Through the stone roads and alleys of the ancient town of Qiao Feng, you can see the Hanshan Temple with a yellow wall of blue tiles, hidden among pines and cypresses, and solemn under the cover of misty mist. From time to time, melodious bells come from the temple and hover in the vast sky, ethereal and mysterious. Hanshan Temple is located in Qiao Feng Town, 5 kilometers west of Suzhou, between Qiao Feng Bridge and Jiangcun Bridge on the ancient canal. Formerly known as Miaoliping Pagoda. It was built in the Tian Jian period of the Liang Dynasty in 502 AD, with a history of 1400 years. During the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, it is said that the famous monks Hanshan and Picked came here from Tiantai Mountain and changed their names to Hanshan Temple. Hanshan Temple is well-known because of a poem "a night-mooring near maple bridge" written by Zhang Ji, a poet in the Tang Dynasty. If it weren't for Zhang Ji's failure to take the exam in Chang 'an, if it weren't for Zhang Ji's failure to take a trip to Suzhou to relieve his worries, and if it weren't for Wu Peng's sleepless night on board, there would be one peerless poem lamp missing from the vast starry sky of China's poems. A beautiful seven-character quatrain not only makes Zhang Ji sad, but also makes Hanshan Temple lively.
Under the guidance of the tour guide, I walked past the Hall of the Great Hero, the Tibetan Scripture Building and the Hanshi Hall, and stood in the stele gallery of Hanshan Temple. In the stele gallery of Hanshan Temple, there are many poems inscribed by Tang Yin (Tang Bohu) and Kang Youwei since the Song and Ming Dynasties, among which a night-mooring near maple bridge by Zhang Ji is the most famous and striking. These dazzling inscriptions can not only let tourists know the changes of Hanshan Temple from the beginning, but also give people beautiful enjoyment, so they attract many tourists and stay here to watch.
Walking through the stele gallery, we came to the bell tower of the double-eaved hexagonal pavilion. Here, I saw a huge ancient clock. The tour guide said that this is no longer the Tang Zhong described by Zhang Ji in his "The Night Clock of a Passenger Ship". Even the big clock rebuilt in Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty is gone. The big clock I touched is said to have been built by Chen, the governor of Jiangsu Province, in the thirty-second year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty (1906). This big clock is 1.8 meters high and weighs about 2 tons. From time to time, tourists hit the clock wood with a thick bowl mouth, and the giant clock made a deep and heavy "clang", and the sound was endless. Looking at flickering candlelight and curled cigarettes; Looking at elegant buildings and towering pagodas; Listening to the long bells and cool Buddhist names will make people forget the troubles in the world, as if they were in a paradise and lingering.
It was dusk when I walked out of the gate of Hanshan Temple. The canal opposite the mountain gate is the famous Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in history. Two single-hole stone arch bridges span the canal. The one nearby is called Jiangcun Bridge, and the one in the north is called Fengqiao Bridge. Two ancient bridges and an ancient temple echo each other at three points, and they are immersive, as if melting into an atmosphere of ancient simplicity and elegance, getting rid of dust and entering Zen. Looking at Hanshan Temple in the twilight, I just want to stand on the Maple Bridge and listen to the bells of Hanshan Temple, which floated from the smoke of the Tang Dynasty. Presumably, Zhang Ji, like me, stood in this position, listening to the long bell, but Hanshan Temple at that time would never be so lively as it is now. Touching the cold and heavy stone fence on the Maple Bridge, watching the lush grass on the bridge and the ancient river just a few meters wide under the bridge, I didn't want to leave for a long time.