Zhongdu Buddhist Garden

Zhongdu Buddhist Garden

The Zhongdu Buddhist Garden scenic area features five major tourist highlights: First, the Nine Dragons Pouring Water — the birth of the Buddha; second, the colorful translucent reclining Buddha — the nirvana of the Buddha; third, the Thousand Buddha Underground Palace — sacred relics; fourth, the Pagoda Buddha Light — the manifestation of the Buddha; fifth, the auspicious clouds in the night sky — the appearance of the Buddha. Introduction

Introduction

The Zhongdu Buddhist Garden tourist area is located in the urban area of Wenshang County in southwestern Shandong Province. It borders the "Three Confucian Sites" to the east, Liangshan to the west, Mount Tai to the north, and the Weishan Lake Scenic Area to the south. It is a renowned Buddhist cultural tourism destination in China. The core attraction of the area, Baosheng Temple, was originally built during the Tang Dynasty and was initially named Zhaokong Temple. When Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty stopped in Wenshang during his Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai, he bestowed the name Baosheng Temple upon Zhaokong Temple. Having endured the dynasties of Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing, the temple has enjoyed flourishing incense offerings for over a thousand years, becoming a blessed site frequented by emperors, generals, celebrities, and literati for sightseeing. It is a famous Buddhist temple in the land of Qilu.

The cultural relics and historic sites within the temple have been well preserved through centuries of vicissitudes. On March 15, 1994, 141 Buddhist sacred relics including a Buddha’s tooth and sarira were unearthed from the underground palace of the Prince’s Relic Pagoda in Baosheng Temple. These relics are incredibly precious, especially the emergence of the Buddha Shakyamuni’s tooth and sarira, which caused a sensation across the nation and shocked the world, earning Baosheng Temple the reputation of the “Second Famen Temple” both domestically and internationally. Baosheng Temple is one of the earlier Buddhist sites in China to open to the public and conduct Buddhist rituals and activities.

The Zhongdu Buddhist Garden tourist area spans a planned area of 1,240 mu. Its main attractions include: the screen wall, the main gate, the parking lot, the Sea of Suffering Ferry, the Mount Sumeru Divine Mountain, and Baosheng Temple. Upon entering Baosheng Temple, visitors will successively pass through the mountain gate, bell tower, drum tower, Heavenly King Hall, Mahavira Hall, surrounding corridors, monks’ quarters courtyard, underground palace, Prince’s Relic Pagoda, stele pavilion, the translucent reclining Buddha of the Nirvana, statues of the Ten Great Disciples, World Square, Pagoda Forest, the Origin Stele Forest, Scripture Depository, and the Wenshang County Buddhist Culture Museum. In the Buddha’s Life Garden area, there are Lumbini Garden, Bodh Gaya, Deer Park, Kushinagar, and Guan Di Temple. The Foreign Buddhist Culture Area features Tibetan Buddhist architecture, Japanese Buddhist architecture, Theravāda Buddhist architecture, and a Mandala Square.

The South Sea Guanyin Area includes the Emerging Guanyin and Guanyin Temple. The Buddhist Cultural Entertainment Area features the Lotus Pond Buddha Reflection, Buddha Seal Hunt, Liberation Pond, children’s playground, and martial arts training ground. The Buddhist Cultural Leisure Area consists of Sravasti City, the Three Treasures Garden, Daoguo Hall, and a 300-meter-long pedestrian commercial street. In the northeast, northwest, southwest, and southeast directions of the scenic area, there are statues of the Four Heavenly Kings — Vaishravana, Virupaksha, Virudhaka, and Dhritarashtra. Major Buddhist festivals feature the grand cultural performance “Sanskrit Buddhist Rhythm,” which dramatizes the stories of the Buddha’s birth, renunciation, enlightenment, nirvana, and the arrival of his tooth and sarira relics in Wenshang.