiao Town, ten miles west of Suzhou City. It was founded during the Tianjian period of the Liang Dynasty and was originally named "Miaoli Puming Temple". It is said that during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, Han Shanzi served as the abbot here, so it was renamed Hanshan Temple. Zhang Ji, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, passed by Hanshan Temple and wrote the poem "Mooring at Maple Bridge at Night" full of travel worries and emotions: "The moon is setting, black crows are filling the sky with frost, the river maples and fishing fires are sleepy against melancholy; outside the Hanshan Temple in Gusu City, the bells are ringing in the middle of the night. Passenger ship." From then on, the sound of poetic bells became popular; the name of the temple spread to China and abroad.
Hanshan Temple was built during the Liang Tianjian period in 502 AD. Two hundred years later, in the Tang Dynasty, it was said that monk Hanshan once lived in the temple during the Tang Dynasty, so it was renamed "Hanshan Temple". This temple has gone through several generations and has been repeatedly built and destroyed by fire. The current building was rebuilt in the late Qing Dynasty. The temple has become famous since the Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Ji wrote a poem "Mooring at Night on Maple Bridge". The main attractions in Hanshan Temple include the Main Hall, Sutra Tower, Bell Tower, the inscription "Night Mooring on Maple Bridge", and the first floor of Fengjiang River. Inlaid on the two side walls of the Main Hall are 36 Hanshan poem steles, as well as the sixteen Arhat statues hanging on both sides. The two stone monks in the temple are Hanshan and Shide. Hanshan, also known as Hanshanzi, originally lived in Hanyan, Shifeng County (now Tiantai, Zhejiang) during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty. He was good at poetry and articles and wrote more than 300 poems, which were later compiled into "Hanshanzi Poetry Collection". Shide, originally an orphan, was brought to Guoqing Temple in Tiantai Mountain by Feng Qian to become a monk, so he was named "Shide" and was a good friend of Hanshan. Later generations compiled his poems and appended them to "Hanshanzi Poetry Collection". This stone carving is a kind of freehand painting. In just a few strokes, it depicts the lifelike expressions of the two of them with spring breeze on their faces, clapping their hands and laughing. It has certain artistic value. On both sides of the front yard of the main hall, there are 6 five-needled pine trees, which are the friends from Japan’s Ehime Prefecture Friendship Group (a group of 26 people, headed by Ehime Prefecture Governor Haruki Shiraishi) visiting China on the afternoon of April 10, 1976. Planted in the temple, this tree grew in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. It was called "Five-leaf Pine" in Japan and had been growing for five years. On the right side of the Main Hall of the Main Hall hangs a Chinese tree sent by Japanese friends in the late Qing Dynasty. Bronze bell. There is an inscription on the bell that describes the reason for the bell. There are two bells, one is hung in Kanzan Temple in Japan, and the other is sent to Hanshan Temple. The Sutra Collection Building was originally the place where Chen Fang Sutra was stored. Sculptures of Sun Wukong, Tang Monk, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing in "Journey to the West" are embedded on the walls of the first floor. Sutras from the "Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra" are also embedded in them. Dong Qichang (1555-1636, a native of Songjiang, Shanghai). , an outstanding calligrapher and painter of the Ming Dynasty) and other calligraphy inscriptions. The bell tower is two-story and octagonal. The stone tablet downstairs was erected when the Hanshan Temple was rebuilt. Name and amount of money. It is said that the bell in Zhang Ji's poem was hung on the original bell tower here. However, the current bell tower building and the bell here are not from the Tang Dynasty. The current bell dates from the 32nd year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1906). It was recast in 1999 and has a history of more than 90 years. The current bell tower was restored as it was after liberation. The poem "Mooring at Maple Bridge at Night" is engraved on the stone with the inscription: "The sky is covered with moonlight and crows are crying, and the rivers and maples are sleeping against the fire." At Hanshan Temple outside Gusu City, the bell rang for the passenger ship at midnight. "This was written by Zhang Ji, a poet of the Tang Dynasty. It is said that the poet Zhang Ji went to Chang'an (now Xi'an), the capital of the Tang Dynasty, to take the exam. When he failed and returned, he passed by Hanshan Temple and parked in a passenger ship near Fengqiao at night. He could not sleep at night. The poem "Mooring at Maple Bridge" was inspired by the sound of the bells coming from Hanshan Temple. Japanese primary school students teach and recite this poem as a text. Today, Japanese people also travel to Suzhou. There are many poems and inscriptions written by celebrities from the Song and Ming dynasties, such as Tang Yin, Wen Zhengming, Kang Youwei, Luo Pin, etc. embedded in the stele gallery of Hanshan Temple. Among them, the most famous and eye-catching ones are among them. Naturally, it is the poem "Mooring at Maple Bridge" by Zhang Ji of the Tang Dynasty. The stone inscription of Zhang Ji's poem was first engraved by the Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty. This tablet was burned down many times due to wars. When the Hanshan Temple was rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty, it was no longer in existence. Su Caizi and painter Wen Zhengming rewrote the poem "Mooring at Maple Bridge at Night" for Hanshan Temple. This is the second poem monument of "Mooring at Maple Bridge at Night".
Since then, Hanshan Temple suffered several fires, and the poem stele written by Wen Zhengming was also scattered among the weeds and rubble. The only remaining stele that still exists is the numbers "Shuang, Wei, Gu, Su" and other numbers. In the 32nd year of Guangxu's reign at the end of the Qing Dynasty, when Chen Long, the governor of Jiangsu, rebuilt Hanshan Temple, he invited the famous calligrapher Yu Yue to write the third stone tablet "Night Mooring at Maple Bridge" in handwriting. Although Yu Yue was already eighty-six years old at that time, this monument became his last work and was extremely precious. The fourth poem "Mooring at Maple Bridge at Night" in Hanshan Temple was written by Zhang Ji, a modern calligrapher with the same name as the poet. There is a postscript after the poem: "I have long admired the scenic spots of Hanshan Temple, and have been traveling to and from Wumen for many years. I have not visited until the end of my visit." Mr. Hu Fan had the same name as the poet who wrote "Mooring at Maple Bridge at Night" in the Tang Dynasty. He wrote this poem to Zhang Ji in Cangzhou in the 36th month of the Republic of China. "In modern times, Zhang Ji wrote the poem of Tang Dynasty. After a period of fun, people don't feel that there is any smell of fakeness, but what they feel is a kind of eternity that lasts forever.