Jietai Temple

Jietai Temple is famous for its pines. The Five Pines in Jietai Temple are movable pines, free pines, Jiulong pines, Baota pines and Wolong pines. Every time the breeze comes, the pines burst out, forming the unique "Jietai pines" landscape of Jietai Temple. Jietai Temple is also the most complete temple with the largest number of Liao Dynasty cultural relics in northern China. The most special is to retain the pagodas, scriptures, altar and other rare treasures in Liao Dynasty Buddhism.

Jietai Temple

Jietai Temple is located in Ma'anshan, Mentougou District, Beijing. It was built in 622 A.D. in the fifth year of Wude of Tang Dynasty. It was originally named Huiju temple. The Ming Dynasty emperor Yingzong gave it the name of Wanshou temple. Because the temple has the largest Buddhist altar in China, it is commonly known as jietan temple, also known as Jietai Temple.

Jietai Temple is a key cultural relic protection unit in China. It is the most complete temple with the largest number of Liao Dynasty cultural relics in northern China. The most special one is the preservation of pagodas, sutras, altar and other rare treasures in Liao Dynasty Buddhism.

On December 18, 2014, Mentougou District of Beijing ordered the ancient Temple scenic spot to remove the illegal merit box.

Historical evolution

According to the existing inscriptions in Jietai Temple and relevant documents, the temple was formerly known as Huiju temple, which was founded in the fifth year of Wude (622) of emperor Gaozu of Tang Dynasty. It was the place where Zen master Zhizhou was known for his abstinence at that time.

During the reign of emperor daozong of Liao Dynasty in Qingning, a famous monk Fajun came to hide in this mountain. Fajun was appointed to assist lvjintai songwu in the winter of 1069. He built a Bodhisattva altar on the left side of the temple, which covered four groups and lasted for thousands of years. At that time, not only the people under the jurisdiction of Liao came here, but also many people from the Southern Song Dynasty came here to receive precepts.

In the Yuan Dynasty, the eminent monk of this temple was the elder of Yuequan. There is an inscription on the tablet "the combined preface to the new elder tower of Yuequan in Huiju temple in Ma'anshan", which was established in 1368. It is recorded that "yinziyun mountain has changed its color, the bell and Drum Tower has new sound, and it is graceful both inside and outside. It is well-known that in the last three to five years, it has built more industries, opened up mountains, broken walls and decadent houses, which is nothing but to help Chu.". At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the temple and the altar were destroyed by war.

During the Xuande period of Ming Dynasty, the eunuch Ruan Jian and other eunuchs used the gold coins given by the emperor to "buy materials for work, serve the third Buddha in the main hall, list the sixteen Arhats on the left and right, build the four heavenly kings hall on the outside, the Kalan hall on the left and the zushi hall on the right. There are veranda on the East and West, the veranda on the outside, the performance hall, and the monk's Zhai, Pao and Ku Li. Mi doesn't have them. Three gates are built outside, surrounded by walls." Master Zhihuan was in charge of the renovation project. It started in 1434 and was completed in 1440. After completion, Wang zhenzou, the eunuch of rites, asked him to change his name. Emperor Yingzong granted the title of "Wanshou Temple".

In the Qing Dynasty, the famous eminent monk of this temple was Zizhe Gong, who lived in this temple for more than 40 years since the year of Kangxi. According to the literature, the temple was repaired in Qing Dynasty. Only in 1891, Prince Gong paid for the repair of Luohan hall, Qianfo Pavilion and Beigong (peony courtyard). In addition, it can be seen from the inscriptions that there are many "meetings" organized by non-governmental organizations, such as "dizang meeting", "Sanyuan Dabei meeting", "Dabei Xinjing meeting", "Guangyi rice meeting", "Wuxian God of wealth meeting" and so on. They have built some small halls in the open space of the temple, such as the God of wealth hall, Niangniang hall, master hall, dizang hall and so on, which makes some non Buddhist halls appear in this Buddhist temple.

