Lingguang Temple () is a Buddhist temple located on the east hillside of Mount Cuiwei (), in the

Shijingshan District Shijingshan District () is an urban district of the municipality of Beijing. It lies to the west of the urban core of Beijing, and is part of the Western Hills area, bordering the districts of Haidian to the northeast and east, Fengtai to the so ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. The temple is renowned for its collection of the tooth relic of the Buddha.

History

Tang dynasty

The temple was originally built between 766 and 779 in the Dali period (766–779) of the

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), it initially called "Longquan Temple" ().

Liao dynasty

In 1071, in the Xianyong era (1065–1074) of the

Liao dynasty The Liao dynasty (; Khitan language, Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that exi ...

(907–1211), Lady Zheng, the mother of the then prime minister Yelü Renxian, elected the Zhaoxian Pagoda to worship the tooth relic of the Buddha.

Jin dynasty

Lingguang Temple was refurbished in 1162, in the 2nd year of Dading period (1161–1189) of the Jin dynasty (1115–1234), and was renamed "Jueshan Temple" ().

Ming dynasty

The temple was largely extended in the reign of Emperor Yingzong (1457–1464) of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

(1368–1644), and the name was changed into "Lingguang Temple" (), which is still in use now.

Qing dynasty

Lingguang Temple was badly damaged in 1900 in the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance. While monk Sheng'an () supervised the reconstruction of the temple, he founded a stone box in the ruins which preserved the tooth relic of the Buddha.

Republic of China

The modern temple was rebuilt in the 1920s.

People's Republic of China

After the establishment of the Communist State in 1956, Beijing Municipal Government listed the temple among the first batch of municipal cultural preservation unit. In 1955, the tooth relic of the Buddha was transferred to Guangji Temple. Construction of the Stupa of the tooth relic of the Buddha commenced in 1959 and was completed in 1964. During the ten-year

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 goa ...

, the religious activities were discontinued. Lingguang Temple has been designated as a National Key Buddhist Temple in Han Chinese Area by the State Council of China in 1983.

Architecture

Shanmen

A gilded 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 ...

is enshrined in 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 ...

, it was presented by the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand in July 1989. Statues of

Guan Yu Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...

and Skanda are enshrined on the west and east sides.

Stupa

The stupa was built in 1957, under the support of Beijing Municipal Government. The stupa is multi-eaves style brick pagoda with 13 stories. It stands at a height of about , built on a high stone foundation. The tooth relic of the Buddha is preserved in the stupa. It was consecrated by exceptional monks on June 25, 1964.

Zhaoxian Pagoda

The Zhaoxian Pagoda () was built in 1071 during the

. It was known as "Thousand Buddha Pagoda" due to more than one thousand exquisite niches with small statues of Buddha were carved on the body of the pagoda. The pagoda was completely destroyed by the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900 with only the stone foundation remaining.

Jade Buddha Hall

The Jade Buddha Hall was established in 2000 by the

Buddhist Association of China 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 hall enshrining the Three Life Buddha, namely

, Amitabha and Bhaisajyaguru. The statue of Bhaisajyaguru was presented by

Than Shwe Than Shwe ( my, သန်းရွှေ, ; born 2 February 1933 or 3 May 1935) is a Burmese strongman politician who was the head of state of Myanmar from 1992 to 2011 as Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). During this ...

, chairman of State Peace and Development Council.

Reclining Buddha Hall

In the middle of the Reclining Buddha Hall placed the statue of Maitreya, with statue of

Reclining Buddha A reclining Buddha is an image that represents Buddha lying down and is a major iconographic theme in Buddhist art. It represents the historical Buddha during his last illness, about to enter the parinirvana. He is lying on his right side, his hea ...

at his back.

Hall of Dragon King

The Hall of Dragon King enshrining the statue of Dragon King.

Great Compassion Temple

The Great Compassion Temple () is divided into three halls: the Shanmen, the Hall of Thousand Armed and Eyed Guanyin and the Reclining Buddha Hall. A wood carving statue of Thousand Armed and Eyed Guanyin is enshrined in the middle of the hall, at the back of Guanyin's statue is a statue of

. The Reclining Buddha Hall enshrining a wood carving statue of

, which was carved by Ito Shinjo (), 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 ...

Shinnyo-en is a Japanese Buddhist new religious movement in the tradition of the Daigo branch of Shingon Buddhism. It was founded in 1936 by , and his wife in a suburb of metropolitan Tokyo, the city of Tachikawa, where its headquarters is still located. ...

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lingguang Temple Buddhist temples in Beijing Buildings and structures in Beijing Tourist attractions in Beijing 1920s establishments in China 20th-century Buddhist temples