Dear friends, the next stop we visit today is Baima temple, which is knownas "the first ancient temple in China". Baima temple is located about 12kilometers east of Luoyang City, with a history of more than 1900 years. Baimatemple was founded in 68 A.D. in the 11th year of Yongping in the Eastern HanDynasty. It is the first temple founded by the government after Buddhism wasintroduced into China. It is the first voice for Buddhism originated from theSouth Asian subcontinent to survive and develop in the vast land of China. It ishonored as "ancestral court" and "source of interpretation" by the Buddhistcircles. "Zuting" is the courtyard of the patriarch, and "Shiyuan" is thebirthplace of Buddhism. It has played a positive role in the spread anddevelopment of Buddhism in China and in promoting the ideological and culturalexchanges between China and foreign countries.
When it comes to the White Horse Temple, I think you will have a clearerpicture of the white horse that monk Tang took Buddhist scriptures from. What Iwant to tell you is that it took 560 years earlier than monk Tang to takeBuddhist scriptures!
When it comes to "White Horse Temple", you will ask why it is called "WhiteHorse Temple" since it is not the horse of white dragon horse. First of all,let's introduce the word "Temple". The word "Si" originated from the "Si" ofHonglu temple, a diplomatic organization in feudal society, and later became thegeneral name of Chinese temples. In Baima temple, there is a story about Baimatuojing. One night in the seventh year of Yongping in the Eastern Han Dynasty,Liu Zhuang, the son of Liu Xiu, spent the night in Nangong. He dreamed that agolden man, who was six feet tall and shining on his head, came from the Westand flew around the palace. The next morning, Emperor Hanming summoned hisministers and told them the dream. The learned Fu Yi said: I heard that there isBuddha in the west, just as you dreamed. After hearing this, Emperor Mingbelieved it, so he sent more than ten people, including Cai Yin and Qin Jing, tothe western regions to seek Buddhist scriptures. CAI and Qin left Luoyang in 65AD and set foot on the road of "learning from the west". In the middle ofDayue's life (today's Afghan), he met with Indian eminent monks photographermoteng and zhufalan, and saw Buddhist scriptures and statues of Sakyamuni. Hesincerely invited the two eminent monks to go to China to promote Buddhism. In67 A.D., the two eminent monks were invited to carry the Buddha statues withwhite horses together with the envoys of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and theBuddhist scriptures returned to Luoyang, the capital of the country. The emperorof Han and Ming Dynasty was very happy to see it and was very polite to the twoeminent monks. He arranged for them to stay in Honglu temple, the officialoffice in charge of foreign affairs at that time. In 68 ad, the Ming emperorordered to build a temple in Luoyang, named "Baima Temple" in memory of Baimatuojing.
In 1961, the State Council announced Baima temple as the first batch ofnational key cultural relics protection units. In 1983, the State Councilannounced Baima temple as the national key Temple of Chinese Buddhism. In June20__, Baima temple was designated as a national 4A scenic spot by the NationalTourism Administration.
So far, the White Horse Temple is here. Please close your Windows, takeyour valuables, and remember where we park, the license plate number, the timeand place of the meeting. Follow me out of the car to visit Baima temple, thefirst ancient temple in China
Tourists, we are now in front of the Mountain Gate of Baima temple. The twowhite horses in front of the temple are in front of the tomb of Wei Xianxin, theFuma Duwei of the Song Dynasty. They are two excellent stone carvings of theSong Dynasty. Around 1935, when he was in charge of monk Dehao's reconstructionof Baima temple, he put them in front of the mountain gate. The mountain gate wesee was built in the Ming Dynasty and renovated in 1981. The word "Baima Temple"is the original Chinese Buddhist Association
It was inscribed by the president, Mr. Zhao Xiangchu. The three caves ofShanmen are called "three extrication gates", namely Wuzuo gate, Wuxiang gateand empty gate. Now, please follow me to Baima temple. There is a drum tower onmy left and a clock tower on my right. To the east of the bell tower and to thewest of the drum tower are the tombs of Indian eminent monks shemoteng andzhufalan. Together, they translated the first Chinese Buddhist sutra, forty twochapters. Because of time, we won't visit. Please follow me to the first hall,the heavenly king hall.
