Quanzhou Kaiyuan Temple tour guide’s commentary

Hello, ladies and gentlemen!

We have now arrived at the largest temple in Fujian Province-Quanzhou Kaiyuan Temple. Kaiyuan Temple covers an area of ??78,000 square meters. It has a large scale, spectacular structure and beautiful scenery. It was once as famous as the White Horse Temple in Luoyang, Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou and Guangji Temple in Beijing. Kaiyuan Temple was originally named "Lotus Temple", and later changed to "Xingjiao Temple" and "Longxing Temple". In the twenty-sixth year of Kaiyuan of the Tang Dynasty (739 AD), Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty ordered all states across the country to build a Kaiyuan Temple, and the current name was changed.

People often say that "since ancient times, there have been many famous mountain monks", but in fact they have wronged the monks. Monks who live aloof from the world hide themselves in the high mountains. Their original intention is to cultivate their minds and nature, but they often become highly respected monks. Therefore, the mountain is famous for its monk name. Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou is located in the unremarkable West Street of Licheng District. It is isolated from the world only by the symbolic barrier of purple cloud screen in front of the mountain gate, which invisibly shortens the distance between the world and Buddhism. It lacks the backdrop of famous mountains and rivers, but has more intimacy with faithful men and women. This is the uniqueness of Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou.

Quanzhou Kaiyuan Temple is a national key cultural relic protection unit and one of the “Top Ten” scenic spots in Fujian Province. Maybe you want to know why Kaiyuan Temple is famous at home and abroad? Then let us slowly appreciate it together. Savor it.

The unique building in front of you is the mountain gate of Kaiyuan Temple, also called the Temple of Heavenly King. It was built in the third year of Chuigong reign of Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty (AD 687). It has been destroyed and rebuilt after several fires. The existing building was built in the fourteenth year of the Republic of China (AD 1925). Please take a look at this stone pillar first: it is slightly thinner at the upper and lower ends, thicker in the middle, and is in the shape of a shuttle. Its scientific name is shuttle pillar. According to research, it is the stone pillar style of the Tang Dynasty. It is very old. There is also a wooden couplet hanging on the stone pillar, "This place is called the Buddhist country, and the streets are full of saints." This was written by Zhu Xi, a great Neo-Confucian scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty, and written by Master Hongyi, a eminent monk in modern times. It is a true portrayal of Quanzhou, an ancient city with strong religious and cultural features. Sitting on both sides of the Heavenly King's Hall are the Vajra and Brahma King arranged according to the rules of Buddhist Tantric Buddhism. They have angry eyes and raised chests, and are very majestic in appearance. They are quite different from the four king kongs sculpted in ordinary temples. Some people jokingly call them the "Two Generals of Hum and Ha".

After crossing the mountain gate, you will arrive at the Baiting Pavilion. Standing here, we can see the rising east and west towers and the spacious and bright east and west corridors symmetrically arranged on both sides, and our location is on the central axis of Kaiyuan Temple. Buddhism has a history of more than a thousand years since it was introduced into my country. It has flourished in China and has been integrated with Chinese culture. The layout of Kaiyuan Temple highlights the characteristics of the south face and the central axis of ancient Chinese buildings.

The large stone pavilion in front of the worship pavilion is a worship court where "no grass grows" and is used for worship and activities by officials and people of ancient and modern times. On every 26th day of the lunar calendar, there are huge crowds of people here, the sound of Sanskrit chanting, and the scene of a Buddhist country in Quannan. On both sides of the stone courtyard are eight large banyan trees, which are between 200 and 800 years old. Their shadowy and tangled roots add to the quiet and solemn atmosphere of Kaiyuan Temple. Under the tree, there are 11 ancient sutra buildings, small stupas, and two stupas of different styles from the Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties. There is also a stone-carved silk burning stove over 3 meters high in the courtyard. The cover is carved with a squatting Suan Ni, and the body of the stove is carved with dragon flags, auspicious clouds, lotus petals, creepers and other patterns. The shape is beautiful and the carving is exquisite. On both sides of the silk burning furnace, there are two square stone towers donated by Liu Sanniang in Nanxiang, Quanzhou in the 15th year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty (1145 AD). On the towers are engraved the story of Prince Sachui sacrificing himself to feed tigers. The story is the trace left by Hinduism in the Southern Song Dynasty.

