The daxiangguo Temple

Daxiangguo temple in Kaifeng, formerly known as Jianguo temple, is the place where Lu Zhishen pulled down willows in Outlaws of the marsh. It is also a royal temple in Song Dynasty.

Today's daxiangguo temple is mostly rebuilt in recent years. There are no statues in Daxiong hall, but there are often cultural relics and cultural and artistic exhibitions.

The Luohan hall in the temple, commonly known as the "octagonal glazed hall", is an octagonal cloister style building. Here you can see the wooden statues of Guanyin with thousands of hands and eyes during the reign of Emperor Qianlong.

The daxiangguo Temple

Daxiangguo temple, formerly known as Jianguo temple, is located in the west section of Ziyou Road, Kaifeng City, Henan Province

It was built in 555, the sixth year of Tianbao in the Northern Qi Dynasty. In the first year of Yanhe (712) of Tang Dynasty, Emperor Ruizong of Tang Dynasty was given the name of daxiangguo temple in memory of his ascendance to the throne by the prime minister. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Xiangguo Temple was deeply respected by the royal family and expanded many times. It was the largest temple in the capital and the National Buddhist activity center. Later, it was damaged by war and flood. It was rebuilt in 1671. Today, there are many historical sites, such as Tianwang hall, Daxiong hall, octagonal glazed hall, sutra collection building, qianshouqianyan Buddha and so on. In August 1992, Buddhist activities were resumed and bell and drum towers were rebuilt. The whole temple layout is rigorous, majestic and spectacular, and was rated as national AAAA tourist attraction in 2002.

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Historical evolution

Daxiangguo temple is said to be the former residence of xinlingjun, Prince of Wei during the Warring States period.

In 555, the sixth year of Tianbao in the Northern Qi Dynasty, Jianguo temple was founded here. It was destroyed by floods and fires. It has a history of more than 1400 years.

At the beginning of Tang Dynasty, it was the residence of Sima ZHENGJING in Shezhou. In the first year of Chang'an (701), Huiyun and Shangmu built a temple. In the first year of Yanhe (712), Ruizong changed its name to Xiangguo Temple

And the plaque of "daxiangguo Temple" was given, which is commonly known as Xiangguo Temple. During the reign of Dashun (890-891), Zhao Zong was destroyed by fire and rebuilt.

In May of the third year of Jianlong (962), song Taizu suffered a fire again and then rebuilt. By the first year of Daoyuan (1995), large-scale expansion was started and completed in the fourth year of Xianping (1001).

In the second year of Hongwu (1396) of the Ming Dynasty, it was repaired by imperial edict, and then suffered from flood. It was renovated twice in the fourth year of Yongle (1406) and the 20th year of Chenghua (1484) of Ming Dynasty, and was given the title of "CHONGFA Temple" and the Zisheng pavilion was rebuilt in the 16th year of Jinjing (1537). Jiajing 32 years (1553) and Wanli 35 years (1607) and rebuilt. In 1642, the Yellow River flooded, Kaifeng was flooded and all the buildings were destroyed.

In 1661, Shanmen, Tianwang hall and Daxiong hall were rebuilt and renamed Xiangguo Temple. In 1671, the Sutra collection building was rebuilt. From the 16th to the 21st year of Kangxi reign, the central hall and veranda were built. Qianlong 31 years (1776) and rebuilt, the existing buildings are built at that time. In the 24th year of Jiaqing, Zhihai temple was rebuilt, and in the reign of Daoguang and Guangxu, some minor renovations were made.

In the early years of the Republic of China (1912-1919), octagonal hall was renovated and FA Tang was rebuilt. In 1927, Feng Yuxiang changed Xiangguo Temple into "Zhongshan market". In 1933, Liu Zhi moved the provincial public education center to Xiangguo Temple.

After 1949, Xiangguo Temple was rebuilt and restored.

geographical environment

Daxiangguo temple is located in the hinterland of the Central Plains, the eastern Henan plain and the south wing of the alluvial fan in the lower reaches of the Yellow River

It is a warm temperate continental monsoon climate with four distinct seasons, sufficient light, mild climate and moderate rainfall.

architectural composition

Daxiangguo temple is a traditional axial layout in China. Its main buildings are gate, Tianwang hall, Daxiong hall, octagonal glazed hall, and Sutra collection hall. It is distributed along the axis from south to north. The East and West attics and verandahs on both sides of the hall stand opposite each other. Both the Sutra Pavilion and the main hall were built in the Qing Dynasty, with double eaves and hills, and layers of brackets covered with yellow and green glazed tiles. The hall and platform are surrounded by white stone railings. The octagonal glazed hall rises high in the center, surrounded by verandahs, covered with glazed tiles, and hung with bells at its wings and corners. Inside the hall is a wooden statue of the esoteric school, surrounded by a thousand hands and dry eyes of Avalokitesvara. It is about seven meters high and covered with gold. It is said that it is carved from a whole ginkgo tree, which is extremely exquisite. There is a huge bell about four meters high in the bell tower of the Qing Dynasty, weighing more than ten thousand jin. It is known as "prime minister frost bell" and is one of the eight sceneries of Kaifeng.