Maitreya Buddha is sitting face to face. He is smiling. He holds cloth beltin his left hand and rosary beads in his right hand. It is vivid andinteresting. It is a statue of Ming Dynasty. What I want to tell you is that inthe Buddhist temples of the Han nationality in China, the first hall is usuallydedicated to Maitreya Buddha. When people enter the Buddhist temples, they firstsee this cheerful image, which makes people feel kind to Buddhism. The fourheavenly kings were worshipped around, holding one kingdom in the East, one eyein the west, one dragon in the south, and one year in the north. The fourheavenly kings mean that the wind and the rain are smooth. The four heavenlykings are clay sculptures of the Qing Dynasty. There are many pomegranate treeson the East and west sides of Tianwang hall. People say that "pomegranates inMay are as red as water", while pomegranates in Baima temple are white.
This northern clay statue Buddha is called "Dharma protector God" becauseit is Wei Tuo's heavenly general. After setting up Maitreya Buddha, it is facingSakyamuni Buddha in the Great Buddha Hall. It is a clay sculpture of the QingDynasty. It is carrying out the task of maintaining the preaching hall andforbidding the invasion of evil demons. In the fourth month of the lunarcalendar, the trees are full of crystal white pomegranates. It's really "maypomegranates are as white as snow"!
This is the end of the visit to Tianwang hall. Please follow me and visitthe second major Hall of Baima temple, the Great Buddha Hall. Friends, we areentering the Great Buddha Hall now. The Great Buddha Hall is the main hall inthe temple, where major Buddhist activities are held. The existing Great BuddhaHall was rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty. There are seven statues in the center ofthe hall. One Buddha, two disciples and two Bodhisattvas provide for seven amuni Buddha, the main Buddha, sits on the seat of Xumi, 2.4 meters high. Itis said that this is what he looks like when he does not speak. The characterson the chest of the Buddha indicate that the Buddha is "boundless". On the leftside of Sakyamuni is the eldest disciple motangjiaye. In this "speechlesssaying", only he understood the real intention of the Buddha, so he burst into asmile. Later, he was promoted as one of the top ten disciples of ese Zen Buddhism recommended him as the first generation of patriarch toinherit Buddhism in India. On the other side is Ananda, the eldest disciple. Heis well-known and knowledgeable, and is known as "the most knowledgeable"ese Zen Buddhism recommends him as the second generation of patriarch whoinherits Buddhism in India. On the left side of JIAYE is Manjusri Bodhisattva,and on the right side is Prajna Sutra, which is famous for its profoundknowledge and wisdom. On the right side of Ananda is Puxian Bodhisattva, holdingRuyi hook. Deyang is a perfect person who has made great contributions to heavenand earth, and is famous for "making wishes". Sakyamuni, Manjusri and PuxianBodhisattvas are called "three sages of Sakyamuni". When the Buddha preached thesermon, the two people who supported heaven and man scattered flowers one afteranother in the high sky. I also tell you that the southeast corner of the GreatBuddha Hall is a 2500 Jin Ming Dynasty bell, and the southwest corner of thehall is Dafa drum. Now, please follow me to the next hall, Daxiong hall.
