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At an issuing ceremony held in Beijing on December 23, 2009, a group of World Heritage Sites in China were officially honored. The most prominent site on the list was Wutai Mountain, known as one of the four major Buddhist sanctuaries of China. Wutai has reserved a string of Buddhist temples built over a period of 1,600 years and the oldest ones were built in the fourth century. The site features a harmony between nature and man.
The Xiantong Temple
A lot of Buddhists and laymen may know that Buddhists come to Wutai Mountain to warship Manjusri Bodhisattva, but few know that the mountain used to be a cradle of Taoism. In 67 AD, two Indian Buddhist monks came to Luoyang, the capital city of the Eastern Han Dynasty(25-220). White Horse Temple was built outside the city as a residence for the two Indian monks. The next year witnessed the two Indian monks leaving Luoyang to start another pilgrimage across China. It was during this pilgrimage that the two monks came to Wutai Mountain.
The two monks were deeply impressed by the majesty of the mountain scenes which suggested a close resemblance to a sacred mountain back in India. They decided to build a temple in Wutai. The temple was built and it received a plaque with an inscription handwritten by Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The temple was called Magic Eagle Temple. It later became Xiantong Temple. That’s how the White Horse Temple and Xiantong Temple are the oldest Buddhist temples in China today.
In the South and North Dynasties (420-589AD), the Xiantong Temple became a center of a large campaign of temple building. Over decades, twelve temples were built in the neighborhood and many celebrated Buddhist monks came to give lectures in Wutai. At one time, a visiting monk organized an orchestra of more than one hundred monk musicians. They played Buddhist music day and night and the music could be heard far away. It is said that Buddhist music at the Xiantong Temple has played a big part in attracting pilgrims to the twelve temples in Wutai over centuries up to now.
Yang Wulang’s Stick
Buddhism experienced a climax in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Legends have it that the generals of the Yang Family escorted the first emperor of the Song Dynasty on the royal visit to the Wutai Mountain.
Yang Wulang, the fifth son of the Yang Family, met with the abbot of the National Peace and Prosperity Temple on his escort mission. Through a few conversations, the abbot realized that the young warrior might become a Buddhist monk one day. The abbot gave Yang Wulang a sealed package as a goodbye gift, advising the young warrior not to open it until he was in the most difficult situation and promising that what was inside the package would help him get out of any crisis.
The Yang family was later set up in a border clash with invading soldiers of the Jin Kingdom in the north. The Song Dynasty’s army headed by the Yang Family suffered heavy losses. With other warriors killed or captivated, Yang Wulang escaped and was chased by soldiers of the Jin Kingdom. When he hid himself away in woods, it suddenly occurred to him that he still had the package from the abbot and he was in a tight corner. So he opened the package and found inside the pack were a monk cap and gown. Understanding the meaning of the gift from the abbot, Yang knew he had to turn to the Buddha for help and decided to become a monk there and then. He put on the gown and cap and walked away. The unsuspecting enemy soldiers saw him and let him escape from the manhunt.
Yang Wulang came to the National Peace and Prosperity Temple. Strangely enough, the temple later became known as Wulang Temple. Today, the iron pole Yang Wulang used as a battle weapon is viewed as a treasure of Wutai Mountain. It is now on display in a showroom at the Xiantong Temple. The 8-feet long weapon is 1.5 inch thick in diameter and on the weapon is a mark of 13 words indicating the names of the weapon makers and the weight of 40.5 kg.
The Zhenhai Temple
Legends have it that the 23-year-old Emperor Shunzhi ran away to a Buddhist temple in Wutai after his concubine died. Years later he somehow missed home and sent an oral massage to the royal house. Emperor Kangxi learned his father’s whereabouts and immediately came to visit the Buddhist sanctuary.
The emperor didn’t know where his father was and started visiting temples in the mountain one by one. One day he came to Zhenhai Temple and ran into a monk sweeping the courtyard. The emperor found a mystic affinity with the monk and chatted with him. It was not until later that the emperor realized the monk might have been his father. Emperor Kangxi came back to the temple and described the monk to the abbot. The abbot said no monk at the temple fit the description. Leaving the temple, the disappointed emperor found a poem written on the side wall of the entrance to the temple gate. The poem said that he had to leave the Huashan Temple after he broke a bowl there and the poet hoped that the son would pay back the debt for his father. The young emperor copied the poem and brought it back to the queen mother. The queen mother recognized the handwriting and instructed her son to act on the instruction.
