Xiyuanzhuang Jiefa Temple, referred to as saionji for short, is located outside the west gate of Suzhou. It was built between the Yuan Dynasty and the first year of Zhengzheng, with a history of 700 years. The ancient trees in the temple are deep, the Sanskrit sounds are heavy, the green water is winding, and the birds are singing and the flowers are fragrant.
Most of the existing temples were built in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, and they are the largest temples in Suzhou. On the central axis, from south to north, there are three broad archways, mountain gates, King Kong Hall, release pool, Ursa Major Hall and Tibetan Classics Hall in turn. There is Guanyin Hall on the east side of King Kong Hall and Luohan Hall on the west side. There are also Buddhist Temple, Fayun Hall, living room, Zhaitang, warehouse and other buildings in the temple. There are four complete "Long Zang" in the Tibetan Scripture Building, which were later sent to Baolian Temple in Hong Kong, and there are more than 80,000 Buddhist scriptures such as Huayan Sutra written in blood by people in the Yuan Dynasty. Saionji is a large-scale temple with complete scale, magnificent halls, solemn Buddha statues and garden features.
Saionji is the general name of Zhuang Jie Law Temple and Xiyuan Release Pond. It is located in Xiatang Street outside Jinmen, Suzhou. The temple was built in the Yuan Dynasty, formerly known as Guiyuan Temple. At present, saionji includes temple buildings and parks, with an area of about 10 mu.
The Siang Jirohan Hall was built in the late Ming Dynasty, and was destroyed by soldiers in the tenth year of Xianfeng in Qing Dynasty (AD 1860). The circular frame of the first existing stone-entering arch is beautifully carved and is a relic of the Ming Dynasty. The rest of the buildings were rebuilt in succession during the reign of Tongzhi and Guangxu in Qing Dynasty. Its exquisite craftsmanship is amazing and can be described as a masterpiece of art.
Saionji has a rigorous layout, including the Four Heavenly Kings Hall, Mahayana Mahayana Hall, Five Hundred Arhats Hall, Guanyin Hall and Buddhist Scripture Building. Among them, Luohantang has outstanding characteristics. In the center of the main hall is a statue of Guanyin with thousands of hands and eyes carved by a whole camphor tree, which is as high as 13 meters. Not far from Guanyin Bodhisattva, there is a special Buddha statue with four different faces on all sides, which is said to represent four famous Buddhist mountains and their main gods, namely Manjusri Bodhisattva of Wutai Mountain, Tibetan Bodhisattva of Jiuhua Mountain, Bodhisattva of Emei Mountain and Guanyin Bodhisattva of Putuo Mountain. There are also statues of Maitreya, Hanshan and Picked Up, Guan Gong and Wei Tuo, the most famous of which are "Jigong" and "Jigong", which are fascinating and can be called masterpieces.
In terms of plastic arts, the Buddha statue of Luohantang has maintained the full face of Buddhist statues since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and at the same time, the facial expression is personalized, and the clothes are wrinkled and textured, so that people will not feel bored. Five hundred arhats are all exquisitely carved and unique, which is a treasure. Posture, although they are all sitting, but don't feel monotonous.
From the overall shape, there are thin old people, few people with clear posture and beautiful bones, strong and brave people and compassionate and kind people. It embodies the exquisite sculpture skills of skilled craftsmen in the south of the Yangtze River, and is indeed a masterpiece of China Buddha sculpture in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Daxiong Hall is a double-eaves, resting on the top of the mountain, with seven faces facing south and high platforms and steps. There are three sitting buddhas in the center of the main hall: Sakyamuni Buddha and Pharmacist Buddha in the east and Amitabha Buddha in the west. Ye Jia and Ananda, disciples of Sakyamuni Buddha, stood on both sides. Two gods stood in front of Buddha III, magnificent, one was the King of Vishamun, and the other was Wei Tuo. People are interested in how the great Wei Tuo leans forward but doesn't fall. It turns out that the clay sculptor "wore" a shirt for Wei Tuo, and the horn floating behind him kept Wei Tuo balanced. There are 20 guards standing on both sides of the hall. After the third Buddha statue, there is the Guanyin wall sculpture on the island. At both ends of the North Wall, Manjusri Bodhisattva rides on lions, while Samantabhadra Bodhisattva rides on elephants.
Like Luohantang, the giant salamander in the releasing pond also attracts tourists from the West Park. The discharge pond is a tadpole-shaped pond, with the "head" in the south and the "tail" in the north, and folded to the southeast, with a quite vast area. There are many fish and turtles in the pond, most of which were released by Buddhist believers. Among them, five-color carp can be compared with Yuquan in Hangzhou. There is a giant salamander in the pool, which is the descendant of the old giant salamander stored in Ming Dynasty. Its life span has exceeded 300 years, and it only appears in hot weather.
In front of the saionji Mountain Gate, there is a square of more than 2,000 square meters, where 1 10,000 famous trees are planted. The Ren Guang release pond in the West Garden of the temple is surrounded by pavilions, flowers and trees. There are many fish swimming in the pond, and there are several kinds of precious giant fish that can't be found anywhere else. They have a history of hundreds of years and weigh more than 100 kg. They often surface to amuse tourists. There are exquisite gardens in the south of the Yangtze River, while Suzhou gardens are small and exquisite, and their styles are also integrated into the temple architecture, which makes Suzhou temples such as Saiweng Temple more subtle and meaningful, full of cultural color and historical sense, which is memorable.