To the north of the altar is the second courtyard. There are Zhuanlunzang Pavilion and Cishi Pavilion on the left and right of the courtyard. In the middle is the Dabei Pavilion, the main hall of Longxing Temple. In front of the Great Compassion Pavilion, there is another Qing imperial stele pavilion on the left and right sides. The whole building complex is symmetrical and orderly, the heights are well arranged, solemn and elegant, thick and dignified, and it is magnificent.
The Cishi Pavilion in the east and the Zhuanlunzang Pavilion in the west are two-story wooden structures with green tiles on the top of the mountain and three rooms wide. The appearance is similar, but the internal structure and architectural techniques are completely different. Zhuanlunzang Pavilion adopts the construction method of curved beam and large inclined column, which is a masterpiece of early wooden structure architecture in my country, while Cishi Pavilion adopts Yongding column construction method, which is an isolated example among the existing ancient buildings of Song Dynasty in my country.
The Zhuanlun Tibetan Pavilion was built in the Northern Song Dynasty. It was rebuilt in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. In 1956, the pavilion was rebuilt for restoration. In the middle of the cabinet is an octagonal wooden runner with a diameter of seven meters. The Sutra Collection Bookcase is installed in the Sutra Collection, which can be rotated by manpower, so that the required scriptures in the Sutra Collection can be easily found. This Zhuanlun Zang is a rare existing Song Dynasty small wooden work in my country, and it is also the oldest existing Zhuanlun Zang in my country.
The Cishi Pavilion was built in the Song Dynasty, and was rebuilt in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. In 1958, the pavilion was also rebuilt for restoration. There is a 7.4-meter-high wooden statue of Maitreya in the Song Dynasty in the Cishi Pavilion. Cishi is the meaning translation of Maitreya in Sanskrit, and Cishi looks like a Maitreya image that has not been sinicized. The body of the overall standing statue is carved from a single giant wood, with appropriate proportions and bright colors. The face of the Buddha statue is golden and shining, and its color has not changed for thousands of years. It is another treasure in the temple. It is said that this ancient tree is the efficacious tree of Mount Wutai, which drifted here from the upper reaches when the Hutuo River was flooded. I remember that there is also an 18-meter-high Maitreya Buddha carved from a single log in Lama Temple in Beijing, which is much taller than this one.
Standing in front of the Buddha statue, looking up at it for a long time, Maitreya Buddha's benevolent eyes have been watching here for thousands of years. At this moment, when we come here, it seems that we have transcended time and space.
On the front of the courtyard, the two imperial stele pavilions on the left and right are of the same shape, with a wide room, yellow tiles and double eaves resting on the top of the mountain. The one in the east is the Kangxi Stele Pavilion. Standing in the pavilion is the "Royal Longxing Temple Monument" written by Emperor Kangxi himself in the 52nd year of Kangxi. The first one in the west is the Qianlong Stele Pavilion. Inside the pavilion is the stele "Revisiting the Record of Longxing Dafo Temple" written by Emperor Qianlong in the 45th year of Qianlong. Under the two tall imperial steles, there are huge stone carvings with beautiful shapes. Because tourists have to come to touch it, it has been touched smooth and shiny, very attractive.
There is also a hut behind the Kangxi Stele Pavilion, where you can see another precious cultural relic of Longxing Temple - the Longzang Temple Stele. This is one of the most famous ancient monuments in our country, and people call it a "gold that does not shine".
The stele of Longzang Temple was inscribed in the sixth year of Emperor Kaihuang (586) of the Sui Dynasty. The inscription records the situation that Wang Xiaoxian, the governor of Hengzhou, persuaded and rewarded more than 10,000 scholars in the state to build Longzang Temple. The stele of Longzang Temple not only has the value of historical materials, but also has a very high artistic value of calligraphy. In the history of the development of calligraphy art from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty was a transitional period for the development of Han Li to Tang Kai. The calligraphy of this stele is upright, well-crafted, vigorous and powerful, "inheriting the residual style of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and setting a precedent for calligraphy in the early Tang Dynasty", Mr. Wang Guowei, a famous master of Chinese studies, praised it as "this stele integrating the six dynasties is not only the first in the Sui stele." and also". Therefore, later generations also call it the first stele of regular script.
