You Daming Temple-The accumulation of history and humanities, Dharma and the opportunity of all living beings
01| chaofa
In Qingdao at the end of August, autumn is gradually rising and it is getting cooler in the morning and evening. At a time when the summer balance is about to run short and Jiangnan is still hot, we are heading for the small town in Jiangnan, where the legendary "three parts of the world are bright and the night is bright, and two parts of the scoundrel is Yangzhou". Yangzhou is 530 kilometers away from Qingdao. After a 7-hour trek, I successfully checked into the Tucheng Hotel Apartment near Daming Temple Scenic Area at 11 p.m.
Yangzhou's well-known attractions include Slender West Lake, Daming Temple, Geyuan, Zhuyi Bay, etc. Because Daming Temple is close to the hotel (800 meters), the "Slender West Lake-Daming Temple-Eight Eccentrics Memorial Hall" joint ticket booked is valid for two days. I specially put Daming Temple on the next morning tour. After that, you can go back to the hotel for lunch break until 1 o'clock before checking out, so that you won't be tired from visiting Zhuyi Bay in the afternoon.
On Saturday, I visited the Eight Eccentrics Memorial Hall, Slender West Lake, Geyuan, Dongguan Historical District (including Ancient Song City, Dongguan Ancient Ferry), Shuangbo Hall, Wenchang Pavilion, etc. On Sunday, I planned to visit Daming Temple and Zhuyi Bay. On Sunday morning, we had breakfast at Dongyuan Restaurant, 300 meters away from the hotel. The breakfast here is affordable and optional. The bowl of Yangchun noodles cost 4 yuan and the bowl of shrimp seed wonton cost 6 yuan. The portions are sufficient and delicious. We also ordered soy milk, crab yellow soup dumplings, steamed wheat, preserved egg and lean pork porridge, etc. The total was only 61 yuan, and it was so strong that we couldn't walk fast on the way to Daming Temple...
02| Ancient and modern Daming Temple
Daming Temple is named after it was first built during the Ming Dynasty of Emperor Xiaowu of the Southern Song Dynasty (457-464). Over the past 1500 years, the names of the temples have changed many times, such as "Qiling Temple" and "Xisi" in the Sui Dynasty, and "Chengping" in the late Tang Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, due to the word "Ming", it was once called "Qiling Temple". In the 30th year of Qianlong, the emperor personally inscribed the book "Imperial Title Fa Jing Temple". In 1980, Daming Temple restored its original name.
Today's Daming Temple is of course no longer purely a clean holy place for Buddhist disciples to practice Buddhist scriptures behind closed doors. Due to its historical appeal and the curiosity of the general public, it has to become a well-known tourist attraction in Yangzhou. Thousands of tourists.
03| Oji Style
To enter the temple gate, first pass through the Hall of Heavenly Kings. On both sides of the hall are divided into the four major kings of state, growth, wide-sighted and well-known. The solemn atmosphere brought by the tall and realistic statue of the Heavenly King can immediately make you feel that this is an extraordinary temple.
Judging from the scale of the temple and the solemn atmosphere inside, Daming Temple can be regarded as the first-class temple with distinctive characteristics in the Buddhist world.
Feature 1: Large area. After entering, in addition to the temple area, which is enough for you to visit for 1 to 2 hours, on the west side of it are Pingshan Hall built by Ouyang Xiu (full of Chinese culture), the fifth spring in the world (actually the fifth spring in Jiangsu), the Qianlong Imperial Stele Pavilion, and the release pond. The scenery of places such as places can make you forget to leave, especially those who take their children and their families to travel. You can feed steamed buns to carp in the release pond. The attracted swarms of one-to-two-foot long red and yellow carp of various colors will definitely make the children happy.
Feature 2: All functional temples are complete. In addition to the Daxiong Hall, there are also Tianwang Hall, Sutra Tower, Reclining Buddha Hall, Ring Platform, Bell Tower, Drum Tower, Temple of God... All kinds of temples and pavilions are fully functional.
