Visit Lingyan Mountain

To the west of the ancient city of Suzhou and to the east of Taihu Lake, there is a thousand-year-old temple with endless incense. This is Lingyan Mountain Temple.

1.

Lingyan Mountain is 182 meters above sea level. There are many strange rocks on the mountain. The huge rocks are abrupt and the rocks are rugged. Because there is a Ganoderma lucidum stone in front of Lingyan Pagoda that is very famous, it is named "Lingyan Mountain". It is also known as "Lingyan Mountain is the most beautiful in the south of the Yangtze River".

I like to travel, and I have left my presence in many gardens and ancient towns in Suzhou. However, due to some strange combination of circumstances, I have never been to Mudu Lingyan Mountain, which is a bit regretful.

When I was young, a friend once said that he wanted to invite me to visit Lingyan Mountain with him. Maybe this was just a joke, and the person who said it may not remember this sentence long ago.

At the age of fifty, it seems that I have reached the age where I can no longer wait, so just go when you want to go. After all, it is only more than half an hour's drive to Mudu Lingyan Mountain.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the weather became cooler. Taking advantage of the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, my wife and I drove to Lingyan Mountain.

2.

Since 2013, Mudu Lingyan Mountain Scenic Area has been open to the public free of charge, so we entered the gate directly from Sufu Road without purchasing a ticket.

When you walk through the gate, you will see the park at the foot of Lingyan Mountain. The park is very suitable for leisure, with pavilions, rockeries, ponds, everything you need, and the scenery is extremely beautiful.

I found a few suitable locations for taking pictures by the pond, small bridges, etc., posed in a few natural poses, took a few photos and short videos, and then started along the old hiking trail on the left. Mountain climbing. This mountain road is also the famous "Qianlong Imperial Road".

Lingyan Mountain is very famous in Suzhou and even the whole country. In addition, it is the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, so there are many tourists on the mountain road, most of them are believers and mountaineering enthusiasts. Fortunately, a new mountain road has been built next to the royal road, so tourists can go up in a different direction.

Lingyan Mountain is really not high, so the mountain road is not too steep. We climbed up the mountain road. The trees on both sides were strong, tall and lush, and there was no scene of falling autumn leaves at all.

Not long after walking, you can see a pavilion "Jilu Pavilion" in front of you. It is named after the nickname "Jilu" of Master Yinguang, the abbot of Lingyan Mountain. Couplet on the pavilion: There is a big road, here we go upward together; there are beautiful mountains on all sides, we will look at each other again when we return.

There are tourists resting here in the pavilion, some leaning on the pillars to look from a distance, some sitting and drinking water, and some taking photos outside the pavilion.

We continued walking and saw the "Yingxiao Pavilion" on the way. It is said that it was built in the Song Dynasty, and the layman Dongpo once smiled here to welcome Buddhist friends.

Passing by a bamboo forest, the autumn wind blows in the forest. We fold it up, which is the "Luohong Pavilion". Because Linyan Mountain is also known as "Elephant Mountain", there is a sentence: Xiangshan looks back at the falling flowers, so this is an excellent place to watch the sunset.

I think the pavilions in Lingyan Mountain are connected one after another. In ancient buildings, the "pavilion" in "pavilion" actually means "stop". There will suddenly be a pavilion beside the stream in the park, or on the way up the mountain. Wherever there is a pavilion, it will make you stop.

Although the pavilion is an architectural space, it reminds and hints to visitors: Don’t walk anymore, you are tired, it’s time to take a rest. Besides, the scenery here is so beautiful, so the "pavilion" must also be Good places to overlook the scenery, such as the "Jilu Pavilion", "Yingxiao Pavilion" and "Luohong Pavilion" in Lingyan Mountain, are all excellent places to enjoy the scenery.

From this, I thought why our lives should not be like this! We have been in a hurry in life, punching in to go to work every day, and spending our time in the hustle and bustle of making money. When will it end?

Therefore, in life, we must also know how to stop at the right time, look at the scenery on the roadside, and stop and go. This is the ideal state of life.

Let’s take a rest at the Red Pavilion on this road. My lover was afraid that I would be tired from climbing the mountain, so he reminded me to rest.

Standing in the pavilion and looking at the scenery, to the east is the Yinguang Pagoda Courtyard, which is the burial place of monk Yinguang. According to reports, Master Yinguang is a modern Buddhist master and the founder of the Yinguang Sect in Southeast Asia.

After a short rest, we continued moving forward.

To the west of Luohong Pavilion is the Xishi Cave. It is said that King Goujian and Fan Li of Yue presented Xishi to King Wu and Fu Chai was waiting here. Later generations built a house in front of the cave, with a statue of Guanyin engraved inside the cave and purple bamboo planted outside the cave. Swaying in the wind, it is also called "Guanyin Cave" and is very popular.