In addition, on the side of Cishi Pavilion, there is also a Jiaqing Imperial Stele. This stele was erected in the 16th year of Jiaqing, and the content is the poem written by Emperor Jiaqing when he visited Wutai Mountain in the west and came to Longxing Temple when Huiluan Zhengding came - "Longxing Temple Respects Diehuang Kao Jiuyan Poetry Rhyme".
Then we will visit the main hall of Longxing Temple - Dabei Pavilion.
Dabei Pavilion, also known as Foxiang Pavilion and Tianning Guanyin Pavilion, was built in the fourth year of Kaibao in the Northern Song Dynasty (971). After the end of the Qing Dynasty, the national power declined, and the Great Compassion Pavilion became increasingly decayed and unable to be renovated. In the early years of the Republic of China, the upper part of the Dabei Pavilion collapsed, exposing the bronze Guanyin. In 1944, the government of the Republic of China assisted in rebuilding Dabei Pavilion, but demolished the Yushu Building and Jiqing Pavilion on both wings.
The existing building was rebuilt by the government in accordance with the Song Dynasty construction method from 1997 to 1999. This pavilion is 35.5 meters high, seven rooms wide, six rooms deep, with secondary steps in circles. Four floors and three eaves rest on the top of the mountain, with green glazed tiles trimmed.
There is a vertical forehead hanging under the eaves of the Great Compassion Pavilion, and the inscription is "Great Compassion Pavilion". There are three horizontal plaques hanging under the lower eaves, with "Boundless Wisdom Eyes" in the middle, "Tiao Yu Husband" in the east, and "Boundless Compassion in the West" in the west.
"The eyes of wisdom are boundless" and "the clouds of kindness cover" are both natural descriptions of the bodhisattva's magic power, but this "controlling the husband" is a bit incomprehensible at first glance. It turns out that the Buddha has ten titles: Tathagata. Available. Knowing everything. Ming Xing foot. Suga. World solution. Supreme Sergeant. Call your husband. Celestial Master. Buddha and the World Honored One. Tiao Yu Husband is one of the ten titles.
The Buddha is merciful and wise, and he can use various methods to control the mind of the practitioner, so that he can go on the right path, just like a horse trainer is good at controlling the horse's nature, so he is called "Tune the Husband". According to information, "Tiao Yu Husband" was originally written by Emperor Qianlong, but the current horizontal plaque is inscribed by Shen Peng.
However, my question is: Avalokitesvara is a Bodhisattva and has not yet become a Buddha, so whether the horizontal plaque inscription "tune your husband" is a bit "overstepped".
There is a front porch in front of the Dabei Pavilion. There is a couplet made by Emperor Qianlong on the pillar of the front porch: "With full supernatural powers, the three realms can be bowed to one finger; to be at ease, the four Zens are not separated from the dust." There are also couplets hanging on the pillars on both sides: "It is a treasure raft and a kind sail, and it can travel across the world; there is no language, it is the only way." This was written by Prince Guo.
There is also a bronze bell hanging in the corner of the front porch. This bell was cast in the 43rd year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1615) and was bestowed by Emperor Wanli. It was originally a relic in Chongyin Temple in Zhengding, and it was moved here later.
Dabei Pavilion has three gates, and the horizontal plaque above the main gate reads "Baihao Xiangguang". There are also couplets hanging on both sides: "Miaoxiang shows light, neither empty nor color; pure cause of Dinghui, immortal and never born", which was also written by Emperor Qianlong.
The Baihao phase is one of the thirty-two phases of the Tathagata. There are white hairs between the Tathagata's eyebrows, which rotate to the right, like the center of the sun, and there is light when it is released. It is called "the Baihao phase".
Entering the Great Compassion Pavilion, let's pay our respects to the bronze-cast Avalokitesvara with Thousand Hands and Thousand Eyes enshrined in the Pavilion.
