Yunnan Kunming Xishan Huating Temple - Magnolias bloom again, full of spring
Huating Temple, located on the waist of Huating Mountain in Xishan, Kunming, Yunnan Province. Ascending the path from Bijian Jing She to the south, up to Huating Mountain, where bamboo covers the sky and pine shades the road, in the vast forest, a pavilion decorated with danqing is hidden among the pines and cypresses, this is the famous gate of Huating Temple - the bell tower, the clear bell sound echoes in the mountains.
Huating Temple, gives people the feeling of 'finding an ancient temple and sitting down to collect all the clear'.
Origin of the temple name: The name Huating can be traced back to the Dali Kingdom era. It is said that Gao Zhisheng, the Marquis of Shanchan, built a villa here in 1063 AD. By the time of his descendant Gao Xian, he named this mountain Huating, and since then it has always been a place for the Gao family to feast.
Architectural style: Huating Temple is divided into three levels, with a grand scale and strict layout, leaning on the left against the reclining Buddha and Taihua Peak, right against the jade case and Bijian Peaks, and facing Dianchi Lake. Standing in front of the temple and looking far away, the surrounding mountains are all under the eyes; whenever the sky is clear, the water and the sky are the same color, and the lake of ten thousand acres reflects the peaks by the lake even more majestic and beautiful.
During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, Yang Shengan left a pair of popular couplets at the request of the temple monk Delin, 'One water embraces the city to the west, the smoke is vague, the monk returns to the vast outside with a stick; the peaks face the pavilion below, the rain is clear and thick, and the man leaning on the railing is in the painting.' Recently, Song Hezhang extended the couplet into two quatrains, one of them 'One water surrounds the west and embraces the city, the smoke is vague and born by the stream. In the depths of the white clouds, the vast outside, sometimes see the monk return with a stick.' The second 'Flowing Dan Pavilion faces the peaks, one rain and one clear are different. It should be in the chest of the rice family, the man leaning on the railing is in the painting.'
Although Huating Temple is located in the middle of the mountain, the terrain is flat, with lush forests and bamboo, green bamboo and pine, winding paths leading to seclusion, very elegant, outside the gate of the temple, there is also such a couplet. 'Around the tree, a thousand chapters, pine green and bamboo green; out of the door, a smile, the sea is wide and the sky is high.'
Huating Temple is an ancient forest giant temple, and there are many inscriptions by predecessors. Among them, a five-character ancient style 'Tour of Huating Temple' by Xu Shu of the Qing Dynasty once became famous in the poetry world: 'Ten years of cherishing the tour, this morning I went alone. I took my clothes over the high ridge, and the forest and mountains believed in the vine stick. The sound of ten thousand gullies is rustling, and the autumn wind sends strange sounds. The pines and cedars block the sunlight, and one path enters the forest cool. The rising sun shines golden and green, and the essence is hidden deep and wide.
Ten steps have already taken three rests, and the high climb is even more open. There are four or five old monks, wandering on the stone moss. Pointing and looking in the chaotic clouds, Diancheng is bigger than the palm. Looking down at Kunming Lake, it is crystal clear and solemn. Suddenly the field of vision is wide, and all things are in the mansion. There is nothing to obscure the blue sky, and the eyes are all vast.'
Cultural inheritance: According to the 'Jieyunju Mountain Zhenru Temple Law Scroll', the Huating Temple inherits the Weiyang Sect. There are currently thirteen monk relics pagodas in the temple, the most famous of which is the 'Xuyun Relics Pagoda'; there is also a monk relic in the temple; there are ten inscriptions from the Ming, Qing, Republic of China, and modern times, and a collection of the 'Dragon Collection' bestowed by Emperor Qianlong. There are stone carvings of green lions and white elephants in the temple, which are auspicious signs of Buddhism, namely 'Green Lion Presents Auspiciousness, White Elephant Presents Auspiciousness'.
Huating Temple is located in the center of Xishan Forest Park in Kunming. It lies on the south of Taihua, north of Biqiao, east of Dianchi Lake, with red walls and green tiles, hidden in the lush bamboo and forest. Huating Temple faces east to the west according to the mountain, which is different from the rule of temples in the mainland facing south to the north, which is one of the major features of Huating Temple. It covers an area of eighteen acres, the plan layout is rectangular, and it belongs to the type of symmetrical and enclosed courtyard in Buddhist architecture. Its architectural features are deeply influenced by the palace-style rules and the rational beauty in Confucian culture. Along the central axis, there are three-dimensional buildings, and there are release ponds, Heavenly King Hall, Eight Merit Pools, Daxiong Hall, and Sutra Tower on the vertical axis.