Yunju Temple

Coordinates: 39°36′29″N 115°46′04″E / 39.60806°N 115.76778°E / 39.60806; 115.76778
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Yunju Temple
Guanyin Hall of the Yunju Temple
Religion
AffiliationBuddhism
Location
CountryChina
Yunju Temple is located in Beijing
Yunju Temple
Location in Beijing municipality
Geographic coordinates39°36′29″N 115°46′04″E / 39.60806°N 115.76778°E / 39.60806; 115.76778

Yunju Temple (

Fangshan District, 70 kilometers (43 mi) southwest of Beijing and contains the world's largest collection of stone Buddhist sutra steles. Yunju Temple also contains one of only two extant woodblocks for the Chinese Buddhist Tripitaka in the world as well as rare copies of printed and manuscript Chinese Buddhist Tripitakas
. It also has many historic pagodas dating from the Tang and Liao Dynasty.

History

The exact year Yunju Temple was built is unknown; however construction started during the

Sui Dynasty dated to the 8th day of the 4th lunar month 616 CE.[9][10]

Collection

Stone Buddhist sutras in archive at Yunju Temple

There are also over 22,000 scrolls of rare printed or manuscript sutras kept at Yunju Temple. The Ming Dynasty's Yongle Southern Tripitaka (1420 CE) and Yongle Northern Tripitaka (1440 CE) are stored here as well as individual printed sutras and manuscripts.

In total, 1,122 Buddhist sutras in 3572 volumes were produced at the temple consisting of over 14,200 stone steles engraved on both sides.[11]

Yunju Temple also has one of only two extant complete woodblocks of the Chinese Tripitaka in the world: namely the Qianlong Tripitaka (1733). Carved on over 77,000 blocks, it attracts a large number of visitors.[12][13]

Yunju Temple also has two bone relics of

the Buddha (śarīra) available for public viewing.[12]

Layout

There were originally six halls in the temple, arranged from east to west. On both sides of the halls, there was accommodation for guests and dormitories for monks.[8]

The temple contains a total of twelve pagodas from the Tang and Liao dynasties and three tomb pagodas from the Qing dynasty.

  • Sakyamuni Palace
    Sakyamuni Palace
  • Yunju's Drum Tower
    Yunju's Drum Tower
  • Taiji Pagoda
    Taiji Pagoda
  • Kaiyuan Pagoda
    Kaiyuan Pagoda
  • Jingyun Pagoda
    Jingyun Pagoda
  • Sanskrit Mantra, part of the Liao-Jin Fangshan Stone Sutra collection
    Sanskrit Mantra, part of the Liao-Jin Fangshan Stone Sutra collection

