Fengguo Temple
Fengguo Temple | |
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奉国寺 | |
Religion | |
Affiliation | Buddhism |
Location | |
Location | Yixian, Liaoning |
Geographic coordinates | 41°32′34″N 121°14′33″E / 41.54278°N 121.24250°E |
Architecture | |
Style | Chinese architecture |
Date established | 1020 Liao dynasty |
Fengguo Temple | |
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Hanyu Pinyin | Fènggúo Sì |
Fengguo Temple (
History
Historical records about the history of Fengguo Temple are limited. Most of the history can only be ascertained from the twenty or so stele on the grounds of the temple.
Layout
Originally, Fengguo Temple had a Dharma Hall behind the Mahavira Hall, three pavilions in front, and a gate. One of the pavilions was located along the axis and two more faced each other inwards along the axis. Currently, only the Mahavira Hall survives from the temple's founding.[5]
The present-day temple also has four other structures of note laid out on the north–south axis, all built during the Qing dynasty (1642–1912). Beginning in the south, there is an outer gate followed by an inner gate. Next, a decorated archway stands in front of the Wuliang Hall, a small three-bay hall that is directly in front of the Mahavira Hall.[6]
Main Hall
The Main or Mahavira Hall (大雄宝殿, Dàxíong Bǎodiàn) is very large for a Chinese timber hall, measuring nine by five bays. It faces south on a three-meter-high (9.8 ft) platform and measures 55.8 by 25.9 meters. In front of the three central bays extend a yuetai (stone platform) measuring 37 meters east to west and 15 meters north to south. Two structures dating from the Qing Dynasty stand on the yuetai: two kiosks and a stone incense burner. There is also a small yuetai at the back of the hall. Steinhardt suggests that this yuetai formerly served as a link to the no longer extant Dharma Hall.[4][7]
The main hall contains seven large sculptures of Buddhas from past ages, a rare arrangement in Buddhist temples.
Only 20 interior pillars are used within the hall. There are four rows of columns in the hall, but an entire row (apart from the end pillars) has been eliminated in front of the Buddha statues, so as not to impede viewing. The bracket sets on the outside of the hall are all seventh rank, the highest.[9] The main hall is the earliest Chinese building that uses bracket sets in between columns instead of just simple struts.[10] The structure of the hall uses more than 30 types of timber pieces in between the column tops and the roof.[11][7]
The Present
In 2013, Fengguo Temple was placed on China's tentative list for
Although Fengguo Temple is not explicitly mentioned by name, in Jung Chang's best-selling autobiography Wild Swans the author tells how her grandparents first met there, in a "casual" encounter arranged by her great-grandfather in 1924.[13]
References
Citations
- ^ a b Zi Yan (2012), p. 74.
- ^ Steinhardt (1997), 87.
- ^ Steinhardt (1997), 88.
- ^ a b c d Steinhardt (1997), 89.
- ^ Steinhardt (1997), 96-97.
- ^ Pamphlet, 3-4.
- ^ a b c Zi Yan (2012), p. 75–76.
- ^ a b Howard (2006), 381.
- ^ Steinhardt (1997), 91.
- ^ Steinhardt (1997), 92.
- ^ Steinhardt (1997), 93.
- ^ "Wooden Structures of Liao Dynasty—Wooden Pagoda of Yingxian County,Main Hall of Fengguo Monastery of Yixian County". 2014-04-22.
- ISBN 0-00-637492-1.
In Yixian there was a magnificent 900-year-old Buddhist temple made of precious wood and standing about a hundred feet high. ... It was an obvious place for Yang to take the visiting V.I.P. And temples were among the few places women of good families could go on their own. ... My grandmother was told to go to the temple on a certain day. ... Her father stepped forward and introduced her to the general.
Bibliography
- (in Chinese) Fengguosi. Booklet published by the temple.
- Howard, Angela Falco, et al. Chinese Sculpture. New Haven: ISBN 0-300-10065-5
- Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman. Liao Architecture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8248-1843-1
- Zi Yan (2012). Famous Temples in China (in English and Chinese). Hefei, Anhui: Huangshan Publishing House. pp. 54–57. ISBN 978-7-5461-3146-7.