Lingyin Temple was built in the first year of Xianhe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (326), with a history of 1670 years, also known as Yunlin Temple. Seeing the strange and secluded scenery here, the Indian monk Huili thought it was "hidden by the fairy", so he built a temple here and named it after the fairy. In the Five Dynasties, King Qian Shu of Wu Yue believed in Buddhism and built temples widely. At that time, Lingyin Temple was huge, with nine floors, eighteen pavilions, seventy-seven halls and three thousand monks. It was a famous temple in the south of the Yangtze River. Since its establishment, it has been destroyed many times 10, renovated twice 1956 and 1975, and has become the present scale.
Visitors enter Lingyin from "a stone's throw to the west", and the first stop is in front of the Gong Li Tower. Gong Li Pagoda is the burial place of the ashes of the monk Huili. It is a stone tower, more than 8 meters high, with seven-story octagonal buildings. It is located next to the rock of Feilaifeng, which is in harmony with the surrounding scenery. Go through the Spring Pavilion and turn right. A red wall temporarily covers Lingyin Temple, with Feilai Peak and Cold Spring on the left. Walking by the spring, the scenery is deep and fascinating.
There were five pavilions on the cold spring in the Tang Dynasty, but after the four pavilions were washed away by flash floods, the cold spring was also moved to the shore in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. There are two pavilions, "He Lei" and "Cold Spring". The pavilion was built in the Song Dynasty, and Su Dongpo wrote a poem "I don't know where the water comes from, such as thunder jumping into the valley", hence the name pavilion. There is a pair of couplets on the cold spring pavilion, which is very interesting.
After the cold spring, Lingyin Ancient Temple is in sight. Lingyin Temple "Yunlin Temple" was inscribed by Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. According to Lingyin Temple, in the 28th year of Kangxi in Qing Dynasty (1689), Emperor Kangxi visited Lingyin in the south. One morning, Lingyin Temple hosted Master Hui Di and accompanied him to Beifeng. I saw Lingyin Temple shrouded in a morning fog, and a lonely scenery of Yunlin returned to the foot of the mountain. Master Hui Di asked Emperor Kangxi to write an inscription for the temple, and Emperor Kangxi wrote "Yunlin Temple" on the spot.
The layout of Lingyin Temple is similar to that of temples in the south of the Yangtze River. In the middle of the Temple of the King of Heaven, there is a topless Maitreya Buddha surrounded by four heavenly kings. On the back wall of Maitreya, there is a statue of Buddha named Wei Tuo, which is dignified in appearance and carved from a whole piece of camphor. It is a relic of the Southern Song Dynasty with a history of more than 700 years. Very ornamental. Tianwang Temple is a courtyard with towering old trees in front. In the center of the Hall of Great Heroes is a lotus statue of Sakyamuni Buddha with a height of 24.8 meters, which is a rare religious art work with solemn beauty and vivid charm. On both sides of the main hall are twenty astronomical phenomena, and on both sides of the back of the hall are twelve seated statues. There are three-dimensional island sculptures of "Ci Hang Pu Du" and "Fifty-three Ginseng" on the back wall of the Hall of Great Heroes, with a total of 150 Buddha statues. There is a statue of Guanyin in the middle, an Aoyu, holding a water bottle to help all beings, shaping a teenager who is good at managing money. It is said that the boy with good fortune worships Guanyin, the boy with good fortune worships fifty-three famous teachers, and visits Guanyin on the 27th to achieve enlightenment. On both sides of Guanyin are the first gifted scholar, the Dragon Maiden, above which is the Tibetan Bodhisattva, and on the top is the scene of Sakyamuni's monasticism in the snow-capped mountains: white apes offer fruits and elk offer milk. The whole Foshan is lifelike and of great artistic value.
Originally named Huang Jue Hall, Daxiong Hall has a single story and three eaves, which is magnificent. In the temple, siddhattha gotama perched on the lotus pedestal, which was solemn, wonderful and awe-inspiring. This is one of the largest sitting buddhas in China. The back wall of the statue of Shi Zu is a set of colored sculptures of 53 jars. There are 150 Buddhist statues with different postures, which show the story that the rich children in Buddhist scriptures have gone through hardships and paid tribute to 53 "good knowledge" (famous teachers) and finally won the Buddha's fruit. The main image of this rich and vivid wall sculpture is Guanyin Bodhisattva, standing on her back, holding a clean bottle. She accepted a visit from a rich boy smartly.
Feilaifeng, next to Lingyin Temple, is also a scenic spot in Hangzhou and the main scenic spot in Lingyin area. Feilaifeng not only has beautiful scenery, but also is one of the important areas of ancient cave art in southern China. There are more than 330 stone carvings on the cliffs near Qinglin Cave, Yuru Cave, Longhong Cave, Sheyang Cave and the stream. Among them, the most striking is Maitreya, who smiles and bares his chest. This is the largest statue in Feilaifeng Grottoes and a masterpiece of sculpture art in the Song Dynasty, with high artistic value.
Yuru Cave, also known as Tiantong Cave, has a stone path leading to Longhong Cave. There is a Guanyin statue on the inner wall of the cave, which is rare among Guanyin statues. Walking west through Tiantong Cave, there is a ray of sky. Looking up, you can see a ray of sky in the gap. Because of its name, a ray of blue sky is a cold spring in front of it. After the cold spring, there is a golden lotus pond in the middle of the north peak, which is the fourth spring in Hangzhou.