Visit Zhengding Longxing Temple on the first day of the first lunar month of 2019

(C) Scott Wang

Disclaimer: I am not a Buddhist. Visit ancient temples and admire cultural relics and the skilled craftsmen of the ancients; appreciate religious people who are pious but not pedantic. Tertullian said: "It is precisely because it is absurd that I believe it." All the photos in this article were taken under natural light with a mobile phone, and the flash was turned off.

On the first day of the first lunar month of 2019, we took a winter tour to Longxing Temple (Big Buddha Temple) in the east corner of Zhengding City. Zhengding is a famous city in Hebei that is famous for its "one city, four gates, two crosses, nine floors, four towers and eight temples". Historically, Zhengding, along with Baoding and Beijing, was known as the "Three Great Towns in the North". The Longxing Temple, built in the Sui Dynasty, is the most important treasure in the city. Longxing Temple has a relatively close relationship with the royal family of the past dynasties, which is in line with the saying that "if you don't obey the ruler of the country, it will be difficult to establish legal affairs."

Depart from Shijiazhuang and cross the Hutuo River. The tourist antique street in Zhengding City has been completed. At about 10 o'clock in the morning, cars going north were jammed at the intersection in front of Changle Gate (South Gate) of Zhengding City. We walked east around the city and came to the parking lot closest to the ancient temple, got out of the car and walked to the south gate ticket office. At around eleven o'clock at noon, there was already a bustling crowd. This is the fourth time to visit the ancient temple. The first two times were when I was a student, and my memory has been lost for a long time. The last time was three years ago. Longxing Temple was built in the Song Dynasty. Except for Shaanxi Province, there are many cultural relics from before the Tang Dynasty across the country, and only a handful of cultural relics from the Song Dynasty remain. After traveling around many places in China and some famous places in the world, I still feel that Longxing Temple is indeed a unique ancient temple in China: the Chinese Maitreya Buddha, the original Maitreya Buddha, the Seated Avalokitesvara, the Thousand-Hand Avalokitesvara Bronze Buddha, and the prayer wheel. , Royal regular script inscription, double-faced Buddha. This includes: sculptures, paintings, calligraphy, architecture, religion, literature and other artistic treasures.

Visiting on the first day of the new year is purely a matter of time arrangement, and there is no intention to win the lottery (of course, if there is one, I will not refuse it). In addition, I just finished reading a book: "What the Buddha Said". Armed with some introductory knowledge, I have a somewhat solid theoretical foundation when entering the temple: I can put aside any worries about whether to burn incense and worship Buddha, or whether to follow any rules, and enjoy the cultural relics and wonderful Buddhist art. Of course, the civilized contract of modern society must be observed even more: travel in a civilized manner, do not throw garbage anywhere, stop smoking when you see it, do not use flash to take pictures of cultural relics, etc.

Zhengding is located in the plain at the southern foot of Gyeonggi Province. The ancient Longxing Temple has no mountain gate. There is a screen wall and a three-way single-hole stone bridge in the small square in front of the temple. Entering the temple is simple and straightforward. You cross a threshold and enter the pure world: the Temple of the Heavenly King. In the center of the hall is a Jin Dynasty wood carving of a seated Maitreya Buddha (I forgot to take a photo). It is always smiling and welcoming tourists. The image of this statue originated from the monk who was associated with Yuelin Temple in Fenghua, Zhejiang during the Later Liang Dynasty of the Five Dynasties. Before his death, he wrote "Death of the World": Maitreya is the real Maitreya, and he has hundreds of billions of clones. This fat and big-bellied Maitreya Buddha is actually the Chinese version of this Buddha. Du Niang said: "Maitreya, the name of the Bodhisattva, is called maitreya in Sanskrit and translated as Ci. After Sakyamuni Buddha, he is the fifth Buddha of Xian Kalpa. ." "There are statues of the four heavenly kings on both sides of Maitreya (I forgot to take a photo). They were all repaired by local artists in Zhengding after 1982. I remember that when I first came here, I seemed to have a little impression of the statues of the four heavenly kings. There are also other statues in the Cishi Pavilion at the back. There is another wooden statue of Maitreya that is more like the original Indian one.

When you walk out of the Tianwang Hall, you will see the ruins of the Dajue Sixth Master Hall: it was built in the Yuanfeng period of Song Shenzong and was built in an area of ??about 1,800 square meters. In the Jin, Yuan and Qing dynasties, it collapsed in the early years of the Republic of China. This site has not been restored, probably because there is no information; it also inadvertently gives this ancient temple a sense of vicissitudes, and the empty ruins and the building behind it form a dull atmosphere. Echoing each other. There is a photo of me standing on the platform when I was a child. This site is larger than the Mani Palace. You can imagine how many Buddhist art treasures there were in it.

To the north of the ruins is the Mani Hall. The total area is 1,400 square meters. The top of the hall is in the shape of a cross (see the network diagram below), with heavy (zhong4) eaves (yan2) and rest (xie1) peaks. This is only larger than the Imperial and Confucian temples. The standard is lower. The green tiles correspond to the yellow tiles of the Forbidden City and the Royal Stele Pavilion.