Notes

  1. ^ Translation
    关于云居寺的始建时间，许多人认为是静琬刻经时所建，其实不然。据辽天庆七年(公元 1117 年)《大辽燕京涿州范阳县白带山石经云居寺释迦佛舍利塔记》载：“案诸传记并起寺碑，原其此寺始自北齐(公元 550—577年)，迄至隋代，有幽州智泉寺沙门智苑，……发心磨莹贞石镌造大藏经，以备法灭
    tr. to English: regarding the time Yunju temple was first built, many people assume it was when Jingwan started to engrave stone sutra steles, in fact that is not so. According to “The Records of the Great Liao Yanjing Zhuozhou Fanyang County Baidai Mountain Stone Sutra Stele and Yunju Temple Buddha Sarira Pagoda” written in 1117 CE, it was recorded : “According to numerous records and temple stone steles, originally this temple (i.e. Yunju Temple) started in the Northern Qi Dynasty(550 CE – 570 CE) up to the Sui Dynasty (581 CE – 618 CE) when a monk named Zhiyuan (also known as Jingwan) from Zhiquan Temple located in Youzhou province made a vow to polish solid rock to engrave the Buddhist Tripitaka in order to prepare for the end of Buddhism.
  2. Huisi
    of Nanyue believed the Degenerate Age was already in progress. At the same time, his disciple Jingwan also worried Buddhism would very soon be destroyed and therefore started the movement of engraving stone sutra steles to be hidden in mountain caves.
  3. ^ CBETA
    [0012a06] ...清代康熙以後雖然幾次修葺雲居寺，也刻了一些經碑立於寺中但已失去石經原來錮藏以備法滅時充經本用的意義了。
    tr. to English: [0012a06] ...Yunju Temple was repaired several times during the Qing Dynasty after Emperor Kangxi's reign and some sutras were also engraved on stone steles which were placed inside temple halls. However by this time, the original motivation of storing the stone sutra steles in caves to prepare for the end of Buddhism and then use them to renew Buddhism had already disappeared.
  4. ^ Translation
    房山石经始刻于隋朝，迄于清康熙三十年(公元 1691年)
    tr. to English: Fangshan Stone Sutra Steles began from the Sui Dynasty and ended in the Qing Dynasty in 1691 CE
  5. ^ CBETA
    [0012a10]靜琬最初 發願要刻的十二部經具體經名沒有寫明，已無法考查。然就現存可認為是靜琬刻造的石經，主要有：《法華經》、《華嚴經》、《晉譯》、《涅槃經》、《維摩經》、《勝鬘經》、《金剛經》、《佛遺教經》、《無量義經》、《彌勒上生經》等。
    tr. to English: [0011a07] Ven. Jingwan initially vowed to engrave the entire Tripitaka [but since] what he actually accomplished was not recorded, now it's impossible for us to know [with certainty what was actually engraved]. But based on the surviving [stone steles], that were likely engraved during Jingwan's time, the main ones are: The Lotus Sutra, The Avatamsaka Sutra, Jin Dynasty Translations (265 CE - 420 CE), Mahaparinirvana Sutra, Vimalakirti Sutra, Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sutra, Diamond Sutra, Sutra on Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching, Sutra of Immeasurable Life, Sutra of Maitreya's Ascension, etc.,
  6. ^ CBETA
    [0014a17] 惠暹和玄法的刻造石經事業，得到了唐玄宗第八妹金仙長公主的大力施助。據上述王守泰撰《山頂石浮圖後記》記載：[0015a01] 「大唐開元十八年，金仙長公主為奏聖上，賜大唐新舊譯經四千餘卷，充幽府范陽縣為石經本...」and [0015a05] 《後記》同時還載明了當時負責送這些經本的人是長安崇福寺沙門，著名的《開元釋教錄》著者智昇。由此可見，金仙長公主當時對房山雲居寺石經事業的施助，不僅送來四千多卷經本，而且劃出大片田園山林作為刻造石經的經費。因此惠暹和玄法才有條件刻造幾部大部頭的佛經。
    tr. to English: [0014a17] Huixian and Xuanfa (descendants of disciples of Jingwan) engraving of stone sutras received the tremendous support of Emperor Xuanzong's eighth younger sister, Princess Jinxian. ...according to the "Latter Record of the Mountaintop Stone Stele": [0015a01] Princess Jinxian petition Emperor Xuanzong in 730 CE to donate over 4,000 (manuscript) scrolls of New and Old translations of the Tripitaka for the engraving of stone sutras in Chongyufu Fanyang District...and [0015a05] According to the "Latter Record" at the same time the person responsible for delivering these manuscript scrolls was Chang'an's famous monk/writer Zhisheng of Chongfu Temple, (compiler of the Kaiyuan Record of Buddhist Teaching ca. 730 CE(Catalog)). Therefore the assistance Princess Jinxian offered at the time to the engraving of the stone sutras at Yunju Temple, was not limited to only donating 4,000 scrolls of sutras but furthermore she planned for the expense of engraving the stone sutras with the donation of fields, orchards and forests. Therefore Huixian and Xuanfa was given the ability to engrave large sections of Buddhist sutras.
  7. ^ Shi
    到現在為止，在石經山的頂上還有一座金仙公主的紀念塔。
    tr. to English: Even now on the top of Stone Sutra Mountain (on top of Leiyin Cave) there is still a pagoda that commemorates Princess Jinxian.
  8. ^ Shi
    可惜在一九四二年，遭日軍砲火擊毀，幾乎全部夷為平地，僅剩南北兩座磚塔及碑刻等遺跡而已。
    trans to English - Regrettably in 1942, [Yunju temple] was destroyed by Japanese military bombardment to the point where its entirety was almost razed to the ground...

