The best time to visit Guiyuan Temple: all year round
Guiyuan Temple in Hanyang is located on the west side of Cuiwei Road, Hanyang District, Wuhan City. In the 15th year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1658), it was founded by Zhejiang monks Bai Guang and Zhu Feng. The name Guiyuan comes from the Buddhist scripture "Surangama Sutra", which states that there is no two ways to return to Yuan, and there are many methods. Returning to the Yuan means returning to the truth, which means transcending the realm of birth and death and returning to the original source of true silence. In Buddhism, Guiyuan Temple belongs to the Caodong Sect (one of the five seven sects of Zen), so it is also called Guiyuan Zen Temple. Together with Baotong Temple, Xilian Temple and Zhengjue Temple, it is known as the four major jungles in Wuhan.
Since the establishment of Guiyuan Temple, it has experienced many wars and repeated defeats. The existing buildings were built successively in the third year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1864), the twenty-first year of Guangxu (1895) and the early years of the Republic of China. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the government has implemented the policy of freedom of religious belief, protected cultural relics and historic sites, and continuously maintained and repaired Guiyuan Temple, giving it a new look. During the Cultural Revolution, under the care and protection of Zhou Enlai, the temple was not destroyed, and the religious facilities and precious cultural relics were well preserved. From 1973 to the present, Guiyuan Temple has undergone large-scale repairs, and buildings such as the Main Hall, Sutra Pavilion, Five Hundred Arhat Hall, Dashi Pavilion, Bell and Drum Tower, and Cuiwei Pavilion have been renovated. In 1983, it was listed by the Communist Party of China as a national key Buddhist temple in the Han area. Guiyuan Temple now covers an area of ??more than 17,500 square meters, with a construction area of ??more than 10,000 square meters. There are dozens of monks, and the abbot is Master Changming, the executive director of the Buddhist Association of China and the president of the Hubei Buddhist Association. The temple has towering ancient trees, luxuriant flowers and trees, clear springs and green water, and winding paths leading to secluded areas. It is known as the best place in Western Han Dynasty. It is also the seat of the Hubei Provincial Buddhist Association and the Wuhan Buddhist Association.
Guiyuan Temple is composed of three distinctive courtyards: the North Courtyard, the Middle Courtyard and the South Courtyard. They have three main building groups, namely, the Sutra Pavilion, the Main Hall and the Luohan Hall.
Inside the mountain gate is the middle courtyard, which contains bell and drum towers, dining halls, Buddhist chanting halls and other buildings, as well as Cuiwei Spring, Cuiwei Ancient Pool, Cuiwei Pavilion and other landscapes. In the courtyard, plum blossoms, osmanthus, magnolia, crape myrtle and other flowers are in full bloom, pines, cypresses, palms, and rock bonsais complement each other, forming a pleasant green and delicate environment. The Cuiwei Spring here is crystal clear and inexhaustible. After testing by relevant departments, the spring water contains a variety of nutrients and is suitable for brewing various beverages. On the wall beside Cuiwei Pavilion, the poem "Cuiwei Spring" is inlaid with white light.
The main building in the middle courtyard is the Main Hall. The hall was first built in the 18th year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1661), and has been repaired many times since. The current Main Hall was rebuilt in the 34th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1908). After recent repairs, it has become magnificent. In the middle of the hall is a seated statue of Sakyamuni, flanked by sculptures of his disciples Ananda and Kassapa on both sides. Sakyamuni bares his right shoulder and sits cross-legged, very solemn and quiet, with a majestic appearance. The backlight behind the Buddha statue is a pattern of five dragons holding saints carved from camphor wood. In front of the Buddha statue are the statues of Wei Tuo, Maitreya and Ksitigarbha. Behind the Buddha statue is a group of island Guanyin statues. Island Guanyin is standing barefoot on the head of the turtle, with dragon girls and boys standing on the left and right. Behind it is an eight-foot-high clay sculpture cliff. , there are vast expanse of blue waves and raging waves under your feet. The entire statue tipped forward. When people look up, they see Guanyin's sleeves seeming to be fluttering, floating towards you on the turbulent waves, which increases the appeal of religious art.
The offering table in front of the Buddha statue is a rare woodcarving treasure. The altar table is 4.8 meters high, one foot two feet wide, two feet five inches deep and five inches wide, with a vertical railing in front, five inches wide and six inches high, divided into five grids to depict the empty space of the building. The pattern depicts the scene where the emperor and the people welcomed Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty when he returned to Chang'an for Buddhist scriptures: there were Tang Monk, Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Monk Sha and other characters from "Journey to the West"; there were Li Shimin, civil and military officials, guards, and common people; on the walls of the pavilion , chariots and horses, landscapes, banners, flags, canopies, incense burners, wax stands and other ceremonial guards. Looking at the whole picture, it is complex, lively and unprecedentedly grand. The lower edge of the hanging railing is surrounded by five dragon clouds, supported by four tiger legs, which is vivid and powerful. It is said that this camphor wood carving took ten people a year to complete, and the craftsmanship is so exquisite that it is amazing.
