Tianning Temple, the legendary ancient temple

Tianning Temple is located in the north of Guang 'anmen in Beijing. Built in the Southern and Northern Dynasties during Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, it was named "Guang Lin Temple". In the second year of Sui Renshou (602), it was renamed "Hongye Temple". During the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, it was renamed "Tiannu Jia". In the 21st year of Jin Dading (1 18 1), it was renamed "Da Wan 'an Temple". In the Yuan Dynasty, temples were destroyed by fire several times, and there were almost no temple buildings. The temple was rebuilt in Yongle period of Ming Dynasty, and was renamed Tianning Temple in the tenth year of Xuande (1435), and Guangshan Tan Jie in the orthodox period. In the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed Tianning Temple.

Tianning Temple is one of the oldest existing temples in Beijing. Only Tanzhe Temple, which was built in the Western Jin Dynasty, and Hongluo Temple, which was built in the post-Zhao period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, are older than Tianning Temple.

In Chinese mainland, there are five Tianning temples: one is Tianning Temple, which was founded in the Northern Wei Dynasty; The second is Tianning Temple in Pingding County, Shanxi Province, which was founded in the Northern Song Dynasty. The third is Tianning Temple in Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, which was built in the Tang Dynasty. The fourth is Tianning Temple in Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, which was founded in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Fifth, Tianning Temple in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province was founded in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Tianning Temple in Beijing faces south. There is a stone arch coupon door in the middle of the mountain gate, and there is a stone coupon window on both sides of the coupon door, and the gold plaque of "Building Tianning Temple" is engraved on the coupon door. Go through the gate and enter the courtyard where the main hall is located. The main hall of Tianning Temple is called Jieyin Temple, which is also the hall of heroes in the temple. "Jieyin" is a Buddhist term, which means to guide and teach. According to Buddhist scriptures, before Sakyamuni became a Buddha, there was already a Buddha in the world-"Jiedao", that is, Sakyamuni's master, which China generally called the ancient Buddha with burning lamps. There is an ancient pagoda behind Jieyin Temple, which is the famous Tianning Temple Tower. 1988, Tianning Temple Tower was announced as a national key cultural relics protection unit.

Chen Chen's photo of brick carving of Tianning Temple Tower.

Tianning Temple Tower

Tianning Temple Tower was built in the ninth or tenth year of Tianqing (119-1120), which is one of the most precious architectural arts in Beijing. In this brick tower, there is also a Sui tower wrapped. According to legend, in the second year of Sui Renshou (602), Arhat gave Wendi a box of relics, which contained dozens of relics. Emperor Wen of Han distributed them all over the country and ordered him to build a tower for worship. One of them, Shi Baoyan, a monk from Youzhou (now Beijing), was brought back to Hongye Temple (now Tianning Temple) to build a tower to ensure peace. This is the origin of Tianning Temple Tower. Tianning Temple Tower in Sui Dynasty was a wooden tower. In the Liao Dynasty, this brick tower was built outside the Sui Tower. Tianning Temple's existing "Imperial Rebuilding Tianning Temple Monument" records:

Outside the capital Quang Ninh, there is Zhao Ti Temple, with a floating figure in the middle, more than ten feet high. The Kaotu branch was built in the Sui Dynasty, and the temple was famous for its Hongye. Monks hid in the stupa.

Tianning Temple Tower is built on a large square platform and made of bricks. The tower seat is the base of the two-story octagonal carved lion sitting Buddha. Then three layers of lotus petals hold up the tower. The tower is hidden as a ticket door, with straight windows, embossed with decorations such as King Kong Lux, Bodhisattva and Yunlong, and its image is vivid. Then there are thirteen layers of dense eaves, without doors and windows, which is a typical model of Liao-Jin dense eaves tower.

Tianning Temple Tower has two wonders. First, there are three layers of lotus petals, with 360 lotus petals. In the past, on the eighth day of each month, monks filled each lotus petal with oil and lit 360 lamps for the Buddha. At this time, the lights shone brightly on the tower, reflecting the stars and the moon in the sky. People from far and near gather to watch lanterns, and fireflies from Fei Huo pray together. Second, there are thirteen layers of dense eaves, and each layer is decorated with wind chimes, with more than 3,000 bells. Whenever the wind blows, the bell rings loudly. Lights and clocks are the unique scenery of Tianning Temple.