The seated statue of Sakyamuni and the brochure of Longxing Temple are hidden in the center of the Mani Hall. Compared with the Buddha statue inside, it can be seen that it has just been repaired with gold plating (the so-called rich gold is loved by everyone)

The fragmented sentence of the couplet in Mani Palace is converted into simplified Chinese: What is the reason for the transformation, but because of thoughts. It is born and has no destination. It is solemn and has a form, and it can be seen that the form is empty. If you realize that illusions come from your mind, then you will naturally no longer be attached to the journey of life, death, and nirvana. "It feels quite idealistic, and coincides with the basic teaching of "the origin of all things" in the original Buddhist scriptures (the other one is "reincarnation". There is an easy-to-understand and detailed introduction in "What the Buddha Said")." That is both form and emptiness. "And "no destination, no destination" are also double negative statements in standard Buddhist scriptures. For example, the Eight Impartial Paths of the Buddhist monk Nagarjuna: "Neither birth nor death, neither permanent nor continuous. Neither one nor different, neither coming nor coming out. "The specific meaning of these two sentences depends on the teachings of Mahayana or Hinayana Buddhism. As a layman of Buddhism, my first impression is: "Don't be confused by various illusions (specific images), and don't think too much.

" Thinking of this statue and murals, in fact, simple and primitive Buddhism believes that these are all illusions: the statue is an empty shell of clay, and the murals are just a splicing of colors. What is really useful for Buddhists is practice. So why do Buddha statues need to be gilded? , why should the murals be so beautiful? There is also a statement in "What the Buddha Said" that is quite appropriate: "The people really don't care what the theories of religion are." If you want the people to accept it, you must first have the knowledge of each dynasty. The elements must be able to accept this religion. Then intellectuals actually pay more attention to the reliability of this religious logic and special requirements such as the afterlife. Only with solid theory and logic can the "gorgeous Buddha statue" have a foundation. It is for the public to see. The illusion is more important. It must be led in first. In this way, there is a treasure of various religious arts such as the Mani Palace of Longxing Temple.

Manjushri and Samantabhadra are Buddhas. The two ministers, Manjusri serves on the left, and the main attendant is the Zhi De gate; Samantabhadra serves on the right, and the main attendant is the Ding De gate. Du Niang said: "Manjusri Bodhisattva, holding Ruyi, represents the truth; Samantabhadra, holding the lotus, represents behavior. Immortal, or holding the Huayan Sutra of Dafang Guangfo, represents the solemnity of the endless Dharma Realm. "Both of them come from Indian Sanskrit names, and they are Chinese names: one is wisdom, the other is virtuous, and they are also deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Similar to modern technological products, localization is necessary and an unstoppable trend.

Main Hall There are murals from the Ming Dynasty on several walls, which are very beautiful. The slightly dim hall is also colorful and the colors are soft. It reminds me of the recent news that many ancient statues have been forcibly renovated, and the results are very disharmonious. Ugly. Lu Bo's book "The Hidden Corners of Beijing" also mentioned that there is a 600-year-old Ming Dynasty mural in Fahai Temple in Shijingshan, western Beijing, which was restored and opened in 2016. You can also visit it when you have time. .

In the same hall, after admiring the wooden structure, murals and statues in the front hall, we came to the colorful hanging mountain relief in the back hall, where a seated Guanyin sits in the middle. This is also a treasure of Longxing Temple. When Lu Xun saw his photos, he said that many sculptures deify people, but the sitting posture and expression of Guanyin are indeed very comfortable in domestic temples. It is difficult to see the illusion of Bodhisattva in this style.

When I walked out of the Mani Hall, I saw an archway with the words "Miao Zhuang Yan Yu" written on it. Liang Sicheng suspected that this archway had the style of Song and Jin Dynasties. "The eaves are far-reaching and very simple and solemn." Behind the Mani Hall is the Buddhist Altar, with Dragon Sophora and Phoenix Sophora in front of it. On either side of the altar are Zhuanjing Pavilion and Cishi Pavilion. “The Golden Rope Road to Sleep” comes from one of the lines in Li Bai’s poem “Returning to the Mountains in Spring to Send a Letter to Meng Haoran”: “The golden rope opens the road to sleep, and the precious raft crosses the lost river. "The vernacular text is: "Gold is used as a rope to show the road to enlightenment, and we ride on a treasure raft to cross the confusing river. "The scene of the golden rope on the ordination altar is a symbol of the precepts and rules. The ordination altar of Longxing Temple is also as famous as Mount Wutai in the north. In the "Enter Dunhuang" on display during the Spring Festival in the Hebei Museum, there is a Dunhuang mural showing ancient Shanxi and Hebei A panoramic painting: it shows the Wutai Taoist Temple and the ancient city of Zhengding (Zhengding).

The ordination altar enshrines a double-faced Buddha statue, facing south is Amitabha Buddha (characteristic soapbox-shaped hands clasped together; the original wish is). Create the Oriental Pure Glaze World), facing the Medicine Buddha (the original wish is the Oriental Glaze World).

