The Xiantong 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 in

Taihuai Town Taihuai () is a town in Wutai County, Xinzhou, Shanxi, China. it had a population of 10,525 and an area of . The Han, Manchu, Mongolian and Tibetan live here. Taihuai located in the northeastern Wutai County. It borders the Yedou Peak () in ...

Wutai County Wutai County () is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xinzhou, in the northeast of Shanxi Province, China, bordering Hebei province to the east. It is named after Mount Wutai, which is located within its borders. It ...

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

, China. The temple covers a total area of about , it preserves the basic architectural pattern of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1912). The temple has over 400 buildings and the seven main halls along the central axis are the

Guanyin Hall The Hall of Guanyin or Guanyin Hall ( or ) is the most important annex halls in Chinese Buddhist temples and mainly for enshrining Guanyin (Avalokiteśvara). Guanyin, also called "Guanshiyin" (), "Guanshizizai" (), "Guanzizai" (), etc., is the at ...

, Great Manjusri Hall, Great Buddha Hall, Amitaba Hall, Qianbo Hall, Copper Hall and Buddhist Texts Library. Mount Wutai has 47 Buddhist temples, it is the largest Buddhist complex in China, Xiantong Temple is the largest one with the longest history.

History

Eastern Han dynasty

Xiantong Temple is situated in the north of

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 c ...

. The temple was first established in the Yongping period (58–75) in the

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

(25–220) and initially called "Dafu Lingjiu Temple" ().

Northern Wei dynasty

In the period of the

Northern Wei dynasty Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern dynasties, it ruled northern China from 386 to 535 during the ...

(386–534), the temple was expanded and renamed as "Huayuan Temple" ().

Tang dynasty

The temple was reconstructed in the period of Emperor Taizong (599–649) of

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) with the name of "Great Huayan Temple" ().

Ming dynasty

In the period of Hongwu (1368–1398) in the early

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 temple was renovated and renamed "Great Xiantong Temple" (). The name was changed to "Great Jixiang Xiantong Temple" () in the period of

Yongle Emperor The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424. Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyn ...

(1402–1424) and "Great Huguo Shengguang Yongming Temple" () in the period of

Wanli Emperor The Wanli Emperor (; 4 September 1563 – 18 August 1620), personal name Zhu Yijun (), was the 14th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1572 to 1620. "Wanli", the era name of his reign, literally means "ten thousand calendars". He was the ...

(1572–1620).

Qing dynasty

In 1687, in the period of

Emperor Kangxi 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) in 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), the temple was renamed as "Great Xiantong Temple" again.

People's Republic of China

After the establishment of PRC, the local government repaired the side halls. In 1957 the Amitaba Hall was restored. From 1974 to 1977, the West Chan Buddhism Hall was restored. In 1979, the Buddhist Texts Library was restored. In 1982, it was listed among the second group of " State Cultural Protection Relics Units" 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 ...

. In 1983 it has been designated as a " National Key Buddhist Temple in Han Chinese Area". In 1984, the granary was restored. The

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 ...

was added to the temple in 2004.

Architecture

The Xiantong temple consists of 400 buildings. The overall gorgeous and elegant colors with characteristics of the palace buildings reflect the precise layout and rich, beautiful and dignified style in the Ming and Qing dynasty (1368–1912).

Amitaba Hall

The brick Amitaba Hall () is the fourth hall along the central axis of Xiantong Temple and gets its name from the Amitaba Buddha (Vairocana Buddha; ) enshrined in it. It is also called "Beamless Hall" () since it is built with blue bricks without pillars or columns.

Qianbo Hall

The Qianbo Hall () is behind the Amitaba Hall. The hall, for the worship of a copper statue of

Manjushri Mañjuśrī (Sanskrit: मञ्जुश्री) is a ''bodhisattva'' associated with '' prajñā'' (wisdom) in Mahāyāna Buddhism. His name means "Gentle Glory" in Sanskrit. Mañjuśrī is also known by the fuller name of Mañjuśrīkumārab ...

with a thousand alms bowls (). The statue of Manjushri has five heads stacked and six hands in front, two of which hold a gold alms bowl in each. There is a sitting statue of Sakyamuni Buddha in the bowl. A thousand hands stretch from the back of the statue with gold alms bowls of a sitting statue 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 ...

Buddha in each hand. The statue of Manjushri was made in the

(1368–1644) and also known as "Statue of Manjushri with a Thousand Alms Bowls" (). Its unique style is rare in China.

Copper Hall

The pure copper made Copper Hall behind the Qianbo Hall is a rarer cultural relic in China. The hall is high, wide and deep. The plane of the hall is square, nine

chi Chi or CHI may refer to: Greek *Chi (letter), the Greek letter (uppercase Χ, lowercase χ); Chinese *Chi (length), ''Chi'' (length) (尺), a traditional unit of length, about ⅓ meter *Chi (mythology) (螭), a dragon *Chi (surname) (池, pin ...

wide (1 chi=1/3 meter), eight chi deep and two

zhang Zhang may refer to: Chinese culture, etc. * Zhang (surname) (張/张), common Chinese surname ** Zhang (surname 章), a rarer Chinese surname * Zhang County (漳县), of Dingxi, Gansu * Zhang River (漳河), a river flowing mainly in Henan * ''Zha ...

(1 zhang=10/3 meters). Though with two-story appearance, the hall is actually one story with a room, four pillars and drum-shaped column bases inside. Upper layer of Xiantong Temple is carved with six partition boards and the lower is with eight ones. Ten thousand of golden and spectacular small Buddha statues are carved on the walls of the hall. There are also exquisite and delicate color paintings and patterns of flowers, birds and animals engraved on the columns, architraves and partition boards. The Copper Hall was mentioned in ''Records of Qingliang Mountain'' (), which read: "the Copper Hall was built by senior monk Miaofeng () of Mount Wutai with of copper in the period of

(1573–1620) in the

(1368–1644)".

Long Toll Bell

The brass bell hanging in the Bell Tower in front of the temple was cast between 1621 and 1627 during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) weighing . Outside of the bell cast over ten thousand words of Buddhist inscriptions. When the bell rings, the toll can be heard very far away. Therefore, it is called the "Long Toll Bell" (), also known as the "Longevity Bell" () because in Chinese "long toll" and "longevity" have the same pronunciation.

Gallery

References

Bibliography

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xiantong Temple Buddhist temples on Mount Wutai Wutai County Xinzhou Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Shanxi