In the Wei Tuo Hall in front of the Mahavira Hall, there is a wooden statue of Wei Tuo, wearing armor and holding a pestle. The image of the protector of the head. This wood carving is made of a whole piece of camphor wood, and the line cutting techniques are all in the style of Tang carving. It is an art treasure of Guiyuan Temple and a precious heritage among Chinese carving arts.
The main building in the North Courtyard is the Sutra Library. The Sutra Pavilion was built from 1920 to 1922. It is a pavilion-style building with two floors and five bays. It is about 25 meters high. The top is a large ridge with an animal head, fish horns and claws, brackets and eaves. It is simple and exquisite. In front of it are four pillars reaching the sky. Two phoenixes rise to the sun, five dragons play with pearls. The entire building, doors and windows are painted with vermilion and carved with carvings. It is exquisite, spectacular and resplendent. It is the only ancient building with brick and wood structure in Wuhan. There are many Buddhist cultural relics collected here. In addition to the Tibetan Sutra, there are also Buddhist statues, religious objects, stone carvings, wood carvings, calligraphy and painting inscriptions, and foreign language classics.
The Buddhist statues collected here include stone Buddhas and stone carvings from Dunhuang, Yungang, Longmen, Maijishan, Bingling Temple and Thousand Buddha Caves in various places. There are various artistic styles, including gilt, silver, copper, stone carvings, wood carvings, porcelain sculptures, clay sculptures, ivory carvings, jade carvings and other textures, and some are gifts from Southeast Asian countries. It is a Buddhist temple with the largest collection of Buddhist statues in China, and some of its cultural relics are rare treasures at home and abroad. For example, there is a jade statue of Sakyamuni Buddha displayed in the main hall of the Sutra Pavilion. It weighs more than one ton, has exquisite carvings and superb skills. It was presented to our country by Buddhists in Yangon when Master Taixu visited Myanmar in 1935. There are only three such exquisite jade Buddha statues in China, and the other two are in Beijing and Shanghai.
Another example is the stone statue of Guanyin buried in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It has a light posture, a bun with an open chest, a tassel on the body, and a pure vase in hand. It has a history of more than 1,400 years and has a high historical and artistic level. value. There are also two mahogany statues of Bodhidharma, which are exquisite wood carvings from the early Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. The two statues, one sitting and one standing, are full of personality and vividly represent the form of Bodhidharma who has been facing the wall for nine years, meditating with his eyes closed, and detached from the outside world.
The Buddhist scriptures collected in the Sutra Pavilion include: "Longzang" of the Qing Dynasty, ***714 letters are divided into 48 cabinets for storage. A photocopy of the Song Dynasty edition of "Qi Sha Zang", totaling 593 letters. The first volume of "Pinjiazang" printed in Shanghai at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China (Quhanzi No. 1). At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the Commercial Press photocopied one copy each of the Japanese editions of "Xu Zang" and "Taisho Zang". In addition, there are two amazing treasures: one is the Buddhist calligraphy sutra written by Li Shunnian, a 69-year-old man in Hengshan, Hunan, in the first year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1875). This Buddhist calligraphy is on paper no more than six inches long and wide. The original text of "Diamond Sutra" and "Heart Sutra" consists of 5424 characters. Each character is only as big as a sesame seed and cannot be distinguished with the naked eye; if viewed under a 30x magnifying glass, each character is meticulous and the writing is strong and graceful. It is truly a treasure of calligraphy. The other is the Huayan Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, which were copied with blood and gold powder by monk Miao Rong from Wuchang in the early years of the Republic of China (1915-1924). The calligraphy is beautiful and rare.
The Buddhist instruments collected in the Sutra Pavilion include pagodas, incense tripods, pure bottles, robes and bowls, tin staffs, prayer beads, wishful thinking, bells and pestles, Vairocana hats, cassocks, etc. The pagodas in the collection are all small, including a seven-level pagoda carved from wood in the Qing Dynasty and a pavilion-style Seven Tathagata pagoda, each about 2 meters high and exquisitely crafted. There are also copper Tooth Relic Pagodas, Relic Pagodas and Buddha Bone Pagodas, as well as pagodas donated by Japan and Southeast Asian countries.