The Big Bronze Buddha - Avalokitesvara with Thousand Hands and Thousand Eyes, also known as the Great Compassion Bodhisattva. During the Tang Dynasty, there was a big bronze Buddha in the Dabei Temple in Zhengding, but it was destroyed when the Khitan invaded. Later, a big bronze Buddha was recast, which was melted and cast into money by Zhou Shizong in the later Zhou Dynasty. In May of the second year of Kaibao in the Northern Song Dynasty (AD 969), Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin stayed in Zhengding when he was conquering Shanxi, and learned about the destruction of the Great Buddha. So in July of the fourth year of Kaibao, the decree recast a larger bronze Buddha and expanded the temple. This is the current Longxing Temple and Avalokitesvara.
The bronze Buddha stands on a 2.2-meter-high stone Xumizuo, with a total height of 21.3 meters. Avalokitesvara does not actually have a thousand hands, but only 42 arms. But 42 arms is enough for all-rounders, I don't know how to coordinate so many arms. Of course, Bodhisattvas have their own magic power after all.
42 The hands have different postures, one of which is folded in front of the chest, and the other is drooping. The rest of the hands hold weapons, such as vases and lotuses, bows and arrows, and swords, which are either bent or stretched, which is dazzling. It is a pity that the 40 pairs of copper arms on both sides were destroyed and later changed to wood. Only the two arms on the front chest are still the original cast.
According to the records of the Longxing Temple stele, the casting of the big bronze Buddha was "casting the Buddha first, then building the building", "supporting the pot on the spot, raising the soil, casting in sections, and then carving". From the cast rosette to the cast head, it is cast in 7 sections, and finally 40 wooden arms are added. The height of this indoor bronze Buddha has maintained the highest record for nearly a thousand years, and it was not broken until the bronze Buddha in the Tashilhunpo Monastery in Tibet in the early 20th century.
But there is a story about the casting of the Buddha. It is said that the casting of Buddha statues was going smoothly at that time, and it was not until the casting of the Buddha's head that there was trouble. Because the Buddha statue is too high, the copper liquid has cooled when it is hung up, so it cannot be poured. Later, an old monk came for alms. The caster asked him if he had any good ideas. The monk said, I am old, and I have reached the age where the soil is about to bury my neck. What can I do? Inspired, the casters piled soil up to the Buddha's neck, and then carted molten copper to cast it into a bronze Buddha.
This statue of Avalokitesvara has a calm demeanor, well-proportioned proportions, smooth clothing patterns, and delicate lines, which is quite the artistic style of the Song Dynasty. It is rare for the statue to be huge and beautiful. This is the best-preserved, tallest and oldest bronze statue of Avalokitesvara in China.
There is a horizontal plaque hanging above the statue of Avalokitesvara with the inscription "Sama Wonderful Land". There are also couplets made by the Emperor Qianlong on both sides: "The treasure net is gorgeous with clouds and clouds, and now Qijaju Mountain is solemn, comfortable and kind, and the transformation between the law and the incarnation is the original face; the golden rope hangs the sun and the moon, pressing the sand of the Ganges River. Kalpa, Purdue the great thousand worlds, show the truth, the truth, the wonderful enlightenment, and the perfect enlightenment, and jointly prove the supreme Bodhi."
The base under the statue of Guanyin is also a precious cultural relic of the Song Dynasty. The Hercules Vajra at the four corners of Xumizuo, the flying Apsaras and Kabuki music sculptures at the bottom of the Zuo are all relics of the Song Dynasty. Many parts are well preserved and are worth seeing.
Since 2009, every floor of the Dabei Pavilion can go up, and on the upper floor, you can get closer and see the details of the bronze Guanyin more clearly. But now the upper floor is closed, and one cannot go upstairs.
There is Yushu Building in the east of Dabei Pavilion, and Jiqing Pavilion in the west, each of which is connected to Dabei Pavilion by a bridge. Yushulou is also known as Donger Pavilion and Yushu Pavilion. The two floors were first built in the Northern Song Dynasty, and what we see now was rebuilt according to the French style of the Song Dynasty in 1997-1999. The two floors are two-story buildings, 21 meters high, five rooms wide, four rooms deep, with auxiliary steps in front. There are two drops of water on the top of the mountain, and the green glazed tiles are trimmed.
The horizontal plaque on the gate of the Yushulou reads "Hui Ze Guang Bei", and the couplets on both sides read: "Fa nourishes the eastern land, integrates Confucianism and Taoism to achieve enlightenment; after coming to the west, we can use compassion and wisdom to participate in marriage."