The emperor ordered a kiln of porcelain bowls at Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital of China in southern Jiangxi Province. The royal bowls were distributed to all the temples in Wutai Mountain. The Zhenhai Temple became famous because of this incident.
Dailuo Peak
Wutai Mountain, though composed of five major peaks with flat tops, includes a great number of peaks. It measures more than 250 kilometers if you walk around the foot of the mountain. Most temples are located near Taihuai Town in the mountain. Tourists refer to the temples near Taihuai Town as Wutai Mountain. But for Buddhists, Wutai means the five major peaks and they go to the five peaks one by one to worship Manjusri Bodhisattva there, each temple there representing one special title this Buddha bears.
It is said that Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty came to Wutai Mountain several times but he failed to visit all the Buddha Temples on the five peaks in one trip. In the spring of the 48th-year of his reign, Emperor Qianlong came to Wutai Mountain again. He summoned an abbot to his temporary palace and inquired about the pilgrimage to the five temples. To his dismay, the emperor learned that it snowed eight months in a year and that the best time to scale the five peaks was summer. Visiting temples at the five peaks was a mission impossible during the rest time of the year.
The emperor gave the abbot an impossible task: the emperor would come back in three years and the monk was to figure out a way for the emperor to worship all the five incarnations of the Buddha without visiting the five major temples.
The abbot accepted the impossible task and worried for two years. In the third year, a young monk came up with a solution. He advised the abbot to build a statue that combined all the five titles of Manjusri Bodhisattva and then put the statue at Dailuo Peak. Worshiping this statue would equal worshiping the Buddha at the five temples.
Emperor Qianlong was overjoyed over this smart solution when he came back and saw the statue. He later wrote a poem at the temple. The poem was later inscribed on a stone stele. Today, the stele stands in the temple. Since the emperor’s worship at Dailuo Peak, many visiting monks have visited this temple and saved a lot of trouble visiting all the temples in the peaks. □
The Xiantong Temple
A lot of Buddhists and laymen may know that Buddhists come to Wutai Mountain to warship Manjusri Bodhisattva, but few know that the mountain used to be a cradle of Taoism. In 67 AD, two Indian Buddhist monks came to Luoyang, the capital city of the Eastern Han Dynasty(25-220). White Horse Temple was built outside the city as a residence for the two Indian monks. The next year witnessed the two Indian monks leaving Luoyang to start another pilgrimage across China. It was during this pilgrimage that the two monks came to Wutai Mountain.
The two monks were deeply impressed by the majesty of the mountain scenes which suggested a close resemblance to a sacred mountain back in India. They decided to build a temple in Wutai. The temple was built and it received a plaque with an inscription handwritten by Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The temple was called Magic Eagle Temple. It later became Xiantong Temple. That’s how the White Horse Temple and Xiantong Temple are the oldest Buddhist temples in China today.
In the South and North Dynasties (420-589AD), the Xiantong Temple became a center of a large campaign of temple building. Over decades, twelve temples were built in the neighborhood and many celebrated Buddhist monks came to give lectures in Wutai. At one time, a visiting monk organized an orchestra of more than one hundred monk musicians. They played Buddhist music day and night and the music could be heard far away. It is said that Buddhist music at the Xiantong Temple has played a big part in attracting pilgrims to the twelve temples in Wutai over centuries up to now.
Yang Wulang’s Stick
Buddhism experienced a climax in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Legends have it that the generals of the Yang Family escorted the first emperor of the Song Dynasty on the royal visit to the Wutai Mountain.
Yang Wulang, the fifth son of the Yang Family, met with the abbot of the National Peace and Prosperity Temple on his escort mission. Through a few conversations, the abbot realized that the young warrior might become a Buddhist monk one day. The abbot gave Yang Wulang a sealed package as a goodbye gift, advising the young warrior not to open it until he was in the most difficult situation and promising that what was inside the package would help him get out of any crisis.