The tripod type includes the ceramic incense tripod made during the Qiande period of the Song Dynasty (AD 963968). It is pink and white and consists of three parts: cover, body and base. The small hole in the lid is surrounded by cloud patterns, and there are animal heads and ears on both sides of the tripod. The upper edge of the base is a hanging railing in the sky, with plum blossoms in full bloom inside the railing. The production is extremely exquisite and exquisite. There are also fine items from all dynasties such as the green porcelain tripod from the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty and the bronze incense tripod from the Qing Dynasty. Porcelain vases include broken grain porcelain and Tianlan porcelain pure vases from the Ming Dynasty, and Jun red porcelain and colorful glazed flower pure vases from the Qing Dynasty.
Many calligraphy and painting inscriptions are also collected here. There are more than a hundred famous paintings and calligraphy in the collection: landscape paintings by Huang Zijiu, Wang Meng, Wu Zhonggui, Ni Yunlin and others from the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Zai, Cheng Zhengkui, Wang Duo, Shi Tao, Dong Qichang from the Ming Dynasty, and Yu Zhiding and Gao from the Qing Dynasty. There are landscape figures, regular cursive seal scripts and feathered flower works by Qipei, Zheng Banqiao, Wang _, Shen Nan_, He Zizhen and others.
The temple also houses the "Preface to the Holy Religion" by the calligrapher Chu Suiliang of the Tang Dynasty, the "Diamond Sutra" by Liu Gongquan and other regular script rubbings and Keluo versions, as well as Shi Huaisu's cursive script.
Chu and Liu's calligraphy is famous for its lightness and strength, while Huaisu's cursive calligraphy is famous for its brush strokes that resemble paintings, both of which have high calligraphy and painting value. The eighteen arhats and the five hundred arhats painted by Shizhu Zen in the Qing Dynasty, the five-color painting of deer and cranes in spring painted by Wu Xing and Shen Quan, the Bodhisattva portraits painted with bodhi leaves by calligraphers and painters Sun Zhi and Wang Chong in the Ming Dynasty, and the stone carvings of Guanyin painted by Yan Liben in the Tang Dynasty The statues, etc. are all meticulously carved and lifelike in form, making them worthy of being called art treasures. Even more valuable are the ancient rubbings of the Song Dynasty, "Yuji Tu" and "Huayi Tu", which record in detail my country's ancient mountains, rivers, deserts, lakes, and geography. They record the development of the Western Regions from the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to the Tang and Song Dynasties. The management of various places outside the Great Wall and other major events are two very precious historical images.
The main building in the south courtyard is Luohan Hall. Speaking of Luohan Hall, there is a folk proverb: There is Baoguang (Chengdu) above, Xiyuan (Suzhou) below, Biyun (Beijing) in the north, and Guiyuan (Wuhan) in the middle. This means that the Five Hundred Arhat Halls of these four temples are the most representative and the essence of Buddhist statue art of Five Hundred Arhats.
There are many theories in Buddhism about the origin of the Five Hundred Arhats: First, as recorded in the "Ten Chanting Rules", when Shi Ying was alive, there were often five hundred disciples accompanying him to listen to the Dharma and preach. One is the five hundred bhikkhus who participated in the first or fourth gathering after Sakyamuni. It is also said in the "Sariputra's Questioning Sutra" that after King Fushamitara destroyed Buddhism, five hundred Arhats revived the holy religion. Tang Xuanzang's "Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty" records: There are a thousand Buddhist monks in Magadha, of which 500 are Arhat monks who have achieved enlightenment, and the other 500 are ordinary monks. The king's name is King Wuyou, and he has great influence on them. Very admired.
Since the five hundred Arhat monks usually did not reveal the truth, King Ashoka did not know that they were Arhat monks and only treated them as ordinary Buddhist monks. An ordinary monk named Mahadev made remarks that violated religious rules, causing confusion among the Buddhist monks. King Ashoka decided to execute these thousand Buddhist monks. At this time, each of the five hundred Arhats showed his power, flew away in the clouds and mist, and lived in seclusion in a valley in Kashimila Kingdom. After knowing this, King Wuyou made a special trip to apologize and built five hundred statues of the five hundred Arhats in the capital. Since then, the statue of Five Hundred Arhats has been handed down and spread to China. Although there are different opinions, Arhat is considered to be a saint who has cut off all worries and is worthy of worldly offerings.