Main attractions

Shanmen

The gate of daxiangguo temple was originally built in Qianlong of Qing Dynasty. It was destroyed by gunfire when Kaifeng was liberated. After liberation, the government built a brick archway as the gate. Today, the temple gate is built by the Abbot's heart, and the plaque is inscribed by Zhao Puchu, the former president of the Chinese Buddhist Association.

Two floors of Bell and drum

The two floors of the bell and drum of the great Xiangguo Temple were rebuilt in 1992. The bronze bell hanging in the bell tower is a relic of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty. It weighs five tons, is 2.23 meters high, and has a diameter of 1.81 meters. It is inscribed with the 16 character inscription "Fa Lun Chang Zhuan, Huang Tu Yong Gu, di Dao Xu Chang, fo ri Zeng Hui". The bell sound is loud and beautiful, especially in the autumn and winter frost days, the sound is clear and clear, resounding throughout the city, known as the "prime minister frost bell", which is one of the eight sceneries in Bianjing.

Tianwang Hall

The Tianwang Hall of daxiangguo temple was built in Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. The hall is five rooms wide and three rooms deep, with single eaves, green glazed tile roof and lintel. It is also inscribed by Zhao Puchu.

main hall

After the Tianwang hall, the majestic building with double eaves and Xieshan is the main hall of daxiangguo temple, which was built in Shunzhi of Qing Dynasty. It has seven rooms in width, five rooms in depth and about 13 meters in height. Its magnificent momentum can be regarded as the treasure of ancient architecture and is known as "the first Hall of Central Plains". Around the hall and on the watchposts of the white stone railings on the platform, there are 58 carved lions in various shapes. In this hall, Sakyamuni, Amitabha and the third Buddha of pharmacist Buddha are worshipped, all of which are three feet high. The eighteen Arhats are worshipped on the platforms of the East and west walls. Behind the third Buddha is a large-scale sculpture Island Guanyin, which is based on the story of shancai boy 53 Shen in Huayan Sutra, vividly showing the scene of Nanhai Guanyin's universal salvation.

Octagonal glazed Palace

The third Buddha Hall on the central axis is called Luohan hall. It is octagonal shaped, commonly known as "octagonal glazed hall". Its unique shape is unique in Chinese Buddhist temples. The hall, which was built in Qianlong of Qing Dynasty, covers an area of 828 square meters and consists of three parts: corridor hall, courtyard and central Pavilion.

In the octagonal pavilion in the center of Luohan hall, there is a statue of Avalokitesvara with thousands of hands and eyes. This statue is carved from a complete ginkgo tree. It was a masterpiece of 58 years' hard work by an unknown folk artist during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. The statue is more than 3 meters high and weighs about 2000 kg. It has the same shape on all sides. Each side has six big hands and three to four layers of fan-shaped hands. Each hand has an eye engraved in it, with a total of 1048 eyes. It is commonly known as "thousand eyes thousand hands Buddha" among the people. It is one of the 32 disguised forms of Guanyin Bodhisattva. This statue is not only precious in material, but also exquisite in carving. It is a magic work. It is the treasure of daxiangguo temple.

Sutra Library

The last tall two-story building is the "Sutra house". As the name suggests, the Sutra house is the place where Buddhist classics are preserved and collected

. The Sutra collection building of daxiangguo temple was built in the reign of Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty. It covers an area of more than 680 square meters, with 5 rooms in width, 5 meters in depth and more than 20 meters in height. Under the eaves of the Ming room of the Sutra library, there is a signboard of seal script with black characters on a white background. It is said that it is the ink of sun Xingyan, a great calligrapher of the Qing Dynasty.

Master Hall

On the west side of the Sutra building is the master hall, which is the memorial hall of Konghai master. In front of the hall stands the monument of Master Kong Hai and a pair of rare stone six tooth statues. There is a bronze statue of Master Kong Hai and a photo exhibition of his life. The bronze statue of master is 2.5 meters high and weighs more than 3000 Jin. It is presented to Japanese friends.

Cultural Activity

At the beginning of the new year, the Lantern Festival is held in daxiangguo temple. In October, with the opening of the Kaifeng Chrysanthemum Flower Festival, the grand Prime Minister temple will hold an annual water and land law Festival, praying for abundant grain, prosperity, prosperity and peace.

Honor of scenic spot

In 1963, it was designated as a key cultural relic protection unit at the provincial level;

In 2002, it was rated as AAAA scenic spot by the National Tourism Administration.

Travel Tips

Opening hours: 8:00-18:30

admission ticket:

1. Adult ticket: 45 yuan

2. Student ticket: 23 yuan (above 1.4 meters)

Free policy: from the resumption of operation of the scenic spot to December 31, 2020, all medical workers in China (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) will enter the park free of charge with valid certificates, and a green channel will be opened for the team of medical workers.

Surrounding accommodation: Kaifeng Youth Theme Inn, 7 days hotel, Kaifeng shiqiaokou Hotel, Kaifeng Yi · Lily theme hotel, etc.

Direct to the city: take No.5, No.9, No.20 bus from the railway station, or take kaifengguan bus