Jingye Temple () is a

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...

located on the north slope of

Zhongnan Mountains The Zhongnan Mountains (), sometimes called the Taiyi Mountains () or Zhounan Mountains (), are a branch of the Qin Mountains located in Shaanxi Province, south of Xi'an, China that extend from Wugong County in the east of the province to Lantian ...

, in

Chang'an District, Xi'an Chang'an District () is the second-most populous of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province, in Northwest China. The district borders the prefecture-level cities of Shangluo to the southeast and ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It is the cradle of Risshū.

History

Sui dynasty

The temple was first established in 581, at the dawn of

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...

(589–618).

Tang dynasty

In 624 in the 7th year of Wude period (618–626) in the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

(618–907), master

Daoxuan Daoxuan (; 596–667) was an eminent Tang dynasty Chinese Buddhist monk. He is perhaps best known as the patriarch of the Four-part Vinaya school (). Daoxuan wrote both the ''Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks'' (Xù gāosēng zhuàn 續高 ...

resided in the temple, where he taught Risshū and promulgated Buddhist doctrines. The temple was renamed "Baiquan Temple" (). In 665, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong (650–683), the emperor issued the decree building a stone ordination altar ().

Jianzhen Jianzhen (; 688–763), or Ganjin in Japanese, was a Chinese monk who helped to propagate Buddhism in Japan. In the eleven years from 743 to 754, Jianzhen attempted to visit Japan some six times. Ganjin finally came to Japan in the year 753 and ...

, a disciple of Risshū, led monks to go to Japan to deliver Risshū, he was the founder of

Japanese Buddhism Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since about the 6th century CE. Japanese Buddhism () created many new Buddhist schools, and some schools are original to Japan and some are derived from Chinese Buddhist schools. Japanese Buddhism has had a ...

Risshū. After the fall of the Tang dynasty, Jingye Temple fell into decline.

Ming dynasty

The temple underwent three renovations in the

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 ort ...

(1638–1644), respectively in the ruling of Emperor Yingzong (1437) by abbot Yunxiu () and in the 4th year of Tianshun period (1460) abbot Benquan () and in the 1st year of Longqing period (1567).

Qing dynasty

In 1681, in the 20th year of Kangxi period (1662–1722) of the

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-speak ...

(1644–1911), master Yan'an () disseminated Buddhism in the temple. In 1812, in the region of

Jiaqing Emperor The Jiaqing Emperor (13 November 1760 – 2 September 1820), also known by his temple name Emperor Renzong of Qing, born Yongyan, was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and the fifth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, fro ...

(1796–1820), abbot Jigui () renovated the temple. In 1832, in the 12th year of Daoguang period (1821–1850), master Mingchuan () renovated the temple again.

Republic of China

In 1921, master Zhihai () came to Jingye Temple to preach Buddhism.

People's Republic of China

After the establishment of the Communist State, Foxin () and Zhizhen () successively served as abbot of the temple. In 1960, the temple had been a resurgence of interest in Buddhism, more than 50 monks lived in the temple. In 1966,

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

launched the

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 ...

, the temple was devastated by the

Red Guards Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...

. Scriptures, historical documents, statues of Buddha, and other works of art were either removed, damaged or destroyed in the movement. After the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, according to the national policy of free religious belief, Jingye Temple was officially reopened to the public in 1983. That same year, it was designated as a National Key Buddhist Temple in Han Chinese Area.

Architecture

The entire temple faces south with the

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 "Mo ...

Four Heavenly Kings Hall 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 enshr ...

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 ...

, Five Contemplations Dining Hall, and the Buddhist Texts Library along the central axis of the complex.

Shanmen

The

was designed by Zhang Jinqiu (). Under the eaves is a plaque with the Chinese characters "Jingye Temple" written by

Nan Huai-Chin Nan Huai-Chin () (March 18, 1918 – September 29, 2012) was a Chinese Buddhist monk, religious scholar, and writer. A well-regarded spiritual teacher in contemporary China, he was considered by many to be the major force in the revival ...

Four Heavenly Kings Hall

Maitreya 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 ...

is enshrined in the

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 enshr ...

and at the back of his statue is a statue of Skanda.

Four Heavenly Kings The Four Heavenly Kings are four Buddhist gods, each of whom is believed to watch over one cardinal direction of the world. In Chinese mythology, they are known collectively as the "Fēng Tiáo Yǔ Shùn" () or "Sìdà Tiānwáng" (). In the a ...

' statues are enshrined in the left and right side of the hall. Statue of Daoxuan is placed in the center of the hall.

Mahavira Hall

Behind the Four Heavenly Kings Hall is the

enshrining the statues of

Sakyamuni 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 Lu ...

, Amitabha and

Bhaisajyaguru 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 ...

Stupa of Daoxuan

In 667, master Daoxuan died in Jingye Temple, his disciples built a stupa to commemorate him. Emperor Yizong named it "Jingguang Stupa" (). The stupa was collapsed in an earthquake. It was rebuilt in 1567. The present version was completed in 1713. The present Stupa of Daoxuan was built in 1713 and renovated in 1832, it is multi-eaves style brick stupa with five stories. The hexagonal-shaped stupa is about high.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jingye Temple Buddhist temples in Xi'an Buildings and structures in Xi'an Tourist attractions in Xi'an 6th-century establishments in China 6th-century Buddhist temples