Feature 3: It has a core pillar culture. Dang Gui, who supported the core beliefs of Daming Temple, once served as the chief monk Jianzhen of the Tang Dynasty who presided over Daming Temple in Yangzhou (688-October 4, 763). Jianzhen traveled eastward six times at the request of Japanese monks studying abroad, spreading Buddhism and leaving a lasting reputation. Therefore, Daming Temple has a Jianzhen Memorial Hall, which houses Jianzhen's true body shape body shapes.
Feature 4: Spirit Tower. The tower is nine-story high. Three relics of the Buddha's true body of Sakyamuni are enshrined in the tower. They were carried by the Great Monk Jianzhen during his eastward journey to Japan in 753 AD. They were named a top national treasure by Japan. In November 2003, they were given back to Daming Temple for worship.
04| Talk about commercialization
Before coming to Daming Temple, I read the guide online, and there were comments that the commercialization of Daming Temple was too serious. In ancient times, Dharma and all living beings were relatively independent. Those who went to temples and had contact with Dharma were kind men and women who were in awe of their hearts. But today, society has become materialized, and everyone has enough food and clothing to warm up, check-in everywhere, and the sacred land of the Buddhist world. The thousand-year-old temples cannot exclude men and women from eating and drinking.
05| Everything has a reason
It is now the off-season for tourism in Yangzhou, and there are not too many people in Daming Temple. When we entered, we happened to have a volunteer female tour guide in the temple explaining to everyone, so we followed her explanation. She passed through the Daxiong Hall, Jianzhen Memorial Hall, Qiling Tower, and Jietai. She explained in depth, popularizing the history of Daming Temple and the deeds of Jianzhen, and also fulfilling her obligations. As she said, Jianzhen has made such great merit, and she has the obligation to explain it to everyone. During the explanation, there was no inducement to anyone to beg for favors or pay incense.
In the place where Buddha's relics are enshrined on the 8th floor of the Spirit Tower, all living beings sing together,"Nanmo's master, Sakyamuni Buddha..." Worship Buddha piously and pray for your family. There are a thousand little arhats around the Buddha's relic offering hall. Men and women worshiping Buddha can claim and worship them. This is not a commercial thing. In fact, it is also a kind of opportunity between the Buddha and all beings-if you have a relationship with the Buddha, you will worship them, without coercion or inducement.
Commercialization is the inevitable result of the development of Daming Temple in the times, but its commercialization is not as obvious as other places, and it should not have affected the Buddhist value brought about by its long history.
06| worthwhile trip
Daming Temple is unique. Standing on the top of the Spirit Tower and looking around, you can see a panoramic view of Slender West Lake, and the scenery inside the temple is unique. Back then, Bai Juyi and Liu Yuxi met in Yangzhou and climbed the Spirit Pagoda together. Bai Juyi wrote in a poem: "Half a month is flying in Guangling, but what towers and towers are climbing differently. The strength of the joint pity is particularly worthy of responsibility, and it reaches the ninth level of the Qiling Spirit." Liu Yuxi replied: "It's not difficult to move each other step by step, and the nine layers of clouds are leaning against each other. Suddenly laughing for a long time, countless tourists looked up."
Whether you are a believer in Buddhism or a tourist who only comes to appreciate the picturesque rivers and mountains, if you don't have an in-depth understanding of the historical background and humanistic allusions of Daming Temple, you will probably be disappointed. Just like the ever-burning stone lamp in front of the Jianzhen Memorial Hall, if you don't understand it, it is a meaningless existence in your eyes, and it will accidentally pass by it. If you understand that it came from Tang Zhaoti Temple, where Jianzhen traveled eastward to Japan, and is a sister lamp with the other lamp in Tang Zhaoti Temple. The two lamps shine in a distance and are of profound significance. Only when you pass by it will your heart be filled with infinite respect, and the trip to Daming Temple will be worthwhile.
(End of the full text. Postscript: After finishing the trip to Daming Temple, I had a lot of harvest. After returning to the hotel for a short rest, I took my children to Zhuyi Bay, a must-see place for parent-child travel in the afternoon. Then, I ended the trip to Zhuyi Bay at 5 p.m. and set off for Zhenjiang, heading for Xin Qiji Beiguting to reminisce about the past)
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