The horizontal plaque on the gate of Jiqing Pavilion reads "Fa Yu Hui Shi". The couplets on both sides are: "All dharmas are empty, and the Buddha nature of ignorance is penetrated; it is spotless, but the screen is hindered from realizing the Zen mind."
There is also a stele of "The Song Dynasty rebuilt and cast the Great Compassion Statue of Longxing Temple in Zhenzhou and the Inscription and Preface of the Pavilion". This stele was erected in the second year of Duangong (989) in the Northern Song Dynasty. The content of the inscription records the construction of the Great Compassion Pavilion and the whole process of making the statue of the Great Compassion Bodhisattva. The article was written by Tian Xi and written by Wu Ying. The style of the inscription is vigorous, unrestrained and elegant, which is a masterpiece of calligraphy art.
On the east side of the corridor at the back of Dabei Pavilion grows an ancient locust tree, which is more than 1,300 years old and is the oldest locust tree in Longxing Temple. According to legend, Zhao Kuangyin once saw auspicious clouds surrounding the tree under the tree, so he decided to overhaul Longxing Temple.
Behind the Great Compassion Pavilion, there is the Amitabha Hall. The Amitabha Hall was built in the 5th year of Ming Zhengde (1510). It was overhauled in the Qing Dynasty. The five rooms of this hall are wide, with a single eave resting on the top of the mountain. The hall is dedicated to the clay sculpture of Amitabha Buddha in Ming Dynasty.
There are two stone carvings in the hall, one of which is engraved with the word "絜仪", which is Confucian ethics and symbolizes the role of moral demonstration. The two characters were written by Gao Wei, the magistrate of Zhengding County in the 16th year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1715). This stone carving was once placed in the lobby of the county government, and it was moved here for preservation after liberation. Another stone inscription "Rong knee" was inscribed by Zhu Xi, a Dali scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty. The meaning of "Rong knee" is to describe "the narrow and humble living room can only accommodate two knees."
Behind the Amitabha Hall is the northernmost building of the whole temple - the Pilu Hall. This hall has five rooms with wide faces and double eaves on the top of the mountain. It was built in the Wanli period of Ming Dynasty (1573-1620). It was originally the main hall of Chongyin Temple in Zhengding, but it was demolished and relocated here in 1959.
On the stone Xumi pedestal in the hall is a precious bronze Buddha statue - "Thousand Buddhas Surrounding Pilu". The height of the Buddha statue is 6.72 meters. It is composed of three layers of rosettes and three layers of Buddha statues. There is a small Buddha carved on each lotus leaf of the three-layer lotus seat, a total of one thousand lotus leaves and one thousand Buddhas. On each lotus seat sits four Vairocana Buddhas. Each Buddha wears a five-Buddha crown on its head, and five Buddhas are engraved on it. Therefore, there are a total of 1,072 Buddha images in the entire sculpture. Thousand Buddha statues, in various poses and with different poses, each exhibiting their own style, are rare bronze Buddhist art treasures in China. It is said that it was made by Ming Shenzong Zhu Xujun to pray for his biological mother, the Empress Dowager.
Pilu Hall is the last hall on the central axis. There is a courtyard wall at the back of the hall, and entering through the small gate of the courtyard wall is the back garden of Longxing Temple - Longteng Garden.
The location occupied by Longxing Temple was originally the residence of Murongxi Houyan in the Sixteen Kingdoms period. The name of this residence is Longteng Garden.
Longteng Garden is a newly built Ming and Qing style garden, covering an area of more than 40 mu. When you come to the garden, the first thing you notice is the scripture building of Master Guanghui in the Jin Dynasty. The Jingzhu is carved with white marble, and it was built in the 20th year of Jin Dading (1180) to commemorate Master Guanghui, the abbot of Longxing Temple.
The pavilion on the rockery is "Mingyuan Pavilion".
This "Three Generations Zhongcheng" stone workshop is a meritorious workshop established by the magistrate of Zhending Prefecture for the Tongyi doctor, the right deputy censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Xu Zan, Xu Jin, Xu Shouqian, grandparents and grandchildren. In the long years, the stone archway has disappeared. In 2001, when the stone bridge of the moat outside the South City Gate was rebuilt, this archway was discovered and then moved here.