The main building on the central axis is the Mahavira Palace in front of you. Because it is said that purple clouds covered the ground when the temple was built, it was also called Ziyun Hall. This huge plaque above the main hall has the words "Sanglian Dharma Realm" written on four Wei stele style tycoons, in response to the saying that the mulberry blooms and the white lotus blooms. As early as the early Tang Dynasty, Quanzhou was already rich in silk. This land was originally the mulberry tree garden of the wealthy Huang Shougong, and was later donated to Master Kuang Hu to build a temple. There is a very touching legend about this matter: One day, Huang Shougong dreamed that a monk asked him for land to build a temple. He said that when the mulberry trees bloomed with white lotus flowers, he would offer the land to form a happy marriage. A few days later, the mulberry trees in the garden were full of white lotus flowers. Huang Shougong was deeply moved by the boundless Buddhism and donated the mulberry tree garden.

In fact, Huang Shougong was a philanthropic person, and the theory of mulberry blossoms and white lotuses came from people's admiration for the Buddha. However, this magical legend was talked about by the people of Quanzhou and passed down from generation to generation. Therefore, Kaiyuan Temple also got the name "mulberry lotus". "Dharma Realm".

The Main Hall was built in the second year of Chui Gong in the Tang Dynasty (AD 686). It has been damaged and rebuilt several times in the Tang, Southern Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties. The existing buildings were built in the tenth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1637). relic. The main hall is 20 meters high, with nine rooms wide and six rooms deep, covering an area of ??1387.75 square meters. The hall has far-reaching arches and a majestic appearance, preserving the majestic and majestic architectural style of the Tang Dynasty.

Enshrined in the middle of the main hall is the imperially given Buddha statue Vairocana Buddha, which is translated into Chinese as the Great Sun Tathagata and is the highest deity of Tantric Buddhism. On both sides of it are the four great Buddhas that were sculpted when the Five Dynasties kings reviewed and built the main hall. They are Akho Buddha in the East Xiangji World, Baosheng Buddha in the South Joy World, Amitabha Buddha in the West Paradise World, and Achievement Buddha in the North Lotus World. They are collectively called the Five Buddhas. , also called Five Wisdoms Tathagata. These five Buddhas are shining with golden light, have clear clothing patterns, kind faces, and solemn Dharma appearances. Their hands are respectively used to express sermons, give, receive guidance, and meditate. The craftsmanship is exquisite and amazing. The five Buddhas are accompanied by Manjushri, Samantabhadra, Ananda, Kasyapa, Guanyin, Shizhi, Wei Tuo, Guan Yu, Brahma, Sakyamuni and other heavenly Bodhisattvas and 10 Dharma protectors. In the middle of the back of the main hall, the first of the six Tantric Avalokitesvaras, the Holy Avalokitesvara, the Shancai, the Dragon Girl and the Eighteen Arhats with different looks on their wings are enshrined. The successive abbots of Kaiyuan Temple have converted to different sects: Faxiang Sect, Vinaya Sect, Pure Land Sect, Tantric Sect, Zen Sect, etc. However, the main hall can maintain this rare regulation, which is both worthy of boasting and worthy of study.

The Main Hall is also known as the "Hundred Pillars Hall". The entire hall was originally planned to have 100 pillars. Later, because of the need to place Buddha statues and make room for Buddhists to worship, the beams were lengthened and the columns reduced, creating the "Hundred Pillars Hall" with 86 pillars. In the 10th year of Chongzhen (AD 1637), when Zeng Ying, the right-hand political envoy and inspector-general, and Zheng Zhilong, the commander-in-chief, rebuilt the Ziyun Hall of Kaiyuan Temple, they replaced all the wooden pillars with stone pillars. The pillars in the Hundred Pillars Hall are of various shapes, including Begonia style columns, columns and square columns from the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. Lengshuo column, Panlong column, etc. In particular, the pair of 16-sided diabase stone pillars in the eaves at the back of the hall are carved with 24 stories and floral patterns of the ancient Hindu god Krishna spread in ancient India and Ceylon, which have aroused great interest among Chinese and foreign scholars. It and the 72 diabase sphinxes and lion reliefs at the waist of the Xumizuo on the platform in front of the temple were both moved from the destroyed Zhuyin Temple of the Yuan Dynasty during the construction of the temple. They are historical witnesses of Quanzhou's prosperous overseas transportation and friendly cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries during the Song and Yuan Dynasties.

