When you pass by the Buddha Temple during the day, you will feel that it is very ordinary, just an ordinary building. But at night, turn on the light and you will be impressed by its grandeur. At the beginning of the lighting, the night falls, and the bright lights set off the appearance of the century-old teak temple, bringing people a very amazing vision. After seeing the tall Lingnan-style buildings and warm lights, many people think that it is similar to Hongya Cave in Chongqing, just like the exterior of the real version of "Spirited Away".
The Buddhist Temple was built in the Southern Han Dynasty (AD 9 17-97 1), and it was named Xinzang Temple. It was built on the Six Miles of the Southern Han Dynasty and spent 28 nights in the sky. By the time of the Song Dynasty, the new Tibetan temple built by Liuli no longer existed. In the Yuan Dynasty, a Futian Temple was built on the original site of Xinzang Temple, and it was expanded into Longzang Temple in the Ming Dynasty. However, this temple is really troublesome. The Qing army entered Guangzhou and carried out a massacre. At that time, the Longzang Temple, as an official office, was burned down by the Qing army. So, how did the current Big Buddha Temple come from? This is about to mention one person: Shang Kexi.
It is said that Shangkexi's historical position can be equal to that of Wu Sangui. After he captured Guangzhou, he slaughtered it, and later even let those Guangzhou people who were not slaughtered kowtow to him. This man committed a heinous crime against Guangzhou. Although he was named "Prince Pingnan" by Emperor Kangxi after taking the city, he knew that he was guilty and was ashamed of the murdered souls in Guangzhou. Perhaps for peace of mind, he rebuilt a temple on the original site of Longzang Temple with his own money. This temple is now the Great Buddha Temple.
King Shangkexi of Pingnan rebuilt the Great Buddha Temple in the spring of the second year of Kangxi, imitating the official temple system in Shi Jing, and rebuilding a temple with Lingnan local style, which has high cultural and artistic appreciation value. In the 11th year of Yongzheng (1733), Liu Shu, the magistrate of Guangzhou, chose the Great Buddha Temple as the place to proclaim the Oracle, and built a pavilion in front of it. At the same time, there are Wei Tuo Hall, Jialan Hall, "Buddha Country" and "Zen Forest" on both sides of the main hall. At this time, the scope of the temple expanded, Buddhism flourished and its reputation spread far and wide, becoming one of the five jungles after the recovery.
After the Cultural Revolution, the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government approved the reopening of the Great Buddha Temple. 198 1 year, Master Guangming, vice president of Guangzhou Buddhist Association, became the abbot and began to rebuild. After hard work, the Hall of the Great Heroes was restored to its original appearance, and three bronze Buddha statues were recast, each with a height of 6 meters and a weight of 10 ton. More and more domestic and foreign tourists and pilgrims come to visit the Buddha ceremony.
You can visit, pray and worship in the Buddha Temple. Friends passing by can worship for free and pray for themselves and their families. It is said that there is also a self-help vegetarian diet, which is various and well-made, breaking the stereotype of vegetarianism.
The name of the Big Buddha Temple comes from the three "Three Buddhas" enshrined in the Ursa Major Hall. In the middle is Tathagata, representing the present; On the right hand side is the pharmacist Buddha, representing the past; On the left is Maitreya, representing the future. Buddha statues made of brass were built in the early years of Kangxi, each of which was 6 meters high and weighed 10 ton. Because it is too big, each statue is divided into five sections and then welded. Each section is connected accurately and the joints are small, which shows the superb technology at that time. In addition, there is a 4-meter-high and 5-ton Guanyin statue on the back of the giant Buddha. Four bronze statues were demolished during the Cultural Revolution and then moved to Liu Rong Temple for worship. The present Buddha statue was later recast as it is.
The Buddha Temple named after the Giant Buddha has left a deep cultural imprint in Guangzhou. Legend has it that at the end of the Qing Dynasty, there was a teahouse in Guangzhou, named Natural Residence. Someone published a palindrome, the first part is:
Guests come from nature, but guests come from heaven.
Guangzhou humorist He Danru made a bottom line after reading it:
People have visited the Great Buddha Temple, and the Buddha in the temple is bigger than others.
Times have changed, and natural dwellings no longer exist. However, the famous saying that "people pass through the Great Buddha Temple, and the Buddha in the temple is bigger than others" has been passed down from generation to generation in Guangzhou.
In addition to actively engaging in religious activities, the Great Buddha Temple also established the first Buddhist library in Guangdong Province, which was open to the public free of charge, and became a branch of Zhongshan Library in Guangdong Province in 2003. At present, the library has more than 200,000 books and 6,543.8+10,000 kinds. Its collection resources are characterized by Buddhist scriptures, jurisprudence, doctrines and their annotations, notes, doctrines and other books, including 15 kinds and 23 sets of Tripitaka. Non-Buddhist books are mainly literature, history, art and philosophy. Since its establishment, the library has received more than 5 million borrowers, which has become an important cultural card of the Buddha Temple.
Relying on cultural construction, Buddhist temples have successively set up Buddhist recitation halls, children's classic recitation classes, Lingnan Guqin classes, Buddhist conch fan orchestras, dying groups, Sino-foreign Buddhist exchange seminars, English Buddhist lecture classes, Baguanting Buddhist retreat groups, off-campus practice bases in colleges and universities, readers' clubs and youth meditation classes. Although these achievements are not so sensational, they have brought a breeze to the influence of temples that have attracted much attention at present.
■ Walking on the sidewalk of Beijing Road with layers of Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing and modern, looking up at the magnificent and luxurious Buddhist temple, trying to trace the vicissitudes of Guangzhou. Built in the Southern Han Dynasty, destroyed in the Song Dynasty, rebuilt in the Yuan Dynasty, expanded in the Ming Dynasty, destroyed by the Qing army entering the city ... and then built after the massacre ... It is now rejuvenated-the Great Buddha Temple is now so integrated with Buddhism and customs that it has reached a new realm.
Whether you are a passer-by in a hurry or a sincere pilgrim, the splendid lights of the temple can always make you stand for a long time. Light a praying oil lamp, listen to chanting for a while, stand in the temple, and escape from the bustling moment as if it were a lifetime ago. It was not until the hustle and bustle of the surrounding downtown pulled you back to the world that you found out that this is the place of self-cultivation hidden in the city.