References

  1. ^ a b Transl[full citation needed]
  2. ^ a b c Shi 1991
  3. ^ a b c CBETA
  4. ^ Lancaster, Lewis. "Rock Cut Canon in China". Archived from the original on 2004-06-24. Later records state that he wished to carve the twelve divisions of sûtras (the entire canon attributed to the Buddha's direct teaching) on the stones.
  5. Tang Taizong] [reign 626 CE - 649 CE] and on the reverse the "Heart Sutra" [both] in the collected calligraphic style of Wang Xizhi
    , which is also inscribed with "Xuanzang was ordered to translate." Therefore these examples certify that Xuanzang did indeed translate the Heart Sutra and furthermore was ordered to do so by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty.
  6. ^ Dan and Wang 2001, p26
  7. ^ "佛舍利明起重回雲居寺" [Buddha Relic (Śarīra) Starting Tomorrow to Return to Yunju Temple]. 中国网 China.com.cn (in Simplified Chinese). 2009-06-22. Retrieved 2017-10-24. 雷音洞內不到40平方米，高不到3米，中間原有一座彌勒佛像，上世紀40年代初被挪走...(tr. to English: Leiyin Cave is about 40 square meters and about 3 meters in height. In the middle there was originally a statue of Maitreya; however it was removed during the early 1940s...)
  8. ^ a b Liao & Pin (2006), 25.
  9. ^ The date Emperor Yangdi donated/dedicated the Buddha relics was on the 8th day of the 4th month which is the traditional day East Asian Buddhists celebrated Buddha's birthday.
  10. ^ "佛舍利明起重回雲居寺" [Buddha Relic (Śarīra) Starting Tomorrow to Return to Yunju Temple]. 中国网 China.com.cn (in Simplified Chinese). 2009-06-22. Retrieved 2017-10-24. 11月27日11時15分，沈書權一行7人在雷音洞開始發掘。……，裏面有一個半米見方的漢白玉石函。"當時我們都十分興奮啊！絕對是寶貝。抬回來打開一看，果然是兩顆佛舍利。"沈書權回憶，他們還特地挑的28日淩晨開函。(tr. to English: November 27th at 11:15 AM, Shen Shuquan together with a group of 7 people were in Leiyin Cave starting to excavate……inside was a 1.5 square meter white jade container. "At the time, we were really excited! It must be a treasure. We bought it back and opened it, and sure enough there were two Buddha relics (śarīra)." Shen Shuquan reminisce, they also especially selected the dawn of the 28th to open the container.)
  11. ^ [1] Pagoda, Library Caves and Stone Tablets of Sutra of Yunju Temple – UNESCO World Heritage Center.
  12. ^ a b "Connecting China Connecting the World". China Daily Website (in Chinese). 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2021-08-09.
  13. ^ The other extant complete woodblock of the Chinese Tripitaka is located in Korea in Haeinsa (see also Tripitaka Koreana)

Sources

  • CBETA. 房山雲居寺石經──經文、題記、碑銘等拓片之選輯 第2卷 [Fangshan Yunju Temple Stone Sutras – Rubbings of Selected Sutra Text, Descriptive Inscriptions, Stone Stele Inscriptions, etc., Scroll No. 2]. CBETA (in Traditional Chinese).
  • Dan Jixiang and Wang Fengjiang (Eds), 2001. Fang Shan Yu Ju Temple Liao Jin Stone Sutras Preservation Record, No ISBN. In Chinese. 《房山云居寺辽金石经回藏纪实》/单霁翔, 王风江 (主编)
  • Lan Jifu (Ed), 1985. Supplement to the Dazangjing (Tripitaka), Taipei: Huayu Publishing Co., In Chinese. 《大藏經補編》/藍吉富 (主編)
  • Lancaster, Lewis, 1996. Rock Cut Canon in China The Rock Cut Canon in China : Findings at Fang-Shan
  • Liao Pin and Wu Wen. The Temples of Beijing. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 2006.
  • Shi Shengyen (釋聖嚴) (1991). 火宅清涼 [A Cool Wind in a Burning House] (in Traditional Chinese). pp. 112–127.
  • 北京 "敦煌"—— 房山石经及云居寺 [Beijing's Dunhuang:Fangshan Stone Sutra and Yunju Temple]. 古詩文翻譯網 [Translation of Ancient Literature Web] (in Simplified Chinese).
  • Pagoda, Library Caves and Stone Tablets of sutra of Yunju Temple - UNESCO World Heritage Centre Pagoda, Library Caves and Stone Tablets of Sutra of Yunju Temple – UNESCO World Heritage Center.