Among the four "most prosperous" roads in the old town of Chaozhou, Guangdong, there is a "Pure Land of Zen" with free admission

This is where Shanshan and her three girls love life, photography, travel and food.

In the Chaoshan area, Buddhism can be said to be an inseparable part of Chaoshan culture. When traveling around 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, etc. Historically, many nunneries have been built in Chaozhou. During this trip, Shanshan and her three girls encountered many nunneries, including Qinglong Ancient Temple, Songlin Ancient Temple, Xiaochan Temple, etc., among which What impressed the three girls Shanshan the most was the "Kaiyuan Temple" built in the Tang Dynasty and known as the first ancient temple in eastern Guangdong.

In China, it is difficult to count the number of temples, but it is certain that the temple called "Kaiyuan Temple" is the largest. Among them, the well-known Kaiyuan Temples in China include: Kaiyuan Temple in Xingtai, Hebei, Kaiyuan Temple in Chaozhou, Guangdong, Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou, Fujian, and Kaiyuan Temple in Fuzhou; Kaiyuan Temples that are slightly less well-known include: Kaiyuan Temple in Xiamen, Kaiyuan Temple in Datong, Kaiyuan Temple in Nanchang, and Kaiyuan Temple in Putuo Kaiyuan Temple, Linhai Kaiyuan Temple, Zhejiang; the only remaining Kaiyuan Temples are: Zhengzhou Kaiyuan Temple, Suzhou Kaiyuan Temple, etc.

There are so many Kaiyuan temples all over China because in 738 AD, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, who believed in Buddhism, issued an edict to build temples in each of the ten major prefectures and counties in the country in the name of the then reign name "Kaiyuan". A temple serves as a dojo to celebrate the emperor's birthday. The Kaiyuan Temple in Chaozhou was built on the basis of Lipeng Buddhist Hall at this time. Since its establishment, Kaiyuan Temple has been repaired in all dynasties. Therefore, the entire Kaiyuan Temple not only retains the layout of the Tang Dynasty, but also embodies the architectural art of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Therefore, there are "millions of families" "Blessed Land, Jungle of Three Thousand Worlds".

Chaozhou Kaiyuan Temple is located on Kaiyuan Road, Chaozhou City. In the old city of Chaozhou, there are four "most prosperous" roads, namely Kaiyuan Road, Xima Road, Taiping Road, and Ngee'an Road. These four roads are busy with traffic, reflecting the prosperity of the ancient city of Chaozhou. However, in this bustling world, dozens of acres of "Pure Land of Zen" have been enclosed, becoming a quiet place in the bustling city. This is Kaiyuan Temple. Now that many famous temples have become tourist areas, you need to buy tickets to enter. Today, Kaiyuan Temple does not charge tickets. This may be one of the reasons why there are so many pilgrims in the temple.

The first thing they saw when entering Kaiyuan Temple was the Dabei Hall, but it was not open now. Shanshan and her three girls turned to the "Old Central Axis" tour route of Kaiyuan Temple: first they visited the big bell in front of the Tianwang Hall. , then to the Tianwang Hall, then to the atrium of Kaiyuan Temple, then to the Main Hall, and finally to the Sutra Pavilion, and then around the forest of steles on both sides.

First of all, before entering the Temple of Heavenly King, I first saw a very large bronze bell.

This large bronze bell was cast by Chaozhou Diamond Scripture Society in March of the fourth year of Zhenghe (1114) in the Song Dynasty and dedicated to Kaiyuan Temple. It weighs more than 3,000 kilograms, is 1.7 meters high, and has a rim of 105 centimeters. The surface is smooth, the workmanship is excellent, and there are no casting marks. It is said that this copper bell has been struck every day for thousands of years, and it still has a melodious sound. Shanshan and her three girls saw the words "Please do not ring the bell" written on the scene and could not hear the sound of the ancient bronze bell.

Then, after passing the big bronze bell, you enter the Temple of the Heavenly King.

The sign above the entrance of the Heavenly King's Hall reads "Destroy all ancient evils". The Tennoden Hall was built in the Song Dynasty. After more than a thousand years, it still maintains the solemn style of the Tang and Song palaces similar to Todaiji Temple in Japan, so it has the reputation of "the pearl of ancient architectural art". The main pavilion of Tianwang Hall is made of "wood". The whole building has 32 pillars.

Entering the Tianwang Hall, you see a plaque directly above which reads "Kaiyuan Zhenguo Zen Temple". The two characters "Zhenguo" cannot be used in ordinary temples. It is said that it was because Japanese pirates invaded various coastal prefectures in my country in the early Ming Dynasty. However, because the Japanese pirates believed in Buddhism, they only invaded the coastal areas and did not dare to invade Chaozhou City. The commander at that time, Yu Liangfu, thought that "Kaiyuan Temple" could protect the country and protect the country, so he asked the imperial court to designate Kaiyuan Temple as "Zhenguo Zen Temple", and got the approval from the imperial court. of approval. This is the origin of the word "Zhenguo" in Kaiyuan Temple.

Then, after passing through the Tianwang Hall, we entered the atrium of Kaiyuan Temple, which is the square in front of the Main Hall.

There are four square stone towers on the east and west sides of the atrium, which are "Ashoka-style towers". The four towers represent the "four major continents": Dongshengshenzhou, Nanfanbuzhou, Xiniuhezhou and Beijuluzhou.

Then we came to the main hall.

Because there were some activities going on in the Main Hall at this time and they were not allowed to visit inside, the three girls Shanshan could only walk around the Main Hall. In front of the main hall, there is a pair of 78 stone railings, each of which is engraved with the story of Sakyamuni Buddha's eight phases of enlightenment, the collection of exotic animals, lotus flowers and auspicious grasses, and in the middle of the palace railing, "Buddha's sun shines brightly, Dharma wheel always turns; Imperial style" The stone carvings "Yong Fan and Emperor Dao Xia Chang" are treasured cultural relics of Buddhist art in the Tang Dynasty.

Then we walked to the back of the Main Hall, and in the middle was the Sutra Pavilion.

According to information, the Sutra Collection Building contains a collection of "Dragon Collection" from the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. This collection was created by Master Jinghui, the 80-year-old abbot of Kaiyuan Temple at that time, who went through many hardships and obstacles to overcome difficulties. Thousands of rivers and mountains, at the request of the Jin capital, there are 7,240 volumes of this book, packed in 724 letters. Only 100 volumes were printed that year, and only a handful of them have been preserved intact so far.

In 1987, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the State Publishing Administration approved the reprinting of "Long Zang". Because Emperor Qianlong issued an edict to remove some scriptures and scriptures, leaving the whole book incomplete, in order to complete the book, the Cultural Relics Publishing House They sent personnel to visit more than ten provinces and regions across the country to search for original copies and make up for the defects. Finally, they found the Sihan Jingshu, which had been destroyed by Qianlong, and reprinted it here, which shows how precious it is.

Because the Sutra Pavilion is not open to the public, after looking at the door for a while, the three girls Shanshan began to walk around on the east and west sides. On the east side was the Ksitigarbha Pavilion and on the west side was the Guanyin Pavilion. Among them, there is a plaque at the door of the Ksitigarbha Pavilion with the four words "Don't respect your parents" which impressed me deeply. It means "Respecting your parents is the true filial piety."

Finally, visit the forest of steles on both sides of Kaiyuan Temple to see the porcelain inlays, wood carvings, stone paintings and other techniques on the buildings.

After visiting the entire Kaiyuan Temple, at this time, it suddenly started raining heavily. I walked around the corridors on both sides. There were lanterns hanging in the corridors, which were very beautiful. In the corridor, you can see a large number of inscriptions, which have a sense of age.

After reading the inscriptions, through the raindrops, I carefully savored the Chaozhou porcelain inlays, wood carvings, stone paintings and other techniques on the buildings here. Looking through the rain, they looked particularly charming. Extraordinarily beautiful. After seeing the inlaid porcelain in Kaiyuan Temple, the three girls, Shanshan, paid attention to the inlaid porcelain again and again in the next trip. I will share my feelings about Chaozhou "inlaid porcelain" in the next article. stay tuned.

So, have you ever traveled to Chaozhou, Guangdong? Where did you visit in Chaozhou? Have you ever been to Kaiyuan Temple? What's the takeaway here? When you walk into Kaiyuan Temple from the bustling commercial district, do you feel that this place is a pure land? In addition to Kaiyuan Temple, which other temples have you visited that are free to visit? What else do you like about Chaozhou? You can tell Shanshan Sanya in a private message! At the same time, everyone is welcome to leave comments! This article is a copyrighted work and is strictly prohibited from being moved, reproduced, or edited without the written authorization of Shanshan Sanyatou. If you need to reprint, please contact the author Shanshan Sanyatou, thank you.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.