Archives of Yuncheng National Treasure Taiyin Temple in Jiangxian County: A Precious Buddhist Cultural Heritage

Taiyin Temple in Jiangxian County: A Precious Buddhist Language

Reporter Xue

The world is very big and there are many beautiful scenery. It seems that every place will feel beautiful if you look for it with your heart.

At the foot of Donghua Mountain, eight kilometers away from Jiangxian County, there is a low-key and introverted temple with rare cultural relics hidden inside. This temple faces south, perhaps because it is different from ordinary traditional temples, so it was named Taiyin Temple. In 200 1 year, it was listed as a national key cultural relics protection unit by the State Council. On July 16, a group of three journalists walked into this ancient temple.

Taiyin Temple was founded in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Existing buildings include the mountain gate, the North Hall and the South Hall.

Two strange stone tablets

Taiyin Temple is not big in the distance, but when you get closer, you will find that the mountain gate is magnificent, engraved with the three characters "Taiyin Temple", which was built in the 1980s. There are four heavenly kings on both sides of the Shanmen Hall. King Kong, more than four meters high, is exquisitely carved and magnificent, guarding this land.

Under their solemn gaze, they stepped into the temple and saw two stone tablets standing under the antique stone pavilions on the east and west sides.

The stone tablet on the left is amazing, with a watermark on it, as if the stone tablet were crying. When the reporter and his party came, the weather was fine, at noon, and it was extremely hot. This rare scene is really amazing. The year number and reason are not recorded on the monument, and the yin and yang of the monument are inverted, followed by the inscription of Taiyin Hall, which adds a layer of mystery. Only a pair of couplets on both sides of the monument pavilion, "The Buddha Hall is blessed with rain and dew, and the Vatican Palace is blessed with clouds", has made a good summary for it.

Another ancient monument, which was rebuilt by a master who carved Tibetan scriptures, is even more rare and precious, which is related to Zhao Cang, the treasure of the town hall of the National Library. Zhao Zang lasted for 65 years, from the moment of engraving to the moment of continuation, supplement and publication, and went through Jin and Yuan Dynasties. The past 25 years have been completed here. Carving, mending and finishing were presided over by Ci Yun, the abbot of Taiyin Temple at that time, and his disciples Fa Shu and Fa Man. This inscription records the origin, characters, engraving and some things happened in the process of engraving and printing of Cang Zhao in detail.

The discovery of this stone tablet gives Taiyin Temple an unusual position in the history of Buddhism. In the shade of a tree, there are several stone tablets with different historical stories.

Walking up thirteen steps is the North Hall of Taiyin Hall. It is said that the original North Temple was bigger than it is now, and now only the stylobate remains. In the fifth year of the Republic of China, an old man over sixty came to the temple to plead for his son. When the old man came to burn incense and make a wish all night, he accidentally burned the whole North Temple. The existing North Temple is a family temple, which was later moved from nearby.

The Maitreya Buddha statue enshrined in the North Temple is "big belly can accommodate, and heaven can accommodate the earth." Why can't people tolerate it? " Open your mouth and laugh. Laugh over and laugh. Now, laugh at everything. "It is rumored that this is the sculpture of Zhao and his teacher Pei Yunshan in Jiangxian County.

Rare wood carving reclining Buddha

The existing South Hall in the temple is a building of A Jin Dynasty, with a wooden plaque inscribed with four Chinese characters "Daxiong Hall" and illegible handwriting. It is said that this plaque is an original of the Jin Dynasty. As for why it was not written as "Hall of Great Heroes", it is said that the Taiyin Hall was rebuilt during the war, and the financial and material resources were insufficient, so the word "treasure" was not engraved.

South Hall is the main building of Taiyin Temple and the essence of the whole temple. The whole hall is made of wood structure, and its beams, columns, beams, arches, doors and windows are completely original colors of logs.

When you step into the temple, the first thing you see is the reclining Buddha in the middle, lying in a wooden niche. A closer look shows that this box-shaped niche is actually very large, and it is laid flat on a wooden platform engraved with lotus petals.

Here is the Nirvana statue of Sakyamuni, which is said to be the earliest, largest and most well-preserved wood carving reclining Buddha in China. It is carved from a whole thousand-year-old poplar tree without any connection in the middle, which is very rare and precious. There is a ring of marks on the neck of the Buddha statue, which was left by cultural relics thieves when they tried to steal the Buddha's head with a saw.

Because nirvana is carved, the facial expression of the Buddha statue is very peaceful, with his right hand under his head, his eyes slightly closed, and he is dressed in cassock, which is extraordinary and free from vulgarity. The reclining Buddha in front of me is golden, but it doesn't look so brilliant. With the precipitation of history, it has a different meaning.

Inside the wooden niche next to the reclining Buddha, a group of condolence murals painted during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty are completely preserved, lifelike and lifelike.

Standing in the temple, you can see three painted sculptures of the Jin Dynasty at the top of the hall. Although they are slightly mottled under the dim light due to wind and rain erosion, it is still difficult to hide the exquisite craftsmanship of that year. It's just that the head of the Buddha statue looks a little incongruous. It is understood that the head of the Buddha statue was later replaced by clay sculpture.

According to the inscription, the reclining Buddha and the three Buddha statues were carved when the Taiyin Temple was rebuilt in the twentieth year of Jin Dading (1 180), and were engraved with "Zhao Jincheng Cang". They have guarded this ancient temple for nearly a thousand years, as if telling the passage of time and the vicissitudes of time.

A repainted giant mural

There are huge murals painted on the walls on both sides of the South Hall, which are bright, smooth and lifelike. According to textual research, their painting techniques are exactly the same as those of Yongle Palace, even earlier, and they are rare treasures.

Unfortunately, during the Republic of China, these murals and the heads of three Buddha statues were bribed by colluded Dutch and antique dealers and smuggled abroad at a price of 3,000 yuan, and their whereabouts are still unknown. The murals we see now were painted by later generations.

On the right side of the temple, there is a statue without a left hand, which is the famous "Gong Shu Bodhisattva". He is the former abbot of the temple mentioned in the inscription. Legend has it that when Taiyin Temple was rebuilt, the bell could not be cast several times because the molten iron was not evenly stirred and it was difficult to form. In desperation, Uncle Fa stirred the molten iron with his left hand before casting Hong Zhong in the temple. After his death, in order to commemorate his contribution to the temple, the monks made this sitting statue for him, offering it to the reclining Buddha as a sign of admiration, which has been handed down to this day and is lifelike.

Photography Xue