In front of the Five Directions Buddha, where the stone pillars and pedestal beams are joined together, there are two rows of 24 facing each other 24 goddesses with plump bodies, gorgeous patterns, colorful patterns, and outstretched wings. The Sanskrit word "Pinga" (i.e. Wonderful Sound Bird) . According to the Buddhist scriptures: This bird's voice is subtle and the fairy voice is elegant, even the singer Kinnara is not as good as her. They were originally the attendants of the Buddha, and skilled craftsmen embedded their lower bodies into the tenons of the pillars, with their claws and feet exposed under their wings, their upper bodies stretched forward, heads held high, their short clothes half uncovered, their skirts wrapped around their shins, and their arms Stretching out, the wrist is holding a tame bracelet, the four treasures of the study are on the stick, melon and fruit snacks, silk and bamboo orchestra, and it is as graceful as an immortal. They not only provide people with beautiful artistic enjoyment, but also replace brackets, rely on thick hoisting beams to reduce their excessive span, and combine religion, art and architecture extremely skillfully, which is admirable.

To the west of the back side of the Hundred Pillars Hall is a thousand-year-old mulberry tree that is said to have bloomed white lotus, which is the "Sangpeng Historic Site". Seeing its senile appearance, everyone believed that it was more than a thousand years old, and most people ignored whether it had ever bloomed white lotus. However, under the old mulberry tree, there is an ancient stone tablet, which seems to be true. In a thunderstorm in 1925, the old mulberry tree was split into three by lightning, and one of the trees fell to the ground. So the monks used a piece of granite to hold it up, and engraved a couplet: "This pair of lotuses will hang down for two years. Don’t let it go bad so as to keep it intact.” As expected, the old mulberry tree miraculously survived, and its branches and leaves are luxuriant and youthful. A few years ago, strong winds blew the tree off the supporting stone. Before people could help it again, it had already taken root.

Today, the "three trees with one root" old mulberry tree is like a blooming flower, extending in three directions: north, east and south, and is lush and green all year round.

The nectar altar behind the main hall is 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 Xingzhao dug a nectar well here. In the third year after coming to Tianjin from the north (AD 1019), an altar was built on the well, so it was called the Manna Precept Altar. In the second year of Jianyan of the Southern Song Dynasty (AD 11XX), Monk Dunzheng believed that the altar did not meet the standards, so he rebuilt it into five levels according to the "Nanshan Illustrated Classic", with strict restrictions on height, width and width. It was rebuilt many times during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. The existing building is a four-eaves, octagonal and pointed structure rebuilt in the fifth year of Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (AD 1666). The caisson in the middle of the top of the altar is made of Ruyi bucket arches, which overlap and close up, like a spider web or a tapestry tapestry. The structure is complex and exquisite. Around the altar, there are 24 "flying musicians" on the pillars and brackets in the pavilion. They are wearing colorful ribbons and holding pipa, erxian, dongxiao and castanets. They sing and dance as gracefully as if they are flying. Like the Pinga of the Hundred Pillars Hall, they are not only treasures of architectural art, but also valuable image materials for the study of Nanyin and Nanxi opera.

The caisson is divided into five levels. The top floor of the altar is dedicated to the seated wooden statue of Lushena Buddha from the Ming Dynasty. The lotus pedestal on which it sits has a thousand lotus petals. Each lotus leaf is carved with a 6 cm Buddha statue, which is very exquisite. There are four Bodhisattva statues around Lusena: Vajra Hook, Vajra Cord, Vajra Bell and Vajra Lock, as well as 24 statues of Bodhisattvas including Sakyamuni, Amitabha, Hanshan, Shide, Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara and Wei Tuo. Among them, the Eight King Kong statues are the best. They have angry eyes and bare chests, looking extremely majestic. There are also 64 various divine trump cards surrounding the altar to protect the three refuges and the five precepts. The ordination altar is the place where Buddhists receive ordination. This mysterious and solemn atmosphere can make people feel in awe, eliminate all thoughts, and take refuge wholeheartedly. It is said that this kind of ordination altar is already rare in the country. As the saying goes, rare things are more valuable, so everyone is lucky.

