Chen Yong was originally from Wannian County, Jingzhao County (now Xi 'an, Shaanxi Province). He was a scholar in the Shenlong period of Tang Zhongzong (Li Xian) (705-706 AD) and served as the teacher of Prince Li Longji. Li Longji acceded to the throne (namely Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty) and was named a teacher. In the 24th year of Kaiyuan (AD 736), he was relegated to Fujian, lived in Fuzhou first, then moved to Xinghua, and finally moved to Zhangzhou. He took a fancy to this beautiful place at the foot of Danxia Mountain on the south bank of Jiulong River and built a mansion. Because the building is similar to a palace with five gates, which violates the regulations, he was secretly told to the court that "Chen Yong is building a palace and plotting rebellion." The emperor sent an imperial envoy to investigate and deal with it. When the news came, Dr. Chen lied, thinking that disaster was imminent and there was no way to deal with it. At the time of crisis, his daughter Jin Niang tearfully asked her father to leave the house as a temple and let her cut her hair to save her family's life. Chen Taifu had to agree, and asked a mage to shave Jin Niang as a nun, changing her boudoir into a "clean room" and her mansion into a "newspaper office". An imperial envoy arrived and found that a temple was built, not a palace. According to the actual reply, Taifu Chen was exempted from questioning.
The specific construction time of Nanshan Temple should be after the 24th year of Kaiyuan (AD 736), and it was originally named Baoyuan. In the sixth year of Song Gande (that is, the first year of Kaibao, AD 968), the secretariat was rebuilt and renamed as "Chongfu" (it was under the jurisdiction of Chen at that time, and Zhangzhou was called the secretariat. In the third year of rejuvenating the country, in 978 AD, Chen listed "Southern Map" and officially returned it to Song Dynasty), and Chenzhou people wrote the words "Nanzhou Faqing" in Nanshan Temple.
Nanshan Temple is very large. The entrance of the five parallel doors is the Temple of the King of Heaven, where a giant statue of Maitreya Buddha smiling at visitors from all directions is enshrined, and the tall images of the four heavenly kings (also known as the Four donkey kong) are listed on both sides. Originally clay sculpture, 1960 was flooded by the flood in 1969. As the saying goes, "A clay idol can't survive crossing the river", and all four donkey kong collapsed. Reconstruction with cement after the disaster is unprecedented. Its plastic arts especially transcend ancient and modern times. Behind Maitreya, there is a statue of Wei Tuo, the protector. He put his hands on a "magic pestle" and went straight into the ground. It is said that this kind of "landing pestle" is a sign that the temple can provide accommodation for monks from all directions (the other is to put your hands together and put the magic pestle flat between your arms, which means that you can't provide accommodation for monks).
Outside the Heavenly King Hall is the Hall of the Great Hero, dedicated to the "Three Treasures of Buddha" (three statues). When the temple is built in the future, it will be rebuilt, which is characterized by pointed ears. After liberation, it is considered that temples were built in the Tang Dynasty and Buddha statues were molded in the Song Dynasty, which are incompatible with each other. Therefore, it is called "makeover", and its head is "cut off" and reshaped into a round head at the lower end of the ear according to the characteristics of the Tang Dynasty. However, the stone temple and "table skirt" where the Buddha sits are still from the Song Dynasty.
There is a stone Buddha pavilion named "Jingyi Hall" on the left side of Ursa Major Hall. There is a huge stalagmite in the pavilion. A famous stonemason was hired to carve it into a Buddha statue of Tommy. The Buddha statue and lotus pedestal are as high as 10 foot 6 foot, with beautiful shapes, commonly known as the big stone Buddha. Appraised by archaeological experts, it is an artistic treasure of the Tang Dynasty many years ago. There is an interesting folk legend about this big stone Buddha: a famous stone carving master heard that Nanshan Temple was going to carve a big stone Buddha and came to apply for a higher salary, but claimed that if someone could point out any shortcomings after carving, he could take nothing. On the day of completion, people from all walks of life were invited to visit and comment, and everyone praised them, but no one pointed out their shortcomings. The master was elated when suddenly a child said loudly, "The big stone Buddha has so big fingers but so small nostrils, how can he dig nose excrement in it?" Only then did people notice this shortcoming. When I asked the stonemason to comment, the stonemason had already run away. Actually, it's just a joke.