My friends, what we are seeing now is the third hall, Daxiong hall. This isthe Yuan Dynasty
It was rebuilt in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The three holy Buddhas inthe niche are all kneeling in the lotus seat. In the middle of the niche isSakyamuni Buddha, who is respectfully called Mahatma. That is to say, likeHercules, they are powerful and powerful. It gives people a sense of solemnityand holiness. On the left side of Sakyamuni is the pharmacist Buddha of the"pure glass world" in the East, and on the right side is Amitabha Buddha, theleader of the "paradise" in the West. The three Buddhas are opposite to Wei Tuoand Wei Li, two Dharma protectors. On both sides of the hall are eighteenArhats. It is worth mentioning that the three main Buddhas in daxiongkong hall,the second day generals and the eighteen Arhats are all statues of the YuanDynasty and Maitreya Buddha in Tianwang hall. They were transferred from theGreat Buddha Hall of cining palace in Beijing in 1973. They are made of Jiaganlacquer, which is a treasure of cultural relics handed down from generation togeneration. Among them, the 18 Arhats are the only remaining treasures in China,such as Baima temple. In the hall, there are bright lotus patterns painted onthe sky and the moon. The wood carving in the center of the hall is pasted withgold, and there are double-layer niches. In the middle of the upper niche, a rocgolden winged bird is embossed. According to Buddhist legend, there are threedragons on each side of the Dapeng golden winged bird. The Dapeng bird likes toeat dragons, so the dragon has no choice but to complain to the TathagataBuddha. The Tathagata pulls out a bunch of silk from his body and covers adragon with a piece of silk. Since then, the Dragon love Tathagata protection,no longer bear the damage of the beloved Mirs. The Tathagata also used thesupernatural power to make the tribute change infinitely, and let the tributereplace the dragon, so as to meet the requirements of dapengniao and achieve awin-win situation. Both the dragon and the bird are happy, and the design on theBuddhist niche probably has the courage to tell this story. Now please follow meinto the reception hall.
It is said that when Buddhists practice to a certain extent and havecertain lessons, they can be introduced from Amitabha to the Western main Buddha in the center is Amitabha, with the right hand pointing forwardand the left hand pointing to the western "paradise". On both sides areAvalokitesvara and dashizhi Bodhisattva. The three of them are collectivelycalled "three saints of the west" and are clay sculptures of the Qing reception hall was destroyed by fire in the reign of Rizhi and rebuilt inthe reign of Guangxu. It is the latest and smallest building in Baimatemple.
Now, please come with me to the qingliangtai. It is said that Liu Zhuang,emperor of the Han and Ming Dynasties, used to spend the summer here when he wasa child. Later, two Indian eminent monks lived here and translated and preachedthe Scriptures. Here is the translation of forty two chapters. Now we come tocantalu Pavilion, the last important Hall of Baima temple. The center of thewhole stage is cantalu Pavilion, surrounded by monk rooms and veranda, forming aclosed courtyard, which was rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty. In the middle of thetemple is cantaluzana Buddha, which means "great sun Buddha", symbolizing thelight and boundless Buddhism. Cantaluzana Buddha is the highest god of animportant sect in Buddhism. On both sides are Guanyin and dashizhi Bodhisattva,who are collectively known as the "three saints of Huayan". On both sides ofqingliangtai are the Sutra Pavilion and the fakongge Pavilion, which arerespectively dedicated to the Chinese Buddha from Thailand and the bronze statueof Sakyamuni from India. My friend, this is the end of the tour guide'sexplanation. Thank you. Now give you 15 minutes to move freely into the room,and gather at the gate in 15 minutes. Please hurry up. All right, free!
At 3:30 in the afternoon, our family arrived at the Baima Temple ForestPark. The tall and straight trees swarmed together. The mountain roads werewinding like Wolong. There were numerous amusement parks like wild geese. Thewater level of the lake was as gentle as a mirror
After we get off the bus, we first go to climb the mountain. There arestairs one by one, winding mountain roads, and yearning tree lined pathsEverything is so tempting.
Climbing began, I step by step, a section of the stairs. Sometimes happy,sometimes jumping; sometimes chasing my sister quickly, sometimes sitting in thepavilion enjoying the pastoral rest, here is really beautiful, countless greenforests, countless silver lakes, it is so desirable.
When I saw the ants climbing the mountain, I couldn't help but stop forfear of hurting them; when I met the hare, I held my breath for fear of scaringhim away; when I met the birds, I didn't hurt her, because I knew it would behappy only when it was free. I can't count how many roads, how many stairs, howmany steps I took; I can't count how many trees, how many lakes, how manyscenery I saw.