Zhu Yizun, a famous poet in the early Qing Dynasty, once wrote poems and praised:

Open the sill outside the tower, 3,600 minutes.

The wind is uncertain, so you can listen all night.

Build by laying bricks or stones to swallow cold insects, and shake trees at the window.

An old friend fidgeted and sang the Buddha's headlights.

During the Kangxi period, Cha also wrote a song "Tower Lights":

The light is turned on at 360 degrees,

Tianning had better stand outside the clouds.

The wind shook for 3400 hours,

Hate the green ghost, there is no ladder.

This poem just reflects the past when the lotus petals in Tianning Temple lit lamps and the wind chimes rang.

Tianning Temple Tower was built by Ye Lvchun, Xuanzong of Liao Dynasty. During the Liao Dynasty, today's Beijing was Nanjing in the Liao Dynasty, also known as Yanjing. The capital of Liao is Ningcheng County, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which is called Zhongjing. When Emperor Lu Ye Yan Xi of Liao Dynasty was in office, he ordered his uncle Lu Ye Chun to be stationed in Nanjing. In the fifth year of Liao Tianqing (1 1 15), Akuta established the Jin Dynasty in today's Harbin, and its power was rapid and powerful, occupying the territory of Liao State in the south. In the second year of Liao Bao (1 122), Jin Jun captured Beijing, and Emperor Tianzuo fled to Nanjing (now Beijing) and fled to Daqingshan in Inner Mongolia in the north. In the same year, Nanjing official Fang established Ye Lvchun as emperor, honored him as "Tianxi Emperor", and was called "Northern Liao" in history, and named Tianzuo Emperor as Xiangyin King. Ye Luchun died after only being emperor for three months. Emperor Tianzhu was restored and regained power, but his luck ran out. In the fifth year of Baoda (1 125), he was captured and killed by the Jin army and became the king of national subjugation. At this point, the Liao Dynasty perished and was replaced by Jin. Yelushi, the minister who declared Yeluchun emperor, was in charge of the military affairs in Northern Liao Dynasty. After the defeat of the Northern Liao Dynasty, he defected to Emperor Tianzuo, then fled to the Western Regions and opened the Western Liao Dynasty.

Tianning Temple Tower was built by Ye Luchun when he was stationed in Nanjing. At that time, the center of Nanjing was in Guang 'anmen area in Beijing today, and Tianning Temple Tower was just in the center of the city, which was the most remarkable building in Liaoning at that time. 1992 during the maintenance of Tianning Temple Tower, the staff found a tower monument built in Liao Dynasty on the top of the tower, engraved with "the story of building a pagoda in Yanjing Tianning Temple in Liao Dynasty".

Uncle, the Grand Marshal's Office, the king of Qin Jin, ordered the building of a brick tower in Tiannujia on May 23rd, 230 feet high, which will be completed in ten months.

The "Tiannuojia" mentioned here is the Tianning Temple today. "Uncle" is Ye Lvchun who was named "King of Qin and Jin" at that time.

Tianning Temple Tower is nearly 60 meters high and majestic. At that time, the sculptures on the tower were painted and dazzling. The wind blew the bell, which was pleasant to hear, brightly lit and radiant, and became a well-known landmark building. Throughout the ages, there have been poems praising Tianning Temple Tower.

In the 21st year of Qing Qianlong (1756), Emperor Qianlong presided over the restoration of Tianning Temple, and wrote an inscription for the temple, praising Tianning Temple Tower:

Tianning ancient temple is rich in wealth and talented people.

Pagoda towering into the sky, wonderful and solemn.

Wang Shizhen, a poet and writer in the early Qing Dynasty, was the leader of the poetry circle in Kangxi period, and the official was the minister of punishments. He once wrote a poem "Tianning Temple View Floating Map" praising the cloud:

Millennium Sui Emperor Tower, cragginess overlooking old Beijing.

Looking through the clouds, the cobwebs are brighter every day.

Liang Sicheng, a famous architect in modern times, once praised Tianning Temple Tower: "It is a masterpiece of ancient architectural design with rich musical rhythm."

