Travel notes of saionji

I have been planning to go out to play since autumn, but I have never seen a sunny day. In this way, the festival season has entered the deep winter, and the rainy autumn and winter in the south of the Yangtze River has never been seen anywhere else, but whether it is winter or not, I still want to go out for a walk.

? In recent days, I just read Yu Dafu's article and also read "Misty Rain in Suzhou". I thought I could get some opinions about Suzhou from the author, but unfortunately, the author fell ill when writing this article, leaving only the words "This manuscript was closed due to illness", but I can't find the following elsewhere. I got a little inspiration from Yu's prose, kept some such ideas and set off with an umbrella.

? Today, I only went to the West Garden, because I was fascinated by the scenery on the Wisdom Bridge in late summer and early autumn this year, but I didn't leave any satisfactory photos. This trip is not only to make up for my regret, but also to take a walk in saionji. I asked at the ticket office at the gate of the temple and only accepted cash. I think I looked at the cash in the drawer when I left this morning. After all, I thought I wouldn't use it, so I closed the drawer decisively. In retrospect, I regret it, but I have to get the cash first.

? Walking on the waterfront road outside Suzhou Agricultural Technology College, I met a boat on the river, which did not move. An old man in his fifties and sixties was sitting at the bow and stern. From a distance, I just thought they were fishing. When I approached, I found that they were not fishing, but their paddles were also stored in the boat. People coming and going on the shore were also surprised. They stopped to watch, but after ten seconds, they all hurried on, but later. I recall one year when Beijing was bored at first, I went to a remote suburb and heard old people singing loudly. At that time, I only felt that my voice was even lonelier in that lonely winter day.

? When saionji was first built, it was named Guiyuan Temple. People who live or stay in Wuhan must have been to Guiyuan Temple. In Wuhan, Guiyuan Temple can be regarded as the first temple in Jiangcheng, and this Guiyuan Temple in Suzhou was also called the first temple in Wumen in history. After several times of destruction and transformation, its name has changed. As a garden, it was called "West Garden" and later renamed as "No Building Law".

? Entering the temple, you can see the bell tower and drum tower on both sides, and many small camphor trees are neatly arranged in other places. Now is the first day, and people come to worship Buddha and ask for incense in an endless stream. The master at the incense-seeking place patiently persuaded pilgrims to pay attention to environmental protection, but only a few burned incense. When I went to Lingyanshan Temple at the beginning of the year, the master in the temple also advised me so. However, the handwriting on the pillars on both sides of the Hall of Great Heroes has long been blurred by incense, and I can't help but feel a little embarrassed for the masters.

? Through the Dawang Temple, the most conspicuous are the 300-year-old camphor tree and the hundreds of years-old ginkgo. Recently, I heard the romantic wish of the ancient Gusu people, camphor beech tree, and I wondered why I didn't see a beech tree. Maybe it's because saionji has been a garden for a short time.

? When entering Seongji, Luohantang is a must, because it is one of the few places where 500 complete Luohantang statues have been preserved, and the folk customs of several Luohantang are well-known in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Although I have seen the well-preserved Luohan statue in Guiyuan Temple in Wuhan, I still seem to be impressed by it today. Out of the hall of heroes, you can see the release pool. There is a spotted salamander over 400 years old in the pond, which is a national first-class endangered species. It is said that only four of them are still alive today, which has become a symbol that pilgrims regard as a good omen.

? On the other side of the release pond, there is a piece of camphor forest, where the green grass is neat and the rockery is decorated. Walking, if you forget what you just saw and heard, you really feel like you are in a garden. Among the gardens I have been to, only the drunken pool in the suburbs of Shanghai is somewhat similar to this one at the moment, perhaps because it is remote and attracts fewer tourists.

? On the way back, I passed several rockery pavilions and towering old trees all over the temple, including Cinnamomum camphora in his 200 s. I can't help but imagine the picture of the ancients digging holes and planting trees more than 200 years ago, but the towering old trees and the giant salamander for more than 400 years have gone through years and times. How would they feel today if they could talk? Over time, it will leave a deep impression, and the meaningful things in the depth of history, I think, may be as quiet and profound as this temple that has gone through thousands of years, like the ancient trees and gods that have gone through hundreds of years.

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