Architectural history of Guiyuan Temple
Guiyuan Buddhist Temple is a Zen Buddhist temple, which was completed in about 1658 (the 15th year of Qing Shunzhi). Its base is in the scenic spot under the Cuiwei Peak in the Kwai Garden of Hanyang poet Wang in the Ming Dynasty, which has a history of more than 300 years. Guiyuan Temple is divided into five courtyards, east, west, south, north and middle, covering an area of 20,000 square meters. There are 28 existing temples and pavilions, and the overall plane layout is cassock-like, which is the main difference between Guiyuan Temple and other Buddhist temples in architectural layout.
Guiyuan Temple was founded by two lay brothers, Bai Guang and Zhu Feng, whose ancestral homes were in Zhejiang. They went to xingguo temple, Hanyang to study Tibetan scriptures, and at the same time they practiced medicine and did good deeds for three years. Sun Yaoguang and Dai Tiancheng, wealthy businessmen in Hanyang, were deeply moved, so people paid for the construction of Guiyuan Buddhist Temple. The word "Guiyuan" comes from the Buddhist sutra "Lengyan Sutra": there are no two ways to Guiyuan, but there are many conveniences, which means that there are many ways to unify all laws and facilitate people. Zen means thinking, contemplating, abandoning evil, etc. Zen is one of the schools that combine Mahayana Buddhism with Confucianism.
The nameplates of most temples are hung on the lintel of the three doors of the temple, while Guiyuan Temple is a straight plaque, which is rare in the whole country and can be called a must in the jungle. Before the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty (182 1- 1850), there were horizontal books engraved in Guiyuan Temple. Daoguang likes white light, and the main peak does good deeds and accumulates virtue. He personally gave one side of the imperial seal and its seal to Cao Dongzong XXXI, the founder of Baiguang Main Peak, to show his kindness. Since then, the status of Guiyuan Temple in the Buddhist jungle has been greatly improved, and the name of the temple has also been changed to a straight book that can only be used by buildings given by the emperor.
Legend of Guiyuan Temple
The five hundred arhats in Guiyuan Temple have different shapes, all of which are vivid and moving. One year when there was a flood, all the arhats were submerged in the water, but when the water receded, they were still intact. People often say that it is difficult for a clay idol to cross the river, but Luohan in Guiyuan Temple is an exception.
Luohan in Guiyuan Temple has a very special production process, which is called bodiless lacquer plastic process. Legend has it that after Guiyuan Temple is completed, 500 arhats will be built. Two clay figurines were invited from Huangpi County (now huangpi district). These two men are both father and son and master and apprentice, and this is the way to go.
Lohan spectrum comes from Tianzhu country. It is said that there are only two sets in China, one in Tiantong Temple in Zhejiang and the other in Zhu Sheng Temple in Hunan. The old sculptor traveled across mountains and rivers to Zhu Sheng Temple, painted the Lohan spectrum one by one, took it back, and then began to make statues.
It's easy to make a statue, but difficult to show it. The sculptor doesn't want to paint a gourd ladle. It is difficult for him to shape all kinds of expressions of Lohan! Guiyuan Temple is surrounded by rural areas. When farmers are farming, resting, passing by or sleeping in the shade, the old sculptors watch them one by one, keep them in mind and skillfully turn them into arhats. That's not enough. Sometimes, he called the children nearby, deliberately let them play, carefully observed and pondered, and even remembered their naughty appearance of digging their ears and hugging their feet, and shaped them on Lohan's body. It is said that six dramas of Lohan are shaped in this way.
Plastic clay tires are easily deformed and damaged. How can it be passed down from generation to generation? The old sculptor tried many methods and failed.
Once, when he saw a Fujian bodiless lacquer ware, he asked how to make it. According to that method, he used a mixture of hemp fiber, kudzu cloth, raw lacquer and Guanyin soil to paste the molded clay tire layer by layer, dried it, and filled it with water to melt the mud, and the hollow arhat was made. The water is not wet, the fire is not rotten, it is very strong, and it is ups and downs, ups and downs, ups and downs, emotional ups and downs, different expressions, lifelike, just like a real person.
The old sculptor devoted all his sculptures to Lohan and died before he finished carving. His son inherited his stepfather's business and then began to carve. His craft is also very clever, and it has been shaped to 499. Suddenly, his heart beat, and he thought, among all the arhats, which one doesn't have his father's efforts? His old man's house will also be enshrined here as a memorial for future generations, so the old sculptor will be molded into the 500 th arhat.
The custom of burning incense has been preserved to this day.
Therefore, when burning incense for arhat, an arhat has a column of incense, which is exactly 500; But if you count the arhats one by one, there will be only 499!
It has become a custom for tourists to count Luohan in Guiyuan Temple. In the Lohan Hall, men are left and women are right, some start with the first Lohan, and some randomly choose a Lohan as a starting point, and increase by age in turn, until you reach your actual age, and see how lucky you are this year.