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Baiyun Temple (Mount Wutai)
The Baiyun Temple () is a Buddhist temple located in Taihuai Town of Wutai County, Xinzhou, Shanxi, China. Baiyun Temple was originally built in the Tang dynasty (618-907), but because of war and natural disasters and wars has been rebuilt numerous times since then. The present version was completed in 2005. History Baiyun Temple was first established in the Tang dynasty (618-907) by a Buddhism believer from Taiyuan, Shanxi. According to the earliest literature records, "Jinding Temple in Mount Jiuhua in the southern China, and Baiyun Temple in Mount Wutai in northern China". In the Song dynasty (960-1279), Chan master Daofeng () served as abbot of Baiyun Temple, Bishan Temple, Jindeng Temple and Lianjin Temple. The temple had reached unprecedented heyday in that time. In the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (1654-1722), he worshiped Baiyun Temple and wrote a poem ''Baiyun Temple''. Later in 1748 in the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (1711-1799), a fire devastated two thirds of its bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahavira Hall
A Mahavira Hall, usually simply known as a Main Hall, is the main hall or building in a traditional Chinese Buddhist temple, enshrining representations of Gautama Buddha and various other buddhas and bodhisattvas. It is encountered throughout East Asia. Names From their importance and use, they are often simply known in English as the temples' "Main" or "Great Halls". The term "Mahavira Hall", also encountered as "Mahāvīra Hall" or "Hall of the Mahāvīra", is a reverse translation, employing the original Sanskrit term in place of its Chinese or English equivalent. They are also known as the Precious Hall of the Great Hero, the Hall of Great Strength, or the Daxiongbao Hall. Less often, a main hall is called an "adytum", after the equivalent area in Greco-Roman temples. It is also sometimes misunderstood as the "Great, Powerful, and Precious Palace".. Description Mahavira Hall is the main hall of a Buddhist temple. It is generally located in the north of the Heavenly King H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Wutai
Mount Wutai, also known by its Chinese name Wutaishan and as is a sacred Buddhist site at the headwaters of the Qingshui in Shanxi Province, China. Its central area is surrounded by a cluster of flat-topped peaks roughly corresponding to the cardinal directions. The north peak (Beitai Ding or Yedou Feng) is the highest () and is also the highest point in northern China. As host to over 53 sacred monasteries, Mount Wutai is home to many of China's most important monasteries and temples. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009 and named a AAAAA tourist attraction by China's National Tourism Administration in 2007. Significance Mount Wutai is one of the Four Sacred Mountains in Chinese Buddhism. Each of the mountains is viewed as the bodhimaṇḍa () of one of the four great bodhisattvas. Wǔtái is the home of the Bodhisattva of wisdom, Mañjuśrī or "" () in Chinese. Mañjuśrī has been associated with Mount Wutai since ancient times. Paul Williams writes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hall Of Guru
The Hall of Guru or Guru Hall (), also known as the Founder's Hall, is the most important annex halls in Chinese Buddhist temples for enshrining masters of various Buddhism schools. It is encountered throughout East Asia, including in some Japanese Buddhist Kaisandos (). The Hall of Guru is generally situated to the west of the Mahavira Hall. Chan Buddhist temples usually have the Hall of Guru, which is followed by other schools' temples. Therefore three statues are always enshrined in the Guru Hall, namely the founder of the school, the senior monk who make significant contributions to the establishment of the school and the builder of the temple. Generally the Guru Hall in Chan Buddhism temples has Bodhidharma enshrined in the middle, the 6th Master Huineng's (638-713) statue on the left and Master Baizhang Huaihai's (720-814) statue on the right. Patriarch Bodhidharma and ''Damo'' () for short, from south of ancient India, was the original ancestor of Chan Buddhism. The 6th Mas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hall Of Kshitigarbha
The Hall of Kṣitigarbha or Kṣitigarbha Hall () is one of the most important annexed halls in Chinese Buddhist temples. It is named after its primary function of enshrining the bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha. Origin As his name occurs in Chinese texts such as the ''Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Pūrvapraṇidhāna Sūtra'' (), the Chinese name of Kṣitigarbha is "Dìzàng" (地藏; ). The '' Daśacakra Kṣitigarbha Sūtra'' () elaborates: ::"Kṣitigarbha is patient and immovable like the great earth; his meditation is deep and profound like a secret storehouse." ::() Due to Shakyamuni Buddha's exhortations, Kṣitigarbha has to cultivate all the living creatures in adherence to the Dharma and eliminate all suffering in the period spanning from Shakyamuni's Parinirvana to Maitreya's final birth. Kṣitigarbha has made the vow: ::"Until the hells are empty (of suffering beings), I will not become a Buddha." ::() ::"Once all sentient beings are saved, I will attain Buddhahood." :: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drum Tower (Asia)
A drum tower () or gulou is a tower in the center of an old Chinese city or village, housing signal drums. There was usually also a bell tower nearby. There were once found all over China in villages, marking the symbolic center of the settlement and used to mark nightfall and to summon the people for civic ceremonies and significant occasions, such as Chinese New Year. The drum tower often being located in the symbolic center of a city, downtown districts of several Chinese cities have been named after the tower. See also * Drum tower (Chinese Buddhism), a different type of drum tower Individual drum towers * Gulou and Zhonglou (Beijing) (Drum Tower and Bell Tower of Beijing) * Drum Tower of Xi'an * Drum Tower of Nanjing * Bianjing Drum Tower The Bianjing Drum Tower, also known as the Bianjing Pavilion and by its Chinese name as the Bianjing Lou, is a drum tower in Shangguan, the seat of Dai County, Xinzhou Prefecture, Shanxi, in the People's Republic of China. It dates t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bell Tower
