Buddhism is an inseparable part of Chaoshan culture in Chaoshan area. Throughout Chaozhou, it is not difficult to find that Buddhist culture will penetrate into people's daily life, such as proverbs, sacrifices, folk art, etiquette, architecture and so on. Historically, Chaozhou has built many temples. During this trip, Sansan saw many temples, such as Qinglong Ancient Temple, Song Lin Ancient Temple and Xiaochan Temple. Among them, the "Kaiyuan Temple", built in the Tang Dynasty and known as the first ancient temple in eastern Guangdong, impressed Sansan the most.
In China, when it comes to the number of temples, it is difficult to count, but what is certain is that there are the most temples called "Kaiyuan Temple". Among them, the well-known Kaiyuan temples in China are: Grand Kaiyuan Temple in Xingtai, Hebei, Kaiyuan Temple in Chaozhou, Guangdong, Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou, Fujian and Kaiyuan Temple in Fuzhou; Less well-known Kaiyuan temples are: Xiamen Kaiyuan Temple, Datong Kaiyuan Temple, Nanchang Kaiyuan Temple, Putuo Kaiyuan Temple and Zhejiang Linhai Kaiyuan Temple; The only remaining remains of Kaiyuan Temple are: Kaiyuan Temple in Zhengzhou, Kaiyuan Temple in Suzhou and so on.
There are so many Kaiyuan temples in China, because in 738 AD, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, who believed in Buddhism, wrote to build a temple in each of the ten counties of China in the name of Kaiyuan at that time as a Dojo to celebrate the birthday of the Emperor of Heaven. Kaiyuan Temple in Chaozhou Prefecture was established on the basis of Buddhist temples in Mo Lifeng. Kaiyuan Temple has been maintained by several generations since its establishment, so the whole Kaiyuan Temple not only retains the layout of the Tang Dynasty, but also condenses the architectural art of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Therefore, it has the reputation of "one million people are endowed with unique advantages and three thousand world jungles".
Chaozhou Kaiyuan Temple is located in Kaiyuan Road, Chaozhou City. In the old city of Chaozhou, there are four "most prosperous" roads, namely Kaiyuan Road, Ximalu, Taiping Road and Yi 'an Road. These four roads are full of traffic, reflecting the prosperity of Chaozhou ancient city. However, in this bustling world of mortals, dozens of acres of "Zen Pure Land" have been surrounded and become a quiet place in the downtown area. This is Kaiyuan Temple. Now many famous temples need to buy tickets to enter after they become tourist areas. There is no need to collect tickets at Kaiyuan Temple now, which may be one of the reasons why pilgrims in the temple are like clouds.
When entering Kaiyuan Temple, the first thing I saw was the Hall of Great Compassion, which is closed now, so the third daughter Shanshan turned to the "old central axis" tour route of Kaiyuan Temple: first visit the big clock in front of Tianwang Temple, then visit Tianwang Temple, then the atrium of Kaiyuan Temple, then the Hall of Great Compassion, finally visit the Buddhist Scripture Pavilion, and then visit the forest of steles on both sides.
First of all, I saw a very big bronze bell before I turned into the King's Hall.
This big bronze bell was cast by Chaozhou Jingang Society in March of the 4th year of Song Dynasty (114). It weighs more than 3,000 kilograms, is 1.7 meters high, has a mouth edge of 105 cm, and has a smooth surface, excellent technology and no sand holes. Three girls in Shanshan saw the words "Please don't ring the bell" at the scene, but they couldn't hear the sound of this ancient bronze bell.
Then he passed the big bronze bell and entered the King's Hall.
The sign above the entrance of Tianwang Temple says "Dugu City". Tianwang Temple is a building in the Song Dynasty. After more than a thousand years, it still maintains the solemn style of the palace-style architecture in Tang and Song Dynasties, which is similar to the Toda Temple in Japan, so it has the reputation of "the pearl of ancient architecture art". The main hall of Tianwang is made of wood, and the whole building has 32 pillars.