After the altar, there is the Buddhist Scripture Pavilion, known as the "Hundred Treasures Tower". This was originally the Dharma Hall, which was built by monk Lu Liu Jianyi in the 22nd year of the Yuan Dynasty (1285 AD). It had been renovated many times during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. In the 14th year of the Republic of China (AD 1925), Monk Yuanying rebuilt it into a two-story pavilion with a cement imitation wood structure. The downstairs is now a place where monks chant sutras and worship Buddha. The upper floor houses more than 3,700 volumes of sutras in various versions. Wang Shenzhi, the king of Kai Min in the Five Dynasties, was on the throne and dominated the territory of Fujian. It was purely by chance. Therefore, when he became the queen of Fujian, he became associated with the Buddha, developed great faith, made great vows, took refuge in his heart, accepted it, and upheld it in order to seek spiritual enlightenment. balance. He successively gave up millions of dollars to build the main hall and other buildings, and collected 10,000 taels of gold and silver, grinding them finely into clay. He asked Master Yiying of Kaiyuan Temple to write two gold and silver Tripitakas. There are still fragments of pages on the second floor. . There are also the Lotus Sutra written with the blood of Master Ruzhao from the Yuan Dynasty and the Bayeux Sutra in Tamil. They are precious Buddhist classics in our country. In addition, the Sutra Pavilion also preserves cultural relics from the prosperous Tang Dynasty to the Republic of China. Among them are 32 large and small Buddha statues, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, heavenly kings, and generals of jade, copper, porcelain, and wood from various dynasties. The calligraphy and wooden couplets of famous calligraphers such as Zhang Ruitu of the Ming Dynasty and modern eminent monk Hongyi are also collected here. The hall on the first floor also collects 12 square bells from the Southern Song Dynasty. Among them, the particularly valuable one is the iron bell "Publicly Purchased in the Suburbs of Lukang" in the 17th year of Daoguang's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1837 AD). The inscriptions of 46 businesses in the suburbs of Lukang are valuable materials for studying the economic history of Taiwan and Quanzhou.

On both sides of the central axis, there are also some building groups: in the east there is Tanyue Temple, which was rebuilt from Jialan Temple to commemorate the benefactor Huang Shougong. Descendants of the Huang family in the four Ans (Nan'an, Hui'an, Tong'an, and Anxi) and the overseas Ziyun family are all proud of this. There is the Zhunti Zen Forest, commonly known as "Little Kaiyuan Temple", which was originally dedicated to Zhunti Bodhisattva of the Tiantai Sect; in the west is Zunshengyuan, a part of which has been opened as the Memorial Hall of Master Hongyi, and Shuilu Zen Temple, where monks can live.

The octagonal five-story pavilion-style wood-like stone structure towering in the squares on both sides of the court, about 200 meters apart, is the Quanzhou East and West Tower. It is an important cultural relic of Kaiyuan Temple.

It is famous throughout the world for its majestic tower body, wonderful shape, magical construction and exquisite carvings. It has attracted countless Chinese and foreign scholars and tourists from the Song Dynasty to the present to visit, observe, speculate and study.

The east pagoda is called "Zhenguo Pagoda". In the sixth year of Xiantong (865 AD), the five-story wooden pagoda was built by Zen Master Wen Kan, who advocated its construction. After being destroyed and rebuilt several times, the wood was replaced with bricks. In the second year of Jiaxi (AD 1238), Master Benhong converted the bricks into stone. Later, Master Faquan and Master Tianxi continued the construction. It took ten years to complete. The east tower is 48.24 meters high. The plane of the tower is divided into four parts: the corridor, the outer wall, the inner corridor and the octagonal column in the center of the tower. The tower is a frame structure. The central pillar of the tower runs straight through each floor and is the support of the entire tower. There are stone beams at the eight corners of the tower core pillars on each floor, which are connected to the 2-meter-thick tower wall and leaning pillars. The top pillars are supported by arches layer by layer, reducing the span of the stone beams. The stone beams and beam supports are like an ax chisel, and the mortise and tenon joints make the tower core and the tower wall stress-connected to form one body, which greatly enhances the firmness of the tower body. The walls of the tower are made of processed and carved granite, stacked in a criss-cross pattern, with precise calculation and meticulous construction. A solid foundation and a solid tower core that conforms to mechanical principles make this building, which weighs more than 10,000 tons, stand firm despite more than 700 years of wind, frost, rain and dew. Even the eight-magnitude earthquake in 16XX AD could not shake its foundation. The stone tower is not only extremely strong, but also exquisite in shape. The eaves of the tower extend outward in a curved arc shape, and the corners of the eaves are high, making the tower appear to be flying in the air and appear light. Each floor is equipped with four doors and four niches, which are interchanged floor by floor. This not only distributes the gravity evenly, but also makes the appearance of the tower more vivid and beautiful. A copper bell is tied to the eaves corner of each floor of the tower. When the breeze blows, the bell makes a pleasant tinkling sound. There are eight large iron chains on the top of the tower, connecting the eight corners and the top of the brake, making it look majestic and swaying with purple energy. There are also 16 reliefs carved on the walls of each floor of the tower, which are respectively engraved on the human and heavenly vehicles, the Shravakayana, Pratyekabuddha, Bodhisattva and Buddha vehicles, and a total of 80 life-like figures. The knife work is delicate, the lines are smooth, and the workmanship is amazing. The East Pagoda was selected as one of the four most famous pagodas in the country in 1997, and it can be called: the King of Stone Pagodas.