One of the most influential is the historical allusion "white horse pullingrein". It tells about a poor boy who cut firewood for the old rich man becauseof his poor family. One winter, when the boy finished cutting firewood, he sawan old man on his way home suffering from cold. He forgot the old rich man'scruel intention to light a fire to keep the old man warm, and put some water inthe river to make the old man drink, The old man was very grateful to him, so hegave him a paper horse and told him that if the paper horse ate the millennialcereal grass, it would become a magic horse. When the young man came home,suddenly the wind was strong and there was a snowstorm all night. The next day,despite the storm, the rich man forced the boy to go into the mountain tocollect firewood. The young man thought of the paper horse hidden in his arms,but where to find the millennial cereal grass? Suddenly, he thought that amillennium old Buddha statue had been destroyed in the White Horse Temple on themountain. He clearly remembered that the skeleton of the Buddha statue was madeof cereal grass, so he immediately came to the temple and took out a cerealgrass from the Buddha statue. The paper horse in his arms opened his mouth andswallowed it, shaking his head and tail, and suddenly became a snow-white went into the mountain to carry charcoal for the youth. When the rich manlearned about it, he wanted to take the god horse for himself, so he conspiredwith his servants to steal the horse before midnight, and was kicked to theground by the white horse. The boy wakes up from his sleep, jumps on his horse'sback and flies away with the white horse. The horse bell is pulled down by therich man and scattered all over the ground. It turns into a ringing stone. Aridge dragged by the white horse's reins is still barren. This is the origin ofmalingshi and the story of "white horse pulling rein", one of the four famousscenic spots in Jincheng.
I've read this story many times, and I understand the general meaningaccording to the pictures. I dare not say that I memorized it, but I can saythat I absolutely understand the general meaning, because I know it's a storythat benefits me all my life.
Luoyang is a thousand year old capital. There must be many world-famoushistoric sites, such as Longmen Grottoes, Tianjin bridge, Baima temple and soon. My favorite is Baima temple.
When I was seven or eight years old, I had the honor to visit Baima Templeonce. I'm totally attracted by the first ancient temple in China after twothousand years of wind and rain.
The ancient temple was built in 68 ad. In 1961, it was announced by theState Council as one of the first batch of key cultural relics protection unitsin China. There are many magnificent buildings in Baima temple, such as Tianwanghall, Great Buddha Hall, Daxiong hall, reception hall and so on. Moreover, Baimatemple is also the birthplace of Chinese Buddhism, and also known as "Zuting"and "Shiyuan".
It is said that one night in AD 67, Emperor Liu Zhuang of the Han and Mingdynasties had a dream of an immortal with a golden body surrounded by light,flying from afar and landing in front of the imperial palace. Emperor Hanmingwas very happy. The next day when he went to court, he told his dream to hisministers and asked them what was sacred. Taishi Fuyi was erudite and told the emperor of the Han and Ming Dynasties: "it's said that there is aGod in the Western Tianzhu (India), who is called Buddha. He can fly in theillusion and radiate light all over his body. The emperor, you may dream ofBuddha!" so the emperor of the Han and Ming sent envoys Qin Jing, Wang Zun andother 13 people to the western regions to pray for Buddhism. Three years later,they returned to Luoyang with two Indian monks, jayamotong and zhufalan. Theybrought back a number of sutras and Buddha statues and began to translate someof them. It is said that forty two chapters of the Sutra is one of them. Theemperor ordered the construction of China's first Buddhist temple in Luoyang,the capital of China, to house famous Indian monks with high moral standing andto store the precious sutras and statues they brought.
Baima temple is not only the first ancient temple in Chinese history, butalso a place with many vivid Buddha statues and magnificent buildings.
When I visited Baima temple, I saw many vivid Buddha statues. There are notonly Maitreya, the "joyful Buddha", which is vivid and interesting, but also thefour majestic heavenly kings. There is a big contrast. I was deeply impressed byanother scene. That's Qiyun tower. Although this pagoda is not very magnificent,it has a curved body, which gives people the feeling of exquisite and small.
Baima temple is an ancient temple that has experienced thousands of yearsof wind and rain. It is the pride of our people in Luoyang!
