Qinglong Temple (), also known as Shifo Temple (), is a Buddhist temple located in

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqi ...

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

, China. In the mid-

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

(618–907),

Huiguo Huiguo () (746–805) was a bhikkhu, Buddhist monk of Tang dynasty, Tang China who studied and taught Chinese Esoteric Buddhism, a Vajrayana tradition recently imported from India. Later Huiguo would become the teacher of Kūkai, founder of Shingo ...

taught

Vajrayana Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

at the temple, his Japanese disciple

Kūkai Kūkai (; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835Kūkai was born in 774, the 5th year of the Hōki era; his exact date of birth was designated as the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the Japanese lunar calendar, some 400 years later, by the Shingon se ...

introduced it to Japan, since then, Qinglong Temple became the cradle of Vajrayana of both

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

and

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 ...

. Qinglong Temple was completely damaged in 1086 during the

Northern Song dynasty Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

(960–1127) and gradually it became unknown to public, the nascent version was completed in the 1980s with Tang dynasty architectural style.

History

Sui dynasty

Qinglong Temple traces its origins to the former Linggan Temple (), which was established in 582, at the dawn of Sui dynasty (581–618).

Tang dynasty

In 662, namely the 2nd year of Longshuo period of Emperor Gaozong of Tang dynasty (618–907), Princess Chengyang was sick, monk Falang () prayed to

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 L ...

to bless the princess. When she recovered from her illness, she established the Guanyin Temple (), which was renamed "Qinglong Temple" in 711 during the reign of Emperor Ruizong. In the early 8th century,

master

served as abbot and taught in the temple including many foreign monks, such as

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

monks

Ennin , better known in Japan by his posthumous name, Jikaku Daishi (), was a priest of the Tendai school of Buddhism in Japan, and its third . Ennin was instrumental in expanding the Tendai Order's influence, and bringing back crucial training and re ...

and

Enchin (814–891) was a Japanese Buddhist monk who founded of the Jimon school of Tendai Buddhism and Chief Abbot of Mii-dera at the foot of Mount Hiei. After succeeding to the post of Tendai , in 873, a strong rivalry developed between his followers ...

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

monks Huiri () and Wuzhen () and Indonesian monk Bianhong (). Especially the Japanese monk

, who brought back his Buddhist teachings to Japan in the year 806 and his influence was part of what made Buddhism popular in Japan. Since Emperor Wuzong believed in

Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...

, in 845, he ordered to demolish Buddhist temples, confiscate temple lands and force monks to return to secular life. He presided over the destruction of tens of thousands of temples, and Qinglong Temple was abolished. One year later, it was renamed "Huguo Temple" (). In 855, in the Dazhong era of the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, the temple restored the original name.

Northern Song dynasty

In 1086, in the reign of

Emperor Zhezong Emperor Zhezong of Song (4 January 1077 – 23 February 1100), personal name Zhao Xu, was the seventh emperor of the Song dynasty of China. His original personal name was Zhao Yong but he changed it to "Zhao Xu" after his coronation. He reig ...

in the

(960–1127), Qinglong Temple was completely destroyed. It was gradually forgotten by people.

People's Republic of China

In 1963, the archaeological team found the site of Qinglong Temple. Soon afterwards, the local government started to rebuild Qinglong Temple on the original site. In 1982, the governments of Xi'an, Kagawa Prefecture, Tokushima Prefecture,

Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 757,914 (1 December 2011) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and ...

and

Ehime Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,342,011 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Tok ...

built the Monument of Kūkai together. Two years later, Memorial Halls of Huiguo and Kūkai were added to the temple. In 1986, Qinglong Temple introduced more than 600 sakura trees from Japan. In 1996, Qinglong Temple was designated as a " Major National Historical and Cultural Site in Shaanxi" by the State Council of China. In 1997, Qinglong Temple reactivated its religious activities.

History

Sui dynasty

Tang dynasty

Northern Song dynasty

People's Republic of China

References

Further reading