Chinese Temple
By admin on 2015-01-12

Temples is the symbolization of the long history and rich culture of China, and are regarded as valuable art treasures. Generally speaking, temple is not only related to Buddhism. However, in Buddhism, there are many kinds of titles for temple: such as "Temple", which does not refer to Buddhist temple. Official residences were known as Temple since the Qin Dynasty (qín cháo 秦朝). In the Han Dynasty (hàn cháo 汉朝), the living place of the monks from the West also known as Temple. From then on, temple has become professionals of Chinese Buddhist architecture gradually. It also can be said that when Buddhism spread to China, Chinese people called t the Buddhist architecture as temple so as to show respect for Buddhism.

There are many titles for temples in Taoism. When Taoism was founded its religious organizations and activity venues were all called “Zhi” (zhì 治), also known as “Lu” (lú 庐), "Jing” (jìng 靖) and “Jingbao” (jìng bǎo 静宝). In the Southern and Northern Dynasties,the activity venues of Taoism is called as Fairy House. During the period of Northern Zhou Wu Di (zhōu wǔ dì 周武帝), it was known as “Daoist Temple”, means viewing star and the air. Till Tang Dynasty (táng cháo 唐朝 ), the emperor regarded Laozi as ancestor. However, the emperor’s residence was “palace”. Therefore, the Taoist Structure was called “palace”. Apart from these, there are other titles, such as “court”, "shrine”, like Wenshu Yuan (wén shū yuàn 文殊院), Bixia Shrine (bì xiá cí 碧霞祠) and so on.

In Confucianism the temple is called "temple”, "palace” and "altar", for example, Kong Miao (kóng miào 孔庙), Wen Miao (wén miào 文庙), Yonghe Lamasery (yōng hé gōng 雍和宫), the temple of Heaven (tiān tán 天坛), etc.. Islamism is known as "temple”, such as the Mosque. In Catholicism, the temple is called “church”. In civil society, it was known as “temple”, "shrine”. For example, the places where people worship ancestor, the deity or the former saptarsis were called the Imperial Ancestral Temple (tài miào 太庙), Zhong Yue Temple (zhōng yuè miào 中岳庙), Xi Yue Temple (xī yuè miào 西岳庙), Nan Yue Temple (nán yuè miào 南岳庙), Bei Yue Temple (béi yuè miào 北岳庙), Dai Temple (dài miào 岱庙) and so on.

Temple culture has influenced every aspect of Chinese people's life such as astronomy, geography, architecture, painting, handwriting, sculpture, music, dancing, antiquity, temple fairs, and folk-customs and so on. The annual temple fair all over the nation has not only enriched the Chinese culture, but also improved the development of local tourism.

Three famous temples in China:

Luoyang White Horse Temple (luò yáng bái mǎ sì 洛阳白马寺)

White Horse Temple is located 12 km away from the east of Luoyang City (luò yáng shì 洛阳市). It was regarded as the "originating court in China". Established by the Eastern Han Dynasty (dōng hàn 东汉) in 68 AD when Buddhism started to spread, this temple is believed to be the first Buddhist temple built by the government in China. Covering a total area of 40, 000 square meters, the temple mainly consists of Tianwang Hall (tiān wáng diàn 天王殿), Great Buddha Hall (dà fó diàn 大佛殿), Mahavira Hall (dà xióng báo diàn 大雄宝殿), Jieyin Hall (jiē yín diàn 接引殿), Pilu Pavilion (pí lú gé 毗卢阁), and Qiyun Pagoda (qí yún tǎ 齐云塔) and so on.

Hangzhou Lingyin Temple (háng zhōu líng yǐn sì 杭州灵隐寺)

Lingyin Temple (or Yunlin Temple 云林寺) is situated at the foot of Lingyin Mountain, aside from the West Lake (xī hú 西湖). It was built in 326AD during the Eastern Jin dynasty (dōng jìn cháo 东晋朝) (317 - 420 AD). Huili (huì lǐ 慧理), an Indian monk came to the area where he was inspired by the spiritual nature of the scenery to be found here. To his mind this had to be a dwelling of the Immortals and so he gave the temple a name "Ling Yin (Temple of the Soul's Retreat). When Emperor Kangxi (kāng xī 康熙) in Qing Dynasty (qín cháo 秦朝) take a tour to the South China, he named Lingyin Temple as “Yunlinchansi Temple (yún lín chán sì 云林禅寺)". When the temple was in full bloom, it had nine buildings, eighteen pavilions, and seventy-two palace halls. The number of monks reached to 3,000. Lingyin Temple is one of the ten most famous ancient Buddhist temples in China.

Dengfeng Shaolin Temple (dēng fēng shào lín sì 登封少林寺)

It is located 12 km away from the northwest of Dengfeng County (dēng fēng xiàn 登封县), Henan Province (hé nán shěng 河南省) , at the foot of Shaoshi Mountain (shào shì shān 少室山). It was named after the ubac of Shaoshi Mountain. Shaolin Temple was established in 495 during the Northern Wei Dynasty (běi wèi 北魏) (386-534). Thirty-two years later, Bodhidharma, the legendary Indian monk, came to Shaolin to instruct Zen Buddhism. Bodhidharma was known as the first ancestor of Chinese Buddhism, and Shaolin Temple was regarded as the original place of Zen Buddhism. Shaolin Temple is probably the most famous temple in China, not only because of its long history and its great importance in Chinese Buddhism, but also because of its martial arts or Wushu (wǔ shù 武术). The temple mainly consists of Tianwang Hall (tiān wáng diàn 天王殿), Mahavira Hall (dà xióng báo diàn 大雄宝殿), Drum Tower (gǔ lóu 鼓楼), Clock Tower (zhōng lóu 钟楼), Sutra Collection Pavilion (cáng jīng gé 藏经阁) and so on.