There is Gongzhi Lake in Longteng Garden. This is the Longquan Well Pavilion by the lake. Longquan Well Pavilion was first built in the Ming Dynasty. There is an octagonal ancient well in the pavilion - Longquan well. It is said that this well has a "dragon diving in it, and it will respond to rain", so it is called "Longquan".
According to the "Longxing Temple Records", Longquan Well is where "water drifts wood and ground springs copper". It is said that when the Longxing Temple was built in the Song Dynasty, the wood and copper used to build the Buddha statues of the temple came up from this well. But this kind of story also exists in the ancient well of Jigong Yunmu in Jingci Temple in Hangzhou. However, the construction of Longxing Temple was in the Northern Song Dynasty, and the construction of Jingci Temple was in the Southern Song Dynasty. It is really hard to say who is the replica of who.
Beside Longquan Well, there are still some stone Buddha statues moved from other places, which are also some precious cultural relics.
After walking around Gongzhi Lake, I returned to the courtyard of Dabei Pavilion.
Then turn west to the abbot's courtyard. The abbot's courtyard consists of Yuhuatang, the north main room, and the east and west wing rooms, which is a series of quiet courtyards. It makes people feel that even if you become a monk and become a monk, the treatment is still different! The Yuhua Hall in the abbot's courtyard is particularly elegant. When the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded Beijing, Cixi and Guangxu lived here on their way to escape.
This is the screen wall of the abbot's courtyard. The pattern of the green colored glaze relief is double dragons playing with pearls.
There are "climbing pine ancient vines" beside the altar wall of the North Town of Yuhuatang, which is also a landscape in Longxing Temple. "Longxing Temple Records" records: Guteng "coiled on top of the ancient pine, two feet five feet high, shaped like an umbrella cover. Flowers bloom in spring, and the fragrance is overwhelming. It is said that it has been planted for a long time, and there is no test for the years of planting."
The "Liang Sicheng Cultural Relics Protection Historical Site Exhibition" is being held in the abbot's courtyard. Liang Sicheng is not only a famous architect in my country, but also the pioneer and founder of the study of ancient Chinese architecture.
Liang Zhicheng has visited Zhengding three times, and he and his wife completed the "Records of Zhengding Investigation", which has left precious historical materials for the protection of cultural relics in Zhengding. In April 1933, when Liang Sicheng came to Zhengding for the first time to inspect ancient buildings, he lived temporarily in the abbot's courtyard.
This is the main building where the exhibition is being held. The couplets hanging on both sides of the gate are a collection of poems by Li Bai and Du Fu written by Liang Qichao to his son Liang Sicheng: "Clear water comes out of hibiscus, and it is natural to carve; white gulls are not mighty, and no one can tame them." The first couplet comes from Li Bai's poem "Classic Luanli Houtian Enliu Yelang recalled the old You Shuhuai as a gift to Jiangxia Wei Taishou Liangzai", the second couplet comes from Du Fu's poem "Twenty-two rhymes to Wei Zuocheng Zhang". This couplet encourages his son to be a clean man and to do things bravely. Of course, it is also worthwhile for each of us to encourage ourselves.
After seeing the abbot's courtyard, the visit to Longxing Temple is over. People conclude that Longxing Temple has six unique features:
The "first wonder" is the "exquisite art" in the existing ancient buildings in my country - Mani Hall
The "second wonder" is the most beautiful Avalokitesvara in the Mani Hall - the colorful hanging sculpture of Avalokitesvara
The "third wonder" is the tallest and oldest bronze Buddha statue in the world - the Avalokitesvara with Thousand Hands
The "fourth wonder" is the earliest and largest runner collection in my country - the runner collection of the Song Dynasty
The "fifth wonder" is the most exquisite Pilu Buddha in my country - the bronze statue of Pilu Buddha.
"Sixth Wonder" is the earliest surviving regular script inscription in my country - the Longzang Temple Stele in the Sui Dynasty.
Now that Liu Jue has seen all of them, he has no regrets about leaving Longxing Temple. The next itinerary is to visit Rongguo Mansion.