After 1949, the Buddhist activities in Jietai Temple were stopped and managed by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of landscape architecture, which opened it up as a park. After 1966, the thousand Buddha Pavilion was demolished for repairing the temple of heaven. Most of the Buddha statues in the temple were destroyed during the cultural revolution. Since the 1980s, the temple has been reopened after major repair, and a number of Buddha statues have been reconstructed by Beijing sculpture factory.

Jietai Temple was listed as the first batch of cultural relics protection units in Beijing on October 28, 1957. In 1998, the Buddhist Association of China selected monks to settle in.

architectural composition

The temple is located in the West and faces east. On the central axis, there are Shanmen hall, the second floor of bells and drums, Tianwang hall, Daxiong hall, Qianfo Pavilion (site), Guanyin hall and Jietai hall. Among them, Jietai is the central building. The palace is built on the mountain.

The architectural pattern of the temple is unique. The main temples are located in the West and face the East. The central axis of the temple directly points to the city of Beijing, which is 70 kilometers away. The architectural style of the temple is basically the style of the Liao Dynasty. Turning north from the site of thousand Buddha Pavilion, you can see a courtyard with two entrances. The courtyard is elegant and quiet. Since the Qing Dynasty, it has been famous for planting cloves and peonies, especially rare species such as black peony. It is the icing on the cake, so it is called peony courtyard. Yixin, Prince of Qing Gong, lived in seclusion here for 10 years. The architectural style of peony courtyard is unique. It combines the traditional courtyard form of Beijing with the garden art of Jiangnan. The scale of the altar in the temple was formed during the reign of Liao, Xian and Yong dynasties. People call it "the first altar in the world". It is the highest level place to receive precepts in the history of Chinese Buddhism. Although it has gone through many vicissitudes, it is still well preserved.

Temple attractions

Tourism information

Business hours: 8:30-17:30 (summer) 8:30-16:30 (winter)

Route:

1. Along Fushi road to the West - Shuangyu Huandao to the South - shimenying ring - 108 National Road auxiliary road 7 km

2. From the west railway station along Lianshi road to the West WoLonggang shimenying ring road to the auxiliary road of national highway 108, 7 km away (there are entrances and exits on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th ring roads)

3. Westbound Chang'an Street right bound Shougang east gate left bound Shijingshan overpass south bound Shuangyu Huandao

4. Take the subway to Pingguoyuan station, transfer to 948 and get off at jietaisi station

The case of merit box

On December 17, 2014, the column of "China online affairs" broadcasted the report that "in the Millennium ancient temple," the box of merits and virtues "has become a" small treasury "of listed companies, which aroused widespread concern.

On the morning of December 18, 2014, Mentougou District minzongqiaoban, the United Front Work Department of the district Party committee, the District Tourism Committee, the District Public Security Bureau and other departments jointly inspected and renovated the private merit boxes in Tanzhe Temple and Jietai Temple.

The inspectors interviewed the person in charge of the enterprises in the scenic spots of the two temples, and ordered Tanzhe Temple scenic spot and Jietai Temple scenic spot to remove all the merit boxes illegally set up. In the future, the relevant departments of the district will conduct irregular inspections to ensure the regular order of religious places.

Address: Ma'an, Yongding town, Mentougou District, Beijing

Longitude: 116.09439849454

Latitude: 39.872458417241

Tel: 010-69806611; 010-608

Tour time: 0.5-1 day

Traffic information: Metro: Metro Line 1, exit a of apple garden station, transfer to bus 931 and 948

Self driving:

1. Follow Fushi road to the west, Shuangyu Huandao to the south, shimenying ring, national highway 108, 7km away

2. It is 7km from the west railway station to the west along Lianshi Road, WoLonggang, shimenying Ring Road and 108 National Highway (the 2nd, 3rd and 4th ring roads have import and export)

3. Westbound Chang'an Street right of East Gate of Shougang plant left of Shijingshan overpass south of Shuangyu Huandao

Ticket information: 45 yuan / person, 22 yuan / person for students, free for soldiers and the elderly over 65 years old. The joint ticket of Jietai Temple and Tanzhe Temple is 80 yuan per person, which can only be purchased in Tanzhe Temple

Opening hours: Summer: 8:00-17:30

Winter: 8:00-17:00