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Nanhua Temple
Nanhua Temple () is a Buddhist monastery of the Chan Buddhism, one of Five Great Schools of Buddhism where Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch of Chan Buddhism, once lived and taught. It is located in the town of Maba (), Qujiang District, southeast of central Shaoguan, Guangdong province. The location is in the northern part of the province, within a few kilometers from the Bei River. History The temple was founded during the time of the Northern and Southern Dynasties in 502 AD by an Indian monk named Zhiyao Sanzang () who originally named the site Baolin Temple (). It received its present name in 968 during the reign of the Song dynasty Emperor Taizong. Ancestor Hanshan Deqing taught there and reformed the monastery in the 16th century. The site was later renovated in 1934 under the leadership of Hsu Yun whose body is housed in the central forest sanctuary. Recent changes to the site include the building of extensive monastic accommodations. Architecture The temple covers a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shanmen
The Shanmen (), also known as the Gate of Three Liberations, is the most important gate of a Chinese Chan Buddhist temple. Etymology The origins of the name "sanmen" are debated. One theory is that "''Shanmen''" takes its literal meaning of "Mountain Gate", because temples were traditionally built in forested mountain areas where Chan monks could seclude away from secular life. Another suggests that during various episodes of suppression of Buddhism in Chinese history, monks moved their monasteries deep into the mountains, and later built gates at the foot of the mountain to guide pilgrims to the temples. A further theory is that "Shanmen" is a corruption of "Sanmen", or "Three Gates", referring to the "three gateways" to liberations.() in the Dharma - the "Kongmen" (; emptiness liberation), "wuxiangmen" (; no-aspects liberation) and "wuyuanmen" (; desireless liberation). The latter view correlates with the traditional structure of Chan temples which included three gateways, sai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hsu Yun
Xuyun or Hsu Yun (; 5 September 1840? – 13 October 1959) was a renowned Chinese Chan Buddhist master and an influential Buddhist teacher of the 19th and 20th centuries. Early life Xuyun was purportedly born on 5 September 1840 in Fujian, Qing China. His original name was Xiao Guyan (). He was the son of Xiao Yutang () and his mother was surnamed Yan (). His mother died during childbirth. Guyan's grandmother insisted that her grandson take a wife. In order to continue both his and his uncle's lineage, Guyan was arranged to marry one woman from the Tian family and one from the Tan family. His first exposure to Buddhism was during the funeral of his grandmother. Soon afterward he began reading Buddhist sutras and later made a pilgrimage to Mount Heng, one of the most important Buddhist sites in China. When he was fourteen years old, he announced that he wished to renounce the material world in favour of monastic life. His father did not approve of Buddhism and had him ins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medicine Buddha
Bhaiṣajyaguru ( sa, भैषज्यगुरु, zh, t= , ja, 薬師仏, ko, 약사불, bo, སངས་རྒྱས་སྨན་བླ), or ''Bhaishajyaguru'', formally Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūrya-prabhā-rāja ("Medicine Master and King of Lapis Lazuli Light"; zh, t=藥師琉璃光(王)如來, ja, 薬師瑠璃光如来, ko, 약사유리광여래), is the Buddha of healing and medicine in Mahāyāna Buddhism. Commonly referred to as the "Medicine Buddha", he is described as a doctor who cures suffering (Pali/Sanskrit: dukkha/duḥkha) using the medicine of his teachings. Bhaiṣajyaguru's original name and title was ''rāja'' (King), but Xuanzang translated it as Tathāgata (Buddha). Subsequent translations and commentaries followed Xuanzang in describing him as a Buddha. The image of Bhaiṣajyaguru is usually expressed with a canonical Buddha-like form holding a gallipot and, in some versions, possessing blue skin. Though also considered to be a guardian of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sakyamuni Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lumbini, in what is now Nepal, to royal parents of the Shakya clan, but renounced his home life to live as a wandering ascetic ( sa, śramaṇa). After leading a life of begging, asceticism, and meditation, he attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya in what is now India. The Buddha thereafter wandered through the lower Indo-Gangetic Plain, teaching and building a monastic order. He taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism, leading to Nirvana, that is, freedom from ignorance, craving, rebirth, and suffering. His teachings are summarized in the Noble Eightfold Path, a training of the mind that includes meditation and instruction in Buddhist ethics such as right effort, mindfulness, and ''jhana''. He died in Kushina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth khagan-emperor of the Mongol Empire from the Borjigin clan, and lasted from 1271 to 1368. In orthodox Chinese historiography, the Yuan dynasty followed the Song dynasty and preceded the Ming dynasty. Although Genghis Khan had been enthroned with the Han-style title of Emperor in 1206 and the Mongol Empire had ruled territories including modern-day northern China for decades, it was not until 1271 that Kublai Khan officially proclaimed the dynasty in the traditional Han style, and the conquest was not complete until 1279 when the Southern Song dynasty was defeated in the Battle of Yamen. His realm was, by this point, isolated from the other Mongol-led khanates and controlled most of modern-day China and its surrounding areas, including ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maitreya Bodhisattva