When I entered Tennoja, I saw a plaque directly above, which read "Kaiyuan Zhenguo Temple", and the word "Zhenguo" was not used by ordinary temples. It is said that it was because the Japanese invaded the coastal provinces of China in the early Ming Dynasty. However, because the Japanese believe in Buddhism, they only commit crimes along the coast and dare not commit crimes in Chaozhou City. Yu, the commander-in-chief at that time, thought that Kaiyuan Temple could defend the country and asked the court to name it "Zhenguo Temple", which was approved by the court. This is the origin of the word "Zhenguo" in Kaiyuan Temple.
Then cross Tianwang Temple and enter the atrium of Kaiyuan Temple, the square in front of Ursa Major Hall.
There are four square stone pagodas on the east and west sides of the atrium, which are called "Ashoka Pagoda". The four towers represent "four continents": Dongsheng Shenzhou, Nanshan Wuzhou, Xiniu Hezhou, and Luzhou in the north.
Then, came to the front of the Ursa major.
Because there are some activities going on in the Ursa major at this time, we can't visit it, so Shanshan can only walk around it. There are a pair of 78 stone rafters in front of the Ursa Major Hall, which are respectively engraved with the story of Sakyamuni Buddha's Eight-phase Road, the collection of rare animals, and the lotus grass. The center of the hall column is "The Buddha shines all day, and the Falun often turns; The stone carvings of "the wind is always blowing, and the emperor is prosperous" are all treasures of Buddhist art in the Tang Dynasty.
Then, go to the back of the hall of great heroes, with the sutra depository in the middle.
According to the data, there is a collection of "Long Zang" in the Tibetan Scripture Building during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. This collection was made by abbot Jinghui of Kaiyuan Temple, who was 80 years old at that time, after all kinds of difficulties and obstacles. It was invited by Qianshan and Jinjing, with 7240 volumes and 724 seals. Only 100 copies were printed that year, and only a handful of them have been completely preserved so far.
1987, National Cultural Heritage Administration and the State Publishing Bureau approved the reprinting of "Long Zang", because some classics and books were destroyed by the imperial edict of Qianlong in that year, the whole book was incomplete. In order to complete the book, the Cultural Relics Publishing House sent staff to visit more than ten provinces and regions in China, looking for the original manuscripts to make up the defects. Finally, it was found that the four classics destroyed by Qianlong were supplemented, which shows that they are extremely precious.
Because the Tibetan Scripture Pavilion is not open to the public, after watching it at the door for a while, Shanshan began to walk on the east and west sides, with the Tibetan Museum in the east and Guanyin Pavilion in the west. Among them, there is a plaque at the entrance of the basement museum, which reads "Don't be filial to your parents", which means "filial piety is the real filial piety".
Finally, visit the forest of steles on both sides of Kaiyuan Temple to see the skills of porcelain inlay, wood carving and stone painting on the building.
Visiting the whole Kaiyuan Temple, it suddenly rained heavily. I walked in the promenade on both sides, and lanterns were hung in the promenade, which was very beautiful. In the corridor, you can see many inscriptions, which are very chronological.
After reading the inscription, through the raindrops, I savored Chaozhou's porcelain inlay, wood carving, stone painting and other skills. Through the rain curtain, it looks particularly charming and beautiful. After seeing porcelain inlay in Kaiyuan Temple, Shanshan was urged to care about porcelain inlay again and again in the next trip. I will share my feelings about Chaozhou porcelain inlay in the next article, so stay tuned.
So, have you ever been to Chaozhou, Guangdong? Where did you visit in Chaozhou? Have you ever been to Kaiyuan Temple? What have you got here? When you walk into Kaiyuan Temple from the bustling business district, do you feel that it is a pure land? Besides Kaiyuan Temple, which temples have you visited for free? What other places do you like in Chaozhou? You can tell Shanshan privately! At the same time, everyone is welcome to leave a comment! This article is a copyright work, and it is strictly forbidden to reprint, reprint or wash the manuscript without the written authorization of Shanshan. If you need to reprint, please contact the author Shanshan, thank you.
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