The Shrine of Living Buddha () 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 at the Divine Light Summit () of

Mount Jiuhua Mount Jiuhua () located in Chizhou, Anhui Province in China is an important Buddhist site and natural scenic spot. It is one of the four famous Buddhist mountains in China, one of the first batch of 5A level scenic spots in China, one of the fir ...

, in

Qingyang County Qingyang County () is a county in the south of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. It is the northeasternmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Chizhou. It has a population of and an area of . The government of Qingya ...

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

, China.

History

Tang dynasty

During the early 8th century, Silla prince

Kim Gyo-gak Gim Gyo-gak (김교각, 金喬覺, 696-794), or Jin Qiaojue in Mandarin, also known as his buddhist name Jijang(地藏), was a Korean Buddhist monk believed to be the manifestation of Ksitigarbha at Mount Jiuhua, one of the four sacred mountains ...

came to

Tang Empire 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 ...

to practice sutra and he chose a cave on

for his self-cultivation. In 794, in the 10th year of Zhenyuan period,

died, aged 99. His body was founded in the cave three years later, he still had life-like color and soft skin. Monks believed that he was the reincarnation of

Kṣitigarbha Kṣitigarbha ( sa, क्षितिगर्भ, , bo, ས་ཡི་སྙིང་པོ་ Wylie: ''sa yi snying po'') is a bodhisattva primarily revered in East Asian Buddhism and usually depicted as a Buddhist monk. His name may be tr ...

, so they built a stone pagoda to house his body and named it "Golden Kṣitigarbha" (). Later a temple was established on the spacious foundation of the pagoda and was named the "Body Hall" ().

Ming dynasty

In the Wanli period (1573–1620) of 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 ...

(1368–1644), the emperor issued the decree rebuilding the Body Hall and inscribed the wooden plaque with

Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

"Huguo Roushen Baota" ().

Qing dynasty

In the reign of

Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...

(1661–1722) 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), Yu Chenglong () refurbished the halls of the temple. In 1857, during the Xianfeng era (1851–1861), part of the temple was destroyed by wars. In the early

Tongzhi period Tongzhi (Wade-Giles: ''T'ung-chih'') can refer to: * Tongzhi Emperor (1856–1875, reigned 1861–1875) of the Qing dynasty **Tongzhi Restoration (c. 1860–1874), an attempt to strengthen the late Qing dynasty ** Tongzhi porcelain, a Chinese porcel ...

(1862–1874), a flood destroyed some halls of the temple. In 1886, in the 12th year of Guangxi period (1875–1908), the temple was restored by monks.

Republic of China

After the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a d ...

in 1914, the temple was renovated. In 1917, a plaque with "" (great vow of Kṣitigarbha) written by the then

President of the Republic of China The president of the Republic of China, now often referred to as the president of Taiwan, is the head of state of the Republic of China (ROC), as well as the commander-in-chief of the Republic of China Armed Forces. The position once had aut ...

Li Yuanhong Li Yuanhong (; courtesy name Songqing 宋卿) (October 19, 1864 – June 3, 1928) was a Chinese politician during the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China. He was the president of the Republic of China between 1916 and 1917, and between 1922 ...

was hung on the architrave.

People's Republic of China

After the founding of the

Communist State A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Comint ...

, the temple was rebuilt two times in 1955 and 1981. In 1983, the temple was designated as a National Key Buddhist Temple in Han Chinese Area by the

State Council of China The State Council, constitutionally synonymous with the Central People's Government since 1954 (particularly in relation to local governments), is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the p ...

Architecture

The Body Hall

The Body Hall has a pagoda architecture built with stone pillars, red walls, iron tiles and a paved floor of white marble tiles. In the center of the eaves of the hall is a plaque, on which there are the words "The First Mountain in Southeastern China" (). In the central of the hall is the seven story wooden pagoda of

with a white marble tile base. Over 100 little statues of Kṣitigarbha are enshrined inside of the pagoda. The gold statue of Kṣitigarbha is surrounded by many different sizes of Buddha along with Ten Kings of Hell.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shrine of Living Buddha Buddhist temples on Mount Jiuhua Buildings and structures in Chizhou Tourist attractions in Chizhou 19th-century establishments in China 19th-century Buddhist temples