Maitreya (Sanskrit: ) or Metteyya (Pali: ), also Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha, is regarded as the future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. As the 5th and final Buddha of the current kalpa, Maitreya's teachings will be aimed at reinstating the dharma, a vital concept in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. In all branches of Buddhism, he is viewed as the direct successor of Gautama Buddha. In some Buddhist literature, such as the '' Amitabha Sutra'' and the ''Lotus Sutra'', he is referred to as Ajita. Despite many religious figures and spiritual leaders claiming to be Maitreya throughout history, all Buddhists firmly agree that these were false claims, indicating that Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future, is yet to appear. According to Buddhist tradition, Maitreya is a bodhisattva who is prophesied to appear on Earth, achieve complete Enlightenment, and teach the Dharma. According to scriptures, Maitreya's teachings will be similar to those of Gautama Buddha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qing Dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaking ethnic group who unified other Jurchen tribes to form a new "Manchu" ethnic identity. The dynasty was officially proclaimed in 1636 in Manchuria (modern-day Northeast China and Outer Manchuria). It seized control of Beijing in 1644, then later expanded its rule over the whole of China proper and Taiwan, and finally expanded into Inner Asia. The dynasty lasted until 1912 when it was overthrown in the Xinhai Revolution. In orthodox Chinese historiography, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. The multiethnic Qing dynasty lasted for almost three centuries and assembled the territorial base for modern China. It was the largest imperial dynasty in the history of China and in 1790 the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ming Dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han Chinese, Han people, the majority ethnic group in China. Although the primary capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the short-lived Shun dynasty), numerous rump state, rump regimes ruled by remnants of the House of Zhu, Ming imperial family—collectively called the Southern Ming—survived until 1662. The Ming dynasty's founder, the Hongwu Emperor (r. 1368–1398), attempted to create a society of self-sufficient rural communities ordered in a rigid, immobile system that would guarantee and support a permanent class of soldiers for his dynasty: the empire's standing army exceeded one million troops and the naval history of China, navy's dockyards in Nanjin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhao Puchu
Zhao Puchu (November 5, 1907 – May 21, 2000) was a religious and public leader who promoted cultural progress and religious tolerance in China. Zhao was best known as president of the Buddhist Association of China and also one of the most renowned Chinese calligraphers. Zhao also served as vice chairman of the 9th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and honorary chairman of 10th Central Committee of China Association for Promoting Democracy. He began his work in the 1930s, serving as secretary of the Buddhist Association of China. Zhao also worked to foster relations with Japan, serving as vice president of the China-Japan Friendship Association from 1958 to 1989, and working as an adviser to the association after. He led a Chinese religious delegation to Japan in 1992, meeting with then prime minister Kiichi Miyazawa and receiving the ''Grand Cordon of the Order of the Secret Treasure'' of Japan. Honours He was awarded the Niwan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Buddhist Association
The Buddhist Association of China (BCA; ) is the official government supervisory organ of Buddhism in the People's Republic of China. The association has been overseen by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since the State Administration for Religious Affairs' absorption into the United Front Work Department in 2018. The association's headquarters are located in Guangji Temple in Beijing. Overview The BCA is charged with serving as a "bridge" linking Buddhists to the CCP and Chinese government by communicating government regulations to Buddhists and mobilizing them to comply with national laws.Congressional-Executive Committee on ChinaTibet Special Report 2008-2009, October 22, 2009 It also coordinates participation of Chinese Buddhists in international Buddhist fora as a form of state influence. It also supports local Buddhist associations in paying clerics' salaries, in registering temples with the government, and in productively using temple la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lintel
A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of windows, the bottom span is instead referred to as a sill, but, unlike a lintel, does not serve to bear a load to ensure the integrity of the wall. Modern day lintels are made using prestressed concrete and are also referred to as beams in beam and block slabs or ribs in rib and block slabs. These prestressed concrete lintels and blocks are components that are packed together and propped to form a suspended floor concrete slab. Structural uses In worldwide architecture of different eras and many cultures, a lintel has been an element of post and lintel construction. Many different building materials have been used for lintels. In classical Western architecture and construction methods, by ''Merriam-Webster'' definition, a lintel is a l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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