To the left of the altar is the Zhuanlunzang Pavilion, which contains a wooden Song Dynasty revolving Sutra Pavilion. Circles can be equivalent to reading many scriptures. It seems that the ancients also used machines to solve repetitive labor in spiritual beliefs. "Laziness is the real driving force for the progress of human civilization."

The right side of the altar. It is the Cishi Pavilion. (I’ll post Du Niang’s explanation again: Maitreya, the name of the Bodhisattva, is called maitreya in Sanskrit, translated as Cishi. He lives in the inner courtyard of Tusita Heaven. He is a Bodhisattva who can make up for all his life. He will live in the tenth minor kalpa in the future. When his life span was reduced to 80,000 years, he was reborn in this world and became the fifth Buddha after Sakyamuni Buddha before he became a Buddha.) This also explains the origin of the name of the pavilion. The statue of Maitreya Bodhisattva is 7.4 meters high and is carved from a single wood in the Song Dynasty. This Maitreya statue corresponds to the Chinese image of Maitreya in the Hall of Heavenly Kings. According to Buddhist scriptures, it is also known as the successor of Sakyamuni after his death. < /p>

Continue forward and walk into the Dabei Pavilion. The bronze Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara statue enshrined inside is one of the "Four Treasures of Hebei". Du Niang said: Samadhi is the wonderful land, and the literal translation of Sanskrit is: Heshen. /Unity. The meaning is: the consciousness is combined and bound together. Old translation: samadhi, concentration. Here is a typical example of the Chinese translation of Buddhism: the transliterated word is broken down and a word "Miao" is added in the middle. It's wonderful. The Buddha statue was cast by Zhao Kuangyin. It is 21.3 meters high (more than seven feet high). 21.3 meters is equivalent to the height of a seven-story building. You can't feel this height if you are not on site. . 42 The arms holding the ritual instruments are made of wood, and the original copper is suspected to have been sawed off by the Japanese guards. The tour guide said that in order to build this Buddha, three thousand soldiers were sent to Zhengding (then called Zhending). He made a clever move and built a large mound for copper smelting and watering. The mound extended three miles to a place in the city, which was named Sanlitun. There are also some stories that are obviously similar to folklore. It is said that the word "Bodhi" is the transliteration of the Sanskrit Bodhi, which means enlightenment and wisdom. It is used to refer to a person's sudden awakening, sudden enlightenment, sudden enlightenment, sudden enlightenment of the truth, and otherworldly realms.

Bodhi is the great enlightenment, the clear mind and the true nature, and the realization of the final bright nature, which is the level of Nirvana. For ordinary people, Nirvana is the end of human life. In fact, it is the achievement of supreme Bodhi.

At the end of Longxing Temple is Pilu Hall. Although the bronze statue enshrined in it is not very tall, its shape is very rare. It is made of three-layer rosettes and three-layer Buddha statues stacked on top of each other. The three-layer rosettes are There are 1,000 small Buddha statues carved all over the body, with a total of 1,072 statues.

Walking to the northernmost part of the ancient temple, you will reach the modern renovation area, which is actually a dog-tailed mink. It’s no different from an ordinary park. You can pass by. Of course, this may also mislead the designer. The Kui Bao we saw earlier was also accumulated over a thousand years.

Buddhism is an imported religion. The proud Chinese culture accepted it mainly because the original teachings of Buddhism contained complex logical reasoning, and intellectuals had fun (for example, many great masters in ancient China (Su Dongpo, Bai Juyi, etc.) were adherents of a certain sect of Buddhism). It was assimilated in the process of integration with China's native Taoism and Confucianism, and formed the localization of Buddhism, and even created its own branches (such as Zen) and then spread it to the world. To put it in a far-fetched way, Gang Leader Qiao is a Zen lover. Many modern products actually contain traces of faith. Ancient temples that have been built for thousands of years can only be built with faith. Although believers do not understand the subtle explanations and logical reasoning, it does not prevent everyone from burning incense and worshiping Buddha to quickly conduct a transaction with the gods (if there is one) (to bless their families and themselves) . "So-and-so has faith, so-and-so has hope" is also a modern slogan for practice.

(C) Scott Wang

Disclaimer: I am not a Buddhist. Visit ancient temples and admire cultural relics and the skilled craftsmen of the ancients; appreciate religious people who are pious but not pedantic. Tertullian said: "It is precisely because it is absurd that I believe it." All the photos in this article were taken under natural light with a mobile phone, and the flash was turned off.

Reference:

- "Longxing Temple" Chinese Cultural Relics Small Series, Cultural Relics Publishing House, compiled by Zhengding County Cultural Relics Custody Office, Hebei Province, first edition in July 1992.

- Baidu Encyclopedia: Return to the mountains in spring and send a message to Meng Haoran: /i/3030801.html

- /i/8094484.html Longxing Temple and Four Pagodas in Zhengding, large wooden works from the Song Dynasty.

- /question/382724721.html Translation of the Mani Temple plaque.

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanyin

Some online references are posted below (the copyright belongs to the original author):