The west tower is called Renshou Pagoda. In the third year of Liang Zhenming in the Five Dynasties (AD 917), Wang Shenzhi transported wood from Fuzhou Panhai to Quanzhou to build this tower, which was originally named "Wuliangshou Tower". In the fourth year of Zhenghe from the north (11XX AD), he petitioned for the name "Renshou Pagoda". It was destroyed and rebuilt many times, and the wood was turned into bricks. Master Zizheng turned bricks into stone and built it ten years before the east tower. The west tower is 44.06 meters high, slightly lower than the east tower, and its scale is almost identical to the east tower. Only the reliefs of the male bearded Guanyin and the Monkey Walker have aroused widespread interest among tourists and scholars.

The stone tower of Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou is a treasure of ancient stone architecture in my country. Judging from the architectural scale, shape and craftsmanship of the stone tower, it can be said to be exquisite. It fully reflects the high degree of wisdom and great creativity of the working people of the Song Dynasty. It is not only the best among Chinese stone pagodas, but also the best in the world. It is not only a symbol of unprecedented social prosperity during the heyday of Quanzhou's overseas transportation in the Middle Ages, but also a unique symbol of Quanzhou's historical and cultural city. Now, the shadow sculptures of the East and West Towers have become precious gifts given to guests by the city's top leaders. Therefore, it can be said that the East-West Tower has become a symbol of Quanzhou. It is not only the pride of Quanzhou people, but also the hometown image that overseas Chinese and Taiwan compatriots long for. Even people who have never been to Quanzhou often say: To be a human being, one should "stand like the East-West Tower and lie down like the Luoyang Bridge", which shows the importance of the East-West Tower in their minds.

Every famous temple must have a famous monk. The monks of Kaiyuan Temple in the past dynasties are either famous for their Buddhist works, famous for their poems and articles, or famous for their promotion of Taoism, or dedicated themselves to the world. There are eminent monks in their generation: Master Kuanghu, the founder of the Tang Dynasty, Master Weishi of the Five Dynasties, Shi Hongze of the Vinaya Sect, Pure Land Zong Shi Chuqin, Nan Chan Explanation Exhibition, Bridge into the Interpretation Wave of Creation, the first abbot of Zen Buddhism Shi Miaoen, Wenling Zen Master Shi Jiehuan, Aiyi Master Shi Zhixu, "the writing is like willow, the poetry is like pottery" Shi Dagui, and Master Hongyi, an eminent modern Buddhist monk of the Vinaya sect, who "remembers Buddha without forgetting to save the country, and saves the country without forgetting to recite Buddha", who integrates Buddhism, calligraphy, epigraphy, music, painting, and poetry.

Many of the eminent monks from Kaiyuan Temple have gone abroad to spread the Dharma. For example, during the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, Zen Master Mu'an traveled across the ocean and became famous in Japan, becoming the second descendant of the Japanese Huangbo Sect; after the founding of New China, he met the old monk and traveled to Indonesia, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. The current resident, Master Dogen, was also invited to Brazil to promote Buddhism, and the Zen culture spread far and wide.

"The name of the Buddhist country has been passed down for a long time, and the mulberry lotus is unique in its sound." Quanzhou Kaiyuan Temple is known for its long history, magical legends, unique regulations, ingenious architecture, precious cultural relics, beautiful art and excellence. Its reputation is attracting thousands of monks, believers and tourists from all over the world to come to worship and travel.

Ladies and gentlemen, after visiting Quanzhou Kaiyuan Temple, do you feel that your trip was worthwhile? Do you have a deeper understanding of this religious and historical museum in Quanzhou? I hope the main city of Quanzhou is rich The cultural landscape and beautiful natural scenery can leave beautiful memories in your heart.