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell towers, often part of a municipal building, an educational establishment, or a tower built specifically to house a carillon. Church bell towers often incorporate clocks, and secular towers usually do, as a public service. The term campanile (, also , ), deriving from the Italian ''campanile'', which in turn derives from ''campana'', meaning "bell", is synonymous with ''bell tower''; though in English usage campanile tends to be used to refer to a free standing bell tower. A bell tower may also in some traditions be called a belfry, though this term may also refer specifically to the substructure that houses the bells and the ringers rather than the complete tower. The tallest free-standing bell tower in the world, high, is the Mortegliano B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hall Of Four Heavenly Kings
The Hall of Four Heavenly Kings or Four Heavenly Kings Hall (), referred to as Hall of Heavenly Kings, is the first important hall inside a shanmen (mount gate) in Chinese Buddhist temples and is named due to the Four Heavenly Kings statues enshrined in the hall. Maitreya Buddha is enshrined in the Hall of Heavenly King and at the back of his statue is a statue of Skanda Bodhisattva facing the northern Mahavira Hall. In Buddhism, the Maitreya Buddha, also the future Buddha is Sakyamuni's successor. In the history of Chinese Buddhism, Maitreya Buddha has the handsome image in which he wears a coronet on his head and yingluo () on his body and his hands pose in mudras. According to ' (; ''Sung kao-seng chuan''), in the Later Liang Dynasty (907-923), there was a fat and big-stomached monk named "Qici" () in Fenghua of Mingzhou (now Zhejiang). Carrying a sack on his shoulder, he always begged in the markets and streets, laughing. So local people called him "The Sack Monk" (). When h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guanyin
Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She was first given the appellation of "Goddess of Mercy" or "Mercy Goddess" by Jesuit missionaries in China. Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World." On the 19th day of the sixth lunar month, Guanyin's attainment of Buddhahood is celebrated. Some Buddhists believe that when one of their adherents departs from this world, they are placed by Guanyin in the heart of a lotus, and then sent to the western pure land of Sukhāvatī. Guanyin is often referred to as the "most widely beloved Buddhist Divinity" with miraculous powers to assist all those who pray to her, as is mentioned in the ''Pumen chapter'' of ''Lotus Sutra'' and ''Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra''. Several large temples in East Asia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lotus Throne
In Asian art a lotus throne, sometimes lotus platform, is a stylized lotus flower used as the seat or base for a figure. It is the normal pedestal for divine figures in Buddhist art and Hindu art, and often seen in Jain art. Originating in Indian art, it followed Indian religions to East Asia in particular. The precise form varies, but is intended to represent the opening flower of ''Nelumbo nucifera'', the Indian lotus. In the traditional biographies lotus flowers sprung up at the Buddha's first seven steps, and in some Buddhist legends the baby Padmasambhava emerged from a lotus flower. The Indian lotus is an aquatic plant similar to a water lily, though not actually any close relation. It has a large, round, and flat seed head in the centre of the flower, with initially small openings above each of the relatively small number of seeds. Among other unusual characteristics, ''nelumbo nucifera'' has particular properties of repelling water, known as the lotus effect or ultr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal was to preserve Chinese communism by purging remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society. The Revolution marked the effective commanding return of Mao –who was still the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)– to the centre of power, after a period of self-abstention and ceding to less radical leadership in the aftermath of the Mao-led Great Leap Forward debacle and the Great Chinese Famine (1959–1961). The Revolution failed to achieve its main goals. Launching the movement in May 1966 with the help of the Cultural Revolution Group, Mao charged that bourgeois elements had infiltrated the government and society with the aim of restoring capitalism. Mao called on young people to "bombard the headqu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Theater of the Second World War. The beginning of the war is conventionally dated to the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on 7 July 1937, when a dispute between Japanese and Chinese troops in Peking escalated into a full-scale invasion. Some Chinese historians believe that the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 18 September 1931 marks the start of the war. This full-scale war between the Chinese and the Empire of Japan is often regarded as the beginning of World War II in Asia. China fought Japan with aid from Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, United Kingdom and the United States. After the Japanese attacks on Malaya and Pearl Harbor in 1941, the war merged with other conflicts which are generally categorized under those conflicts of World War II a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qianlong Emperor
The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 to 1796. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1735 to 8 February 1796. In 1796, he abdicated in favour of his son, the Jiaqing Emperor, out of filial piety towards his grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor, who ruled for 61 years, so that he not officially usurp him as the longest-reigning emperor. Despite his retirement, however, the Qianlong Emperor retained ultimate power as the Emperor Emeritus until his death in 1799, making him one of the longest-reigning monarchs in history, and dying at the age of 87, one of the longest-lived. As a capable and cultured ruler inheriting a thriving empire, during his long reign, the Qing Empire reached its most splendid and prosperous era, boasting a large popul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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