The Yang family was later set up in a border clash with invading soldiers of the Jin Kingdom in the north. The Song Dynasty’s army headed by the Yang Family suffered heavy losses. With other warriors killed or captivated, Yang Wulang escaped and was chased by soldiers of the Jin Kingdom. When he hid himself away in woods, it suddenly occurred to him that he still had the package from the abbot and he was in a tight corner. So he opened the package and found inside the pack were a monk cap and gown. Understanding the meaning of the gift from the abbot, Yang knew he had to turn to the Buddha for help and decided to become a monk there and then. He put on the gown and cap and walked away. The unsuspecting enemy soldiers saw him and let him escape from the manhunt.
Yang Wulang came to the National Peace and Prosperity Temple. Strangely enough, the temple later became known as Wulang Temple. Today, the iron pole Yang Wulang used as a battle weapon is viewed as a treasure of Wutai Mountain. It is now on display in a showroom at the Xiantong Temple. The 8-feet long weapon is 1.5 inch thick in diameter and on the weapon is a mark of 13 words indicating the names of the weapon makers and the weight of 40.5 kg.
The Zhenhai Temple
Legends have it that the 23-year-old Emperor Shunzhi ran away to a Buddhist temple in Wutai after his concubine died. Years later he somehow missed home and sent an oral massage to the royal house. Emperor Kangxi learned his father’s whereabouts and immediately came to visit the Buddhist sanctuary.
The emperor didn’t know where his father was and started visiting temples in the mountain one by one. One day he came to Zhenhai Temple and ran into a monk sweeping the courtyard. The emperor found a mystic affinity with the monk and chatted with him. It was not until later that the emperor realized the monk might have been his father. Emperor Kangxi came back to the temple and described the monk to the abbot. The abbot said no monk at the temple fit the description. Leaving the temple, the disappointed emperor found a poem written on the side wall of the entrance to the temple gate. The poem said that he had to leave the Huashan Temple after he broke a bowl there and the poet hoped that the son would pay back the debt for his father. The young emperor copied the poem and brought it back to the queen mother. The queen mother recognized the handwriting and instructed her son to act on the instruction.
The emperor ordered a kiln of porcelain bowls at Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital of China in southern Jiangxi Province. The royal bowls were distributed to all the temples in Wutai Mountain. The Zhenhai Temple became famous because of this incident.
Dailuo Peak
Wutai Mountain, though composed of five major peaks with flat tops, includes a great number of peaks. It measures more than 250 kilometers if you walk around the foot of the mountain. Most temples are located near Taihuai Town in the mountain. Tourists refer to the temples near Taihuai Town as Wutai Mountain. But for Buddhists, Wutai means the five major peaks and they go to the five peaks one by one to worship Manjusri Bodhisattva there, each temple there representing one special title this Buddha bears.
It is said that Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty came to Wutai Mountain several times but he failed to visit all the Buddha Temples on the five peaks in one trip. In the spring of the 48th-year of his reign, Emperor Qianlong came to Wutai Mountain again. He summoned an abbot to his temporary palace and inquired about the pilgrimage to the five temples. To his dismay, the emperor learned that it snowed eight months in a year and that the best time to scale the five peaks was summer. Visiting temples at the five peaks was a mission impossible during the rest time of the year.
The emperor gave the abbot an impossible task: the emperor would come back in three years and the monk was to figure out a way for the emperor to worship all the five incarnations of the Buddha without visiting the five major temples.
The abbot accepted the impossible task and worried for two years. In the third year, a young monk came up with a solution. He advised the abbot to build a statue that combined all the five titles of Manjusri Bodhisattva and then put the statue at Dailuo Peak. Worshiping this statue would equal worshiping the Buddha at the five temples.
Emperor Qianlong was overjoyed over this smart solution when he came back and saw the statue. He later wrote a poem at the temple. The poem was later inscribed on a stone stele. Today, the stele stands in the temple. Since the emperor’s worship at Dailuo Peak, many visiting monks have visited this temple and saved a lot of trouble visiting all the temples in the peaks. □