In addition to praising the spectacular poems of Tianning Temple Tower, there are also poems lamenting its decay. Wang Bi was a famous painter in the early Ming Dynasty, who was good at landscape painting, especially at dead wood and bamboo stones. His collection of bamboo paintings is famous since the Northern Song Dynasty and has a unique style of elegance and freedom. People call his ink bamboo "the first in Ming Dynasty". In the first year of Yongle (1403), Wang Bi was recommended to go to Beijing (then the capital of the Ming Dynasty was today's Nanjing) to work in the Wen Yuan Pavilion and participate in the compilation of Yongle Dadian. The tenth year of Yongle (14 12) was sent to Beijing to prepare for moving the capital to Nanjing. In the 11th year of Yongle (14 13) and the 12th year of Yongle (14 14), I visited Beijing twice with Judy of Ming Taizu, creating the famous eight scenic spots of Yanjing. During his stay in Beijing, Wang Bi saw Tianning Temple, which was destroyed by war at the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, and wrote a poem "You Tianning Temple", describing the desolate scene of Tianning Temple at that time:

Looking for a secluded place in the ancient temple,

The road to destruction is too small.

Where is the monk in the empty courtyard?

The old tree is idle, and the crane asks for it.

It is worth mentioning that in the fourth year of Wanli in Ming Dynasty (1576), according to the scale and organizational system of Tianning Temple, Emperor Wanli built a Cishou Temple Tower for his mother in Xibalizhuang on Kunyu River in western Beijing today, and also built a Cishou Temple Tower in the temple, also known as "Linglong Tower". Therefore, Tianning Temple Tower and Cishou Temple Tower are called "sister towers". A fire in Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty destroyed all the buildings in Cishou Temple Tower, leaving only Cishou Temple Tower. Now this tower is located in Linglong Park, opposite Tianning Temple Tower.

Celebrities and Tianning Temple

Tianning Temple has forged an indissoluble bond with many celebrities in its long history. Here are just two examples.

First of all, Tianning Temple was once the residence of Yao, a monk in the Ming Dynasty. Yao (1335- 14 18) was a famous monk, politician, strategist and poet in the early Ming Dynasty. 14 years old, became a monk in Nanjing Miaozhi Temple, and his legal name was Daoyan. In the third year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty (1370), Yao followed Zhu Yuanzhang's fourth son and entered a political career. In the 13th year of Hongwu (1380), he and Judy, the prince of Yan, went to Beiping (now Beijing) to guard and lived in Qingshou Temple, Jin Ming Temple in southwest Wang Fu (west of Xidan Telegraph Building). Yao travels back and forth between Yan and Qingshou Temple every day and has important business contacts with him. Under his persuasion, Judy seized Jiankang (now Nanjing), and under the banner of "Jun Qing side", she used Ming Huidi and Zhu Yunwen to separate the vassals and gain political power. After Judy ascended the throne, Yao became Zuo Shanshi, a monk and recorder, and added a prince, who was called "Prime Minister in Black". He was responsible for moving the capital from Nanjing to Beijing and planning the layout of Beijing today. After the failure of compiling books, Jie Jin became the top editor of Yongle Dadian and Ming Taizu Lu. Yongle Dadian is one of his greatest contributions in the cultural history of China, which made him a great minister in the Ming Dynasty. In his later years, with the gradual decline of Buddhism in the early Ming Dynasty, Yao shouldered the heavy responsibility of "protecting religion" and compiled Tao, which was a great event in the history of Buddhism. Yao lived in Qingshou Temple for a long time, and moved to Tianning Temple in his later years. He lived in a separate courtyard of Tianning Temple Tower, called Shifufu. Later, he returned to Qingshou Temple and died in the 16th year of Yongle (14 18). I was deeply saddened by this, so I didn't look at the DPRK for three days, made him the Lord of the glorious country, and built a pagoda on the western hill of Budi, which is the Chorakuji Temple Yao Tomb Pagoda in Changle Village, Chonggezhuang, Fangshan District. There are still tombs and stone tablets.