In the left corner of Ursa Major Hall, there is a big bronze bell with a diameter of 3 feet 8 inches, a height of 5 feet 6 inches and a weight of 1300 Jin. Originally cast in the Tang Dynasty, it was recast when the temple was expanded in the sixth year of the Yuan Dynasty (13 19). There is an inscription on the clock by Yu Yu, the abbot of Yuan Dynasty. The bell is so loud that it can be heard for miles. There is also a story about the casting of this big clock. It is said that the monks in the temple went out to raise money to cast this clock. A lonely old widow donated the only bronze hairpin sincerely, and a beggar also donated the only one with money. Although the monks accepted it, they thought it was insignificant and abandoned it. When the clock came out of the oven, there was a small round hole and a small crack on the clock face. After several recasts, these two shortcomings still exist. Later, the abbot and monk remembered copper hairpin and copper coin and compared them. They are exactly the same, stick together and will never be pried off. Up to now, traces of copper coins and copper hairpin still exist on the clock. This story is a philosophical metaphor.
The right neighbor of the Stone Buddha Pavilion is Dexing Hall, commonly known as the official residence, which was originally used for guests' accommodation. 1930 ~ 193 1 years, Tao Zhu lived here when he was the secretary of the Minnan Special Committee, and the Special Committee led the revolution in this temple.
At the right end of the high slope behind the Hall of the Great Heroes is the Tibetan Scripture Pavilion, which contains 60 kitchen classics, including the priceless blood book Hua Yan Jing, which is said to have been written by Rong Monk, Lian Shan and Master Lian in three years in the next year. Beautiful brushwork, golden handwriting, 8 1 volume * *. Unfortunately, it was destroyed in the Cultural Revolution, leaving only a few pages. There is also the Tibetan sutra given by Emperor Guangxu, that is, the Bayeux Sutra, which is also a rare and precious cultural relic. There is also a white stone Buddha in the pavilion, carved from pure white marble, which is six feet high and weighs four thousand kilograms. Because it is as smooth as jade, it is called Jade Buddha. According to the investigation, Miaolian, the abbot of Guangxu in the 30th year (1904), was recruited from Myanmar. There are only three such white stone buddhas in China, one in Beijing Tuancheng and the other in Shanghai Jade Buddha Temple.
At the left end of Gaopo is Taifu Temple, which is said to be the former residence of Chen Yong. Later generations converted it into a temple to worship the statue of Taifu Chen, and the statue was destroyed.
There is a building behind Taifu Temple, which is now called "Miss Building" or "Girl Building". It is said that it is Jin Niang's boudoir. However, according to Mr. Chen Beikai (over 90 years old), who has in-depth research on local cultural relics, the upstairs is dedicated to five generations of ancestors since Chen Yong's father Chen Zhong, and is called the "Five Ancestors Building". The so-called "Miss House" is a misnomer, so it is wrongly called "Girl House".
When the nun cut off her hair, Miss Jinniang was named Princess Jinhua by the emperor. Her tomb used to be on the mountain behind the temple, called "the girl's tomb". After liberation, the No.5 Factory needed to build a tap water pool, move the girl's remains to the garden behind the Jingge Pavilion, build a new tomb, and erect a monument saying: "Tang Hao named the mysterious tomb of Princess Jinhua" (mystery is the legal name of Princess Jinhua) for tourists to visit.
The Big Stone Buddha, the White Jade Buddha, the Big Bell, the Blood Book Yan and the Imperial Book Branch Sutra (Eight Leaves Sutra) are collectively called the Five Treasures of Nanshan Temple.