The Luohong Pavilion turns left and goes up about 300 steps, known as the "Hundred Steps". It is a section of the imperial road built by Emperor Qianlong when he climbed Lingyan Mountain. The mountain is steep and there is a square brick road beside it. The tower is the mantle tower of "Zhi Ji", the founding monk of Lingyan Mountain in Liang Dynasty.

There is a huge stone in the south of the tower, shaped like a turtle, with its head raised and facing Taihu Lake, so there is also a saying that the turtle looks at Taihu Lake. The back of the stone is engraved with the words "Watch the Buddha Coming", and there are also footprints on the stone. It is said that Xi Shi often stood on this stone tablet and looked at her hometown.

3.

After leaving Shigui and going up to the top of the mountain, you will reach Lingyan Mountain Temple. The existing temple of Linyanshan Temple is large in scale and is one of the pure land ashrams of Chinese Buddhism. It enjoys a high status in the Buddhist community, but the entrance fee to the temple is only one yuan. This is really rare among famous temples in China.

Lingyanshan Temple is built on the top of the mountain, towering into the clouds and majestic. There are towering pines and cypresses in front of the temple, and the large characters "Lingyanshan Temple" on the door are inscribed by Zhao Puchu.

Entering the gate of Lingyan Mountain Temple, my wife and I worshiped the Buddhas devoutly and then came to the mountain top garden.

The garden on the top of Lingyan Mountain Temple is the site of King Wu's "Guanwa Palace", which was the palace built by King Wu Fucha on the mountain for Xi Shi. The flowers, plants and trees in the garden on the top of the mountain all look very spiritual.

There is a square Huanhua Pond in the garden. It is said that Xi Shi went boating here to pick lotus flowers. Although the old friend has passed away, there are still a group of turtles in the Huanhua Pond. The stone wall in the west of the pool and the mountain top wall are said to have been built by King Wu. Made of stone, although it has long been destroyed, the remains of the stone wall are still clearly visible.

There is also the Wanyue Pond for Xi Shi to play with the moon. The Wu Wang Well is round and is also a relic of the Wu Palace. situation.

There is also a longevity pavilion on the rockery in the garden on the top of the mountain, which is said to be used for Xi Shi's dressing.

If I could travel back in time, I would really like to see how beautiful Xi Shi was, the great beauty in ancient times, and whether she is really as beautiful as people say, and the moon is shy and the flowers are shy.

If I could time travel, I would like to ask Xi Shi face to face: Xi Shi, do you love Fan Li or Fu Cha? Fan Li could sacrifice you, Xi Shi, for the sake of his country, but Fu Chai, for the sake of a beauty like you, risked his own country!

Therefore, the original Xi Shi was infected and moved by Fan Li's so-called patriotic enthusiasm, and cooperated with the beauty trap of Yue King Gou Jian and Fan Li. When she arrived in Wu State, Fu Chai pampered her extremely, and she was influenced by Fan Li's love at first. Only then did Xi Shi slowly realize that Fu Chai was the one who loved her more.

Therefore, I think Xi Shi was also very conflicted and painful when implementing this honey trap spy plan.

Regardless of whether the legends about Xi Shi, Fu Chai and Fan Li are true or false, and whether Xi Shi loves Fan Li or Fu Chai, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, King Gou Jian of Yue worked hard and tried his best to govern, but in the end the Yue Kingdom was destroyed. Wu State. , King Wu Fu Chai also drew his sword and committed suicide.

Gou Jian, the king of Yue, and Fu Cha, the king of Wu, have long been lost in the long river of history. The ruins of the Guanwa Palace in Linyan Mountain built by Fu Chai for Xi Shi are still clearly visible despite a hundred years of wind and rain. The Guanwa Palace, which has gone through many vicissitudes of life, became the domain of Sikong Luwan again during the Jin Dynasty. Lu Wan was born into the prominent Lu family in Wu County. His grandfather was the younger brother of Lu Xun, the famous general of Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. Later, Lu Wan donated his room to a temple, which became the famous Lingyan Mountain Temple.

Therefore, this place has experienced the evolution process from the palace of King Wu to the private residence of high-ranking officials to the Buddhist jungle, which also shows that Lingyan Mountain Temple has a long history.

4.

Thousands of years later, the Lingyan bell still rings. Standing at the highest point of Lingyan Mountain, Qintai to the west of Lingyan Mountain Temple, you have a bird’s eye view of Mudu Town. At a glance, Wuzhong land not only has beautiful mountains and clear waters, but also has convenient transportation and modernization development at a rapid pace. It is a prosperous and prosperous scene.

The modern city and the quiet mountain temples form a strong contrast, but everything seems so harmonious.

After going down the mountain, I looked back at the majestic Lingyan Mountain Temple. The Lingyan Mountain Tower stands tall and tall under the blue sky and white clouds. It is not ostentatious at all, silently hidden in the mountains, but it maintains the most sober and authentic nature. side.

As for me, I feel that all my worries have disappeared. I can leave the noisy world for a while and let my mind relax. Perhaps this is the charm of the thousand-year-old temple.