2. Shao Piaoping, a famous journalist of the Republic of China, was buried in Tianning Temple. Shao Piaoping (1886—1926) was a revolutionary, famous journalist and founder of Beijing Daily during the Republic of China. He was one of China's pioneers in spreading Marxism-Leninism and introducing Russian October Revolution, an outstanding proletarian journalist, and the pioneer and founder of China's journalism theory. Shao Piaoping 19 12 is the editor-in-chief of Hanmin Daily. After Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor, he wrote articles for Current Affairs News, Shen Bao and The Times, attacking Yuan Shikai's evil plot. Later, he published a series of articles exposing and criticizing the warlord government. 19 18 founded Beijing daily in Beijing, served as its president, and began to run the newspaper independently. Later, together with Cai Yuanpei, he founded the "Peking University Journalism Research Association" and held a seminar. The first phase of the study includes and Luo. After 1920, Shao Piaoping devoted himself to introducing Marxism and praising the October Revolution. 1925, under the introduction of Li Dazhao and Luo, he secretly joined the China * * * production party and made a lot of reports on the * * * production movement. 1In April, 926, he was killed by warlord Feng Zhi on the charge of "propagating red culture" in Beijing Tianqiao. 1April, 949, Mao Zedong ratified him as a revolutionary martyr.

After Shao Piaoping was killed, his good friend, colleague of Beijing Daily and his wife, Tang Xiuhui, placed his spiritual pivot in Tianning Temple. When Zhang learned of this, he sent a team of soldiers to Tianning Temple to break the coffin and destroy the body. It is said that a very strange thing happened after the soldiers arrived at Tianning Temple. They didn't even cut the coffin when they cut it with big knives. When the coffin could not be cut, the soldiers tried to carry it out of the temple, but they didn't move it. In this way, Shao Piaoping's body was finally preserved and buried in Tianning Temple.

There are also some anecdotes related to Tianning Temple.

For example, it is said that Wang Shizhen, who lived in Tianning Temple for many years in the Ming Dynasty, wrote The Romance of Gods. Wang Shizhen (1526- 1590), a native of Yizhou Mountain, was a literary leader in Ming Dynasty, a famous figure in Jiajing and Wanli years. He was an official in Nanjing, a minister of punishments and a magistrate of heaven. The "Sikuquanshu" compiled during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty evaluated it as follows: "According to the wealth of ancient treasures, there is no one who is too loyal."

Historically, Wang Shizhen wrote the preface of Compendium of Materia Medica. Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica was published in the sixth year of Wanli (1578), and was finalized after three revisions. In order to print this book as soon as possible, Li Shizhen went to Taicang and Nanjing in Jiangsu twice in the eighth year of Wanli (1580) and the eighteenth year of Wanli (1590), and asked Wang Shizhen, a former minister of punishments, to make a preface. Later, Hu Chenglong of Jinling Publishing House promised to carve it, which took four years to complete. When Compendium of Materia Medica was about to be published, Li Shizhen died and failed to witness its publication. In the 24th year of Wanli (1596), Compendium of Materia Medica was published in Nanjing, which was called Jinling Edition.

Wang Shizhen lived in Tianning Temple for a long time after failing the Jinshi exam, and still has poems, such as Tianning Temple Storm:

The Wild Goose Pagoda soared, and the Pearl Forest returned to rain.

Epiphyllum scattered outside, the sky is happy.

The dragon went out of the arrow bowl and turned over the Prajna platform.

Why occupy wisdom, lonely moon clouds open.

There is a saying that Wang Shizhen is the author of Jin Ping Mei. It is said that Wang Shizhen became famous only after he wrote Jin Ping Mei. Emperor Jiajing heard about it and asked him to have a look at his latest novel. Wang Shizhen didn't dare to show it to the emperor because there were many obscene and explicit words in Jin Ping Mei, so he stayed up all night and wrote a new book, Romance of the Gods, which was presented to Emperor Jiajing the next morning, and the emperor was very satisfied. Wang Shizhen brought troubles and fears, and his hair turned white. This theory can be found in Jiang Ruizao's novel Tan Zhi in modern times:

Wang Yizhou wrote Jin Ping Mei, which was known to the imperial court and presented to it. I was afraid of the state, and overnight it became a "fairy tale", one by one, and my head turned white.

Original title: Investigation of Tianning Temple in Beijing