Xiangji Temple

Xiangji Temple is located on the Shenhe Plateau in the southwest of Weiqu Town, Chang'an District. It is the ancestral court of the Pure Land Sect of Chinese Buddhism. Xiangji Temple was built in the second year of Emperor Zhongzong's Shenlong (AD 706), in memory of the famous monk Shandao in the Tang Dynasty. Tang Gaozong Li Zhi once donated more than 1,000 pieces of relics and flowers of a hundred treasures to the monastery. Named Xiangji Temple, it is intended to compare Shandao to Xiangji Buddha. The existing Shandao Pagoda built in the Tang Dynasty in Xiangji Temple is made of blue bricks, with a wall thickness of two meters and a square plane. It is an imitation wood structure. The top of the tower was destroyed over time. There are twelve ancient Buddhas in the shape of a saddle preserved around the tower body, which are exquisitely carved. There are doors on all sides of the base of the pagoda, and the regular script "Diamond Sutra" is engraved with elegant handwriting and strong pen. From Tang to Song and Yuan Dynasties, after wars, the temple fell into disrepair. It was rebuilt during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, and now there are the main hall and monk's room built in the Qing Dynasty. "I don't know Xiangji Temple, and I enter Yunfeng for several miles. The ancient trees have no trails, and where is the bell in the deep mountains. The spring sounds dangerous, the sun is cold and green. "Guoxiangji Temple" describes the deep and quietness of Xiangji Temple in those days. Monk Shandao (613-681 AD), a famous monk in the Tang Dynasty, was from Linzi, Shandong Province. In the 9th century, when the Japanese monk Yuan Ren came to the Tang Dynasty to study, he brought Shandao's works back to Japan for dissemination. The Japanese monk Faran in the Song Dynasty founded the Japanese Pure Land Sect based on the teachings of the Pure Land religion, which is a sect with more Buddhist believers in Japan. Faran once publicly declared in his writings: "I teach a teacher with goodness and open the Pure Land sect", so the Japanese Pure Land sect believers use Xiangji Temple as their "ancestral court". Today, Xiangji Temple has become a witness of the religious and cultural exchanges between China and Japan. The Shandao Pagoda in the Tang Dynasty has been renovated, and a wooden ladder leads directly to the top of the tower. In the newly repaired hall, there are offering tables, five offerings, copper glutes, wooden fish, etc. donated by Japanese friends, and stone lanterns donated by them are placed in front of the hall.