From the west to the beginning

From the west to the beginning

Xilai is located in the north of Xiajiu Road, Liwan District, Guangzhou City, China. At present, the surrounding area has become a residential area and a commercial street.

geographical position

Xilai is located in the north of Xiajiu Road, Liwan District, Guangzhou City, China. Before the Sui Dynasty, it was on the Bank of the Pearl River. In 526, the seventh year of emperor Liangwu of the Southern Dynasty, Bodhidharma, an eminent monk of the kingdom of Zhu, crossed to Guangzhou and landed at xiuyifang Wharf (now near Xiajiu Road), where Xilai temple was built to preach. Later believers believed that Dharma was the ancestor of Chinese Zen Buddhism, and its landing site was the birthplace of the West. In 1655, Xilai temple was rebuilt and renamed Hualin temple, which became a famous temple in Guangdong. At present, the surrounding area has become a residential area and a commercial street.

The stone tablet of "Xilai ancient bank" is located at the corner of Xilai Main Street, Shangxiajiu Road, Guangzhou today.

The origin of history

The original site of Xilai is a combination of several inner streets connecting Shangxiajiu road in Guangzhou. On the top of the site is a Hualin temple built in the early Qing Dynasty. There is a stone tablet at the corner of the street, which is engraved with the word "ancient shore from the west", meaning that Dharma, a monk from India, landed here in ancient times.

The layout of Hualin temple is different from that of ordinary temples. There is no main hall, and the 500 arhat hall becomes the main hall. Before the completion of Damo hall, it was the only hall in the temple. Five hundred Arhats are full of joys, sorrows and joys. They are resplendent and resplendent, with different shapes, which make visitors dazzled and forget to return. It's said that you can count the Arhats according to your age. The four verses on the lintel of the arhat you get are your destiny. Believe it or not. Anyway, I get different verses every time.

Story recording

At that time, after landing in Guangzhou, Dharma built a temple called xilai'an at the landing site. It is also the predecessor of today's Hualin temple. Hualin temple is located in the downtown area, surrounded by jade shops. It's just a step away from the prosperous downtown area and the quiet jungle. Sometimes I wonder, can monks in temples really stand loneliness? Is it really the Buddha who faces the clear lamp all day long? It's not going to work in the temple during the day, burning incense, chanting scriptures, knocking wooden fish, going home from work at night, sleeping in a high bed with a warm pillow and a beautiful woman? It's a little smudgy. It's a sin. From this we can see that only when we can stand loneliness, stand boredom and devote ourselves to study, can we achieve something and become a great master. Just like cicada, only by dormant in the depths of the earth for a few days, can one day break the ground and make a big splash.

The layout of Hualin temple is different from that of ordinary temples. There is no main hall, so the 500 arhat hall becomes the main hall. Before the completion of Damo hall, it was the only hall in the temple. Five hundred Arhats are full of joys, sorrows and joys. They come in different shapes and are resplendent in gold and jade. They really make visitors dazzled and forget to return. It is said that the four verses on the lintel of Rohan are your destiny.

The ancestral hall of Dharma hall was rebuilt in the 1990s to commemorate the ancestors of Dharma. The hall faces south from the north. There is a pair of woodcut couplets on the stone pillars in front of the hall, which reads: "the Eastern Zen preaches wonderful methods, and the Western Baodian opens up Hualin", praising the early ancestor Damo's spreading of religious culture in China from the West. On the white stone foundation in the middle of the north wall of the hall, there is a statue of Bodhidharma, which is like an Indian monk, wearing a cassock, sitting on his left leg and bending his right foot. There is a big incense tripod in the square of the main hall, which is full of incense. It seems that Dharma is really popular among the people and is praised and worshipped by the mortals.

Address: xilaizheng street, north of Xiajiu Road, Liwan District, Guangzhou

Longitude: 113.24524112269

Latitude: 23.113632933806

Ticket information: no ticket required.