Longxing Monastery (Zhengding)
Longxing si ( 隆興寺 / 隆兴寺 , Lóngxīng sì , English Longxing Monastery / Longxing Temple ) is the Chinese name for the Longxing Temple or Longxing Monastery , an old Buddhist monastery near the city of Zhengding in the Chinese province of Hebei , about 15 kilometers north of the provincial capital Shijiazhuang .
Its original name was Longcangsi龙 藏寺, later it was called Longxingsi龙兴寺. The monastery got its current name during the Qing period . It has also been called the "First Monastery South of Beijing". Today Longxing Monastery is a museum .
history
The monastery was built in 586 AD during the Sui Dynasty . One of the oldest steles on the floor of the monastery dates back to this time: the "Longcangsi stele" ( 龍 藏寺 碑 / 龙 藏寺 碑 , Longcangsi bei (also: Longzangsi bei) ) from the year, which is famous not only among calligraphers 586 , one of the few remaining stone tablets from the Sui Dynasty.
Much was reconstructed during the Song Dynasty (960–1279).
According to the usual pattern, the building complex of the monastery is erected along a central axis along which a number of buildings and main points are arranged. The first building is the Hall of the Heavenly Kings ( Tianwang dian ), other buildings are the Mani Hall ( Moni dian ), the Altar ( Jie tan ) and the Temple of Great Mercy ( Ci'en si ).
At the opposite end of the axis is the main hall ( Da bei ge ), also known as Foxiang Pavilion ( Foxiang Ge ) or Tianning ge : a 33-meter-high wooden structure that houses a bronze statue of Guan Yin . This bronze was cast in the 4th year of the Kaibao reign of the Northern Song Dynasty (971). Their height is over 20 meters. Because she has 42 arms, she is also called "Guanyin with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes" ( Qianshou Qianyin Guanyin ). In the hall, a staircase leads around the statue, allowing it to be viewed from top to bottom.
Other notable works of art in the monastery include a colorful carved wooden sculpture of the Guanyin sitting in a grotto and statues of the Buddha seated on a lotus throne.
Revolving Library Pavilion ( Zhuanlunzang dian )
A unique piece of wooden architecture in Longxing Temple is the Pavilion of the rotating library dating back to the Song Dynasty , which was restored in the 20th century. The pavilion houses a rotating bookcase that was previously used to hold sacred texts and Buddhist sutras . This rotating library dates back to the 12th century and is the oldest existing rotating repository of its kind.
literature
- Zhongguo da baike quanshu : Kaoguxue [Great Chinese Encyclopedia, Volume: Archeology], Beijing: Zhongguo da baike quanshu, 1986
- Herbert Franke : Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism in China during the Yuan period. Three studies. Munich: Komm. Für Zentralasiatische Studien, Bayerische Akad. Der Wiss., 1996. ISBN 3-7696-1002-4 (Studia Tibetica; Vol. 3)
Web links
- The Longxing Monastery in Hebei
- Longcangsi bei (Fig. Of the famous inscription on the stele from the Sui dynasty)
Coordinates: 38 ° 8 ′ 39 ″ N , 114 ° 34 ′ 35 ″ E