★ Tourist location: Suzhou Situ Temple

It turned out that I really didn't know that Suzhou Guangfu Scenic Area had Situ Temple. It was purely because I came out of Xiangxue Sea and saw many food stalls opposite me. When I walked over and walked around, I discovered that there was actually another attraction here.

It is said that Situ Temple was the retreat of Deng Yu, the Great Minister of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Later generations worshipped it as a god, and it became a temple over time. Also because there is an ancient cypress tree in it, it is also called Ancient cypress Temple and Baiyin Jingshe.

Walking into the Hall of Kings, the two couplets are very interesting. On the inside are "Maitreya's benevolent eyebrows lead all living beings to return to the Pure World together; Baiyang's benevolent eyes lead all people to climb the promised land together." The couplet on the outer stone pillar reads: "Range the conquests and explore the secluded scenery, fragrant plum blossoms, what is it like a pillar of incense in the Buddhist Kingdom; tracing the present and recalling the past, the ancient cypresses are green, and we can see that the Zen Gate has five connotations and emptiness." To put it bluntly, Situ Temple has plum fragrance and ancient cypresses.

Behind the Daxiong Hall is the Sutra Depository, which has two floors, and the Buddha Reading Hall on the lower floor. During the Guangxu period, there were eminent monks such as Chang Wu, Honghai, Shucheng, and Juexing who were passed down from generation to generation. They now belong to the courtyard of Tianshou Shengen Temple on Xuanmu Mountain. It is said that this Shengen Temple is the temple where Qianlong's biological father became a monk. Of course, that's all it is.

Next to it is the Hall of Deng Yu, whose word is Zhonghua. He was born in Xinye, Nanyang, Henan Province. He was a famous strategist and politician in the early Eastern Han Dynasty. He was an official to the Grand Minister, who is what we now call the Prime Minister. He was only twenty-four years old when he served as the chief minister. During the Jianwu years, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty banquets and granted Deng Yu the title of Marquis of Gaomi. In order to avoid the emperor's suspicion, he sent armor and soldiers, but still participated in state affairs. Emperor Ming of Han ascended the throne and was worshipped as Taifu, and died posthumously as Marquis of Yuan in the first year of Yongping. In the third year of Yongping, Emperor Ming ordered people to paint twenty-eight generals in Yuntai, Nangong, in order to commemorate the meritorious service of rejuvenation, with Deng Yu listed first.

There is an ancient cypress garden next to it. These four ancient cypresses are said to have been planted by Situ Dengyu personally and lasted for more than 2,000 years. Qianlong's southern tour gave four cypresses "Qingqi and Strange". The "Qing" cypresses are dozens of meters high and are the ones least affected by lightning strikes, with green and clear branches and leaves. The main trunk of the "Qi" cypresses is broken, which is due to lightning strikes. One branch hangs to the ground with lush new leaves, and the other grows new branches a few meters away; the "ancient" cypress pattern spirals upwards, making it simple and vigorous; The "strange" cypress was the most seriously injured by lightning strike. Its trunk was split in half and lay on the ground to the left and right. Half of the tree fell to the ground far away from the mother tree and took root and curled on the ground. The other half fell on the ground. Although the two halves of the trunk were severely damaged, new leaves were still green. Countless literati and literati left behind countless poems and songs after viewing these four cypresses. Li Genyuan listed these four cypresses as one of the four classics in Suzhou. The other three are the wisteria planted by Wen Zhengming in Humble Administrator's Garden, the rockery from Huanxiu Villa, and the Ruiyun Peak from Weaving Mansion. Regardless of whether these four are accepted by everyone, it can also be seen that these four ancient cypresses are unique.

There is a stele corridor on one side of the cypress hall, where two Buddhist scriptures are housed,"The Buddha Top Tathagata Sutra Corrected the Ten Thousand Steps of the Bodhisattva of Righteousness" and "Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra". The names of the scriptures are very long, and if replaced by abbreviation, everyone is very familiar with them, they are the Shurangama Sutra and the Diamond Sutra. The Shurangyan Sutra was engraved by Zhang Maode of Wu Men. It was originally sent to Fangshan, Zhuozhou, but the Qing soldiers entered the pass and moved to Guangfu Shilin Temple. Later, Shilin Temple fell into disrepair and collapsed after a long time, and it was moved to Situ Temple. The full text of this scripture has more than 67000 words, engraved on 84 bluestone pieces. It was first engraved in the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty and was written by ten calligraphers including Wang Shimin.

The "Diamond Sutra" is engraved on a green stone tablet, which is 192 centimeters high and 69 centimeters wide. The entire scripture is cleverly arranged on a seven-level pagoda pattern, starting from the beginning of the pagoda. What is even more ingenious is that the word "Buddha" is engraved on the bells under the eaves of each tower corner and the lotus pillars under the eaves of the tower.

During Kangxi's first southern tour, he wrote the imperial book "Pine Wind and Moon". In fact, he wrote it when he went to Shengen Temple. It praised the Guangfu Mountains and Rivers, and I don't know why it was stored in Situ Temple. The stele is 41 centimeters high and 96 centimeters wide. It is carved with dragon patterns and has the seal script "Chen Han" in the middle, which means the emperor's ink treasure. You must know that Kangxi did not like his ambitious Qianlong who liked to leave calligraphy treasures everywhere. His calligraphy treasures were still relatively rare.

The "Prajna Boat" stele was inscribed by Lin Sen in 1974. There was a gate on one side of the gate just now with the inscription "Prajna Zen Forest". This temple is probably famous for its Prajna. Lin Sen was once chairman of the National Government of China. He loved Deng Wei's mountains and rivers. In his later years, he was nicknamed "Qingzhi Old Man".

There is a Bell Pavilion beside the Lotus Pool, which means listening to the clock here. In fact, the Situ Temple itself is not very big, and you can hear the bell ringing everywhere.

The road on the right leads to Deng Yu Cottage, which should have been built later. There are bamboo forests and melons in front of the Cottage. Of course, the scale of plum blossoms planted here cannot be compared with that of Xiangxuehai. However, most of them are white plum blossoms here, which looks like a snowfall.

Walking forward is Danbo Lake. Judging from the name of this lake, you can tell that Deng Yu was indifferent to fame and wealth, or he hoped to be indifferent to fame and wealth. There is Deng Yu Tea House by the lake, and there are several fish pavilions on the lake. The name of the pavilion is very interesting. It means that there are so many fish in it. Do you need to sit down and count it slowly? However, fish are swimming, so it is not easy to count them clearly.

Walking through Tampo Lake is the lotus pond, and the two lakes are connected by a distribution bridge. Walking along the lotus pond to the end, there is an ancient green pavilion. Coming back from the other side of the lotus pond, there is also a piece of Merlin. In this season, it is not too late to admire plum blossoms.

Opposite Situ Temple is Shizhu Garden, which is said to be famous for its bamboo and strange stones, but the door is closed at this moment. I don't know if it was because we were late when we came out, or if the park was recently closed due to other reasons such as the epidemic or repairs.