Buddhism in Han China began to respect the Five Hundred Arhats during the Five Dynasties. At that time, King Qian of Wuyue built 500 bronze Arhats at Fangguang Temple in Tiantai Mountain. In the first year of Xiande (954), Zen Master Daoqian obtained the permission of King Qian Zhongyi of Wuyue and established the Five Hundred Arhat Hall in Jingci Temple in Hangzhou. In the second year of Yongxi reign of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty (985), 516 Arhat statues (Sixteen Arhats and Five Hundred Arhats) were built and enshrined in Shouchang Temple in Tiantai Mountain. Since then, more Five Hundred Arhat Halls have been built in major temples all over the country. Regarding the names of the Five Hundred Arhats, during the Five Dynasties (Fuzhai Stele Record), there was a mention of the names of the Five Hundred Arhats in Shiqiao Temple in Tiantai Mountain, which no longer exists. There is also the name of Lang Gao Daosu of the Ministry of Industry in the fourth year of Shaoguang in the Southern Song Dynasty (1134). The Record of the Jiangyin Army (Stele of the Honors of Five Hundred Arhats in Qianmingyuan) names the five hundred Arhats together. Buddhist researchers believe that the names of the Five Hundred Arhats mentioned in the stele have no basis and are just a conjecture of the Song Dynasty. That’s it. But since then, all temples that built Five Hundred Arhat Halls have used his name.
The Luohan Hall of Guiyuan Temple is a novel art treasure house. Fang Guang returned to the Yuan Dynasty. The couplet is: Since the founding of Baiguang, ancestor Dehui has been offering sacrifices to Arhats for more than 300 years; Qun Sheng teaches the Fahua. Both the door couplets and the rubber couplets were inscribed by Cao Shengqian in the 27th year of Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1901).
Luohan Hall was built in the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty and was destroyed in the 2nd year of Xianfeng (1852). It was rebuilt in the 21st year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1895) and completed in 1902. It has a history of 200 years. The Luohan Hall is laid out in a field-shaped architectural pattern. The four openings of the field are four small patios, which provide space for the huge and deep hall. It ensures good ventilation and lighting conditions. The Arhats are arranged according to the characters of Tian. Although there are more than 500 statues in the hall, there is no feeling of crowding. This architectural pattern is both ingenious and reasonable.
The Five Hundred Arhats in Guiyuan Temple were built by Wang and his son in Huangpi County, Hubei Province in nine years. Huangpi is still the hometown of sculpture in Hubei, with a long history and tradition of clay sculpture, sophisticated skills and numerous artists. According to the "Guiyuan Jungle Arhat Stele", the Five Hundred Arhats in Guiyuan Temple were created based on the stone rubbings of the Five Hundred Arhats in the Zhusheng Temple on Hengshan Mountain in Nanyue. The craftsmanship adopts bodiless lacquer sculpture, also known as the golden body Tuosha statue. First, the model is made from a clay body, and then the mold is covered with Gebu raw lacquer layer by layer, which is called a lacquered cloth empty mold. Finally, it is decorated with gold powder. Its characteristics are moisture resistance, insect resistance and durability. Over the past two hundred years, the Luohan Hall has been hit by floods several times, and the Arhats were floating all over the hall. However, after the water receded, the Arhats were still intact, which shows the superb craftsmanship of the sculptures.
When you walk into Luohan Hall, you will be infected by their vivid images. I saw some sitting cross-legged, some lying on rocks and looking at the sky, some studying Buddhist scriptures, and some exorcising evil spirits. In terms of expressions, some are brave, some are gentle, some are innocent and honest, and some have experienced many vicissitudes of life, all of them are lifelike and lifelike. For example, the 463rd Arhat is Lord Sadhānu. There are six boys around him, who dig the Arhat's ears, cover his mouth, cover his eyes, etc., which is called the Six Thieves Playing Maitreya. The six thieves are the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. It warns Buddhist disciples not to be infected by ordinary emotions. The child's innocence, naughtiness and Arhat's kind and honest demeanor are vividly carved into the statue, making people laugh in admiration from the bottom of their hearts.
Counting Arhats is a fun part of people visiting Arhat Hall. Legend has it that people start from an Arhat at will and count their current ages in order. The identity, expression and movements of the last Arhat can reveal the fate of those who count. This activity adds a lot of fun to people visiting Luohan Hall.
In the Ksitigarbha Hall outside the Luohan Hall, there are statues of Ksitigarbha enshrined. The wood-carved shrines in the hall are even better, with brackets and cornices, fish horns and claws, two phoenixes facing the sun, flying dragon rollers, relief railings, flowers and figures. , are extremely exquisite and exquisite, and are rare art treasures in China.
Guiyuan Temple restored the jungle system under the auspices of Abbot Changming, with orderly management and normal Buddhist activities. In recent years, several ordination activities have been held.
Guiyuan Temple is famous among Buddhists for its perfect architecture, exquisite sculptures and rich collections. Compatriots from Hong Kong and Macao, overseas Chinese and many foreign tourists include dignitaries from various countries such as King Sihanouk of Cambodia, US Secretary of State Kissinger, and Singaporeans. Former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakaso have come here to visit and presented gifts to the temple respectively.