Temple overview of Songshan Dafawang Temple

Dafawang Temple is located at the foot of Yuzhu Peak in Songshan Mountain, five kilometers north of Dengfeng City, Henan Province. The temple is surrounded by mountains on three sides, east, west and north, with lush pines and cypresses. In front of the temple, two mountains confront each other, with a highway in the middle, leading up to the temple and down to the modern tourist city of Dengfeng. The Dafawang Temple was built in the 14th year of Yongping of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty, more than 1,900 years ago. It is one of the earliest temples built after Buddhism was introduced to China. Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty specially used it for Indian eminent monks to take photos of Mo Teng and Zhu Falan's translation of scriptures. It was built under the orders of the missionary and became the first Bodhi Temple in China. The Dafawang Temple is now a key cultural relic protection unit in Henan Province and is a place for religious activities open at home and abroad. The Dafawang Temple is built on the mountain. It has seven courtyards from low to high, including the mountain gate, King Kong Hall, Heavenly King Hall, Mahavira Hall, Ksitigarbha Hall, Western Saint Hall, and Sutra Pavilion (White Jade Reclining Buddha Hall). It is large in scale and rigorous in structure. The palaces and pavilions are magnificent. In 1987, Abbot Shi Yanfo moved into the Dharma King Temple, raised funds, and renovated the ancient temple. He restored the temple area to more than 60,000 square meters, rebuilt the temple to more than 5,000 square meters, and restored 47 sculptures and statues. Thanks to the efforts of Abbot Shi Yanfo, Buddhist activities have flourished, and Dharmawang Temple has become the best tourist destination in the Central Plains. Overlooking the Erxiong Mountains, they are arranged like arches, with rows of peaks, gurgling streams, green pines and cypresses, and beautiful scenery. There is a gorge in the east of the temple, which is shaped like a semicircular gate. It is located at the top of Songshan Mountain and is called "Songmen". Whenever the weather is fine during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the bright moon rises from Songmen. You can watch the bright moon rising from the platform of the main hall of Fawang Temple. You can see the bright and plump moon placed in Songmen, like a silver mirror inlaid in the mountain gorge. , called "Songmen Waiting for the Moon", is one of the best scenes in Dengfeng. Fawang Temple is one of the earliest temples in China, three years later than White Horse Temple in Luoyang and 424 years earlier than Shaolin Temple. There are more than 40 rooms in the temple, with a total area of ??about 5,000 square meters. The cultural relics preserved in the temple include many ancient pagodas, ancient trees and stone carvings. The ancients praised Fawang Temple as "the first scenic spot in Songshan Mountain".

“There are mountains all around the world, but Song is high among the sky and the earth. There are famous mountains and temples, but Dharma King has the best situation.” In Songshan, where there are many ancient temples, Dharma King Temple is known as “the number one resort in Songshan” "It's well deserved. The essence of Buddhist culture such as crystal pagodas, inscriptions and statues, palaces and pavilions, cultural relics and classics have become an inseparable part of the great Chinese culture. Dafawang Temple, like other famous temples and ancient temples across the country, is not only a famous secluded resort that cultivates people's sentiments, but also an important historical relic. Fawang Temple was founded in the 14th year of Yongping (71 AD) of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It is one of the earliest temples in my country (the earliest temple is Baima Temple in Luoyang), 427 years earlier than Shaolin Temple and more than 1,900 years ago. . The Dafawang Temple is the earliest temple built after Buddhism was introduced to China. It was built by Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty specifically for the Indian monks Mo Teng and Zhu Falan to translate scriptures and preach. It became the first Bodhi temple in China and flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties. In 1963, it was announced as one of the first batch of cultural relics protection units by the Henan Provincial Government. In 1995, it was announced as a national key cultural relics protection unit by the State Council. It is a place for religious activities open at home and abroad.

The Dharma King Temple is built on the mountain. There are seven courtyards from low to high, including the mountain gate, the Vajra Hall, the Heavenly King Hall, the Mahavira Hall, the Ksitigarbha Hall, the Western Sage Hall, and the Sutra Pavilion (White Jade Reclining Buddha Hall, There is a Burmese white jade reclining Buddha, weighing 36 tons, which is the only largest reclining Buddha in Henan Province). It is large in scale, rigorous in structure, magnificent in palaces and pavilions. The environment is beautiful and the scenery is picturesque. One of the eight scenic spots in Dengfeng, "Songmen Waiting for the Moon", is called "the first of the eight scenic spots in Songshan".

In 1987, the ancient temple was rebuilt, Buddhist activities and tourism flourished, and the Dharma King Temple has become a highlight of tourism. His patriotic and religious spirit has been favored by leaders at all levels, religious figures at home and abroad, and tourists. High praise. Nowadays, the sect of Dafawang Temple has been revived and its reputation has spread far and wide. The glory of the thousand-year-old temple has been restored. On both sides of the corridor inside the temple, there are two ginkgo trees that are over a thousand years old, both 30 meters high and 5 meters in circumference. In midsummer, the leaves are dense and green, like a big umbrella covering them; in late autumn, the branches are full of yellow leaves and abundant fruits. The mountain wind blows by, the fallen leaves are sprinkled with gold, and the silver fruits fall to the ground, decorating the temple to be simple and quiet, especially enchanting; spring flowers When it is opened, the fragrance inside and outside the temple is fragrant, which can refresh people's mind and cleanse away evil and filth. There are currently 6 monk pagodas around Fawang Temple, including 1 dense-eaves Tang pagoda, 3 single-story Tang pagodas, and 1 Yuan pagoda and Qing pagoda. The Sui Dynasty stupa is located on the hillside of Fawang Temple. It is fifteen stories high, about 45 meters, with a circumference of 28 meters and a wall thickness of more than two meters. The tower is a hollow building. Looking up from the ground floor, you can see directly at the top of the tower. There are traces of brick holes around it. It can be seen that there were originally eaves and corner wooden beams installed at the corners of each floor. This not only balanced the center of gravity of the tower, but also It can also be used as a ladder to climb up and down the tower. The dense eaves on the outside of the tower are stacked one after another, with the widest one reaching 90 centimeters, making the entire tower look more majestic. Now, except for a small part that has been damaged by wind and rain erosion, it is basically intact and solid. A major discovery was made in the underground palace of the "Relic Pagoda" of Dafawang Temple. More than 20 national first-class precious cultural relics were unearthed, including the world's rare "Flying Relic Box", "Relics" and three "Buddha's Tooth". In particular, the "Flying Relic Box" is small and exquisite, with a bird's head and human body in the shape of a flute. It is exquisitely carved and full of imagination and creativity. In the underground palace, a rare statue of the real person sitting in a crouched position with bones wrapped around the body was also found, and the painted cassock can still be discerned. This is the only seated statue of the real body found in our province, and it has extremely high archaeological and Buddhist value.

The discovery of the "Buddha's Tooth" not only proves the glory of Dafawang Temple as the first Buddhist temple built when Buddhism was introduced to China, but also heralds the current revival of Dafa Temple and will shine again.