Zezhou Qinglian Temple

Zezhou Qinglian Temple

Zezhou Qinglian Temple is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction and a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.

Qinglian Temple is located in Lingshi Mountain, 17.5 kilometers southeast of Jincheng City, Shanxi Province.

Qinglian Temple is situated at the foot of the Dan River and against a high mountain, aligning perfectly with the ancient Chinese feng shui architectural concept of "facing the mountain and backing the water." The entire temple complex is majestic, rugged, and uniquely styled, with a pool of clear water within the mountain cliff that never dries up or overflows throughout the year. Carvings on the cliff face date back to the first year of the Wuding era of the Eastern Wei Dynasty (543 AD). The temple is divided into two parts: the Ancient Qinglian Temple and the New Qinglian Temple. The Ancient Qinglian Temple was originally built in the third year of the Tianbao era of the Northern Qi Dynasty (552 AD) and was granted the name "Qinglian Temple" in the eighth year of the Xiantong era of Emperor Yizong of the Tang Dynasty (867 AD). The New Qinglian Temple was first built during the Sui and Tang dynasties and was named "Fuyan Chan Monastery" in the third year of the Taiping Xingguo era of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty (978 AD). Since the Tang Dynasty, it has been expanded by successive dynasties. The temple grounds feature ancient cypresses with twisted trunks and towering ginkgo trees, creating a serene and elegant atmosphere.

The main structures in the temple include the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Scripture Depository, the Sakyamuni Hall, the Arhat Tower, the Kṣitigarbha Tower, as well as scripture halls and monks' quarters, arranged in a staggered and symmetrically balanced layout. The Sakyamuni Hall is simple yet grand, majestic and spectacular, featuring a hanging-eave hip-and-gable roof and bracket sets, exuding a strong sense of traditional Chinese architectural style. The hall houses vivid clay sculptures of the Buddhist pantheon, including the Eleven-faced Avalokiteshvara, Twenty-four Devas, and Sixteen Arhats. The southern porch is adorned with exquisite carvings of dragons, phoenixes, flowers, birds, and celestial beings. On the southern side of the porch stands the Brush-Dropping Platform, where the eminent monk threw down his brush after copying the Diamond Sutra. Ming Dynasty's Wang Guoguang wrote a poem about it: "The high monk rested in the lotus palace like a cloud, / Preaching scriptures atop the platform on emptiness and form. / With brush dropped, he rode a crane away from the mountain peak, / While old pines still whisper in rainy winds." At the southern end of the porch is the Moon-Viewing Pavilion. On Mid-Autumn night, when one climbs the pavilion and looks east, the bright moon rises slowly between the peaks of Mount Jue, hence the name "Jue Mountain Spits the Moon." The inner walls of the pavilion are inlaid with poetic inscriptions by literati through the ages who came here to admire the moon. The beams and pillars of the pavilion also bear inscriptions bearing the reign titles of Chongning and Xining, indicating that it is a structure from the Song Dynasty. The temple also houses numerous stone steles from the Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties, featuring a complete array of calligraphic styles such as regular script, cursive script, clerical script, and seal script. The Tang Dynasty stele in the southern main hall bears a diagram of the Buddha’s Hall from the first year of the Baoli era (825 AD), titled "Remains Record of Great Master Yuan from Xiashi Temple," slightly later than the carved Buddha Hall diagram at Xi’an’s Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, and holds significant value in the history of architecture. (National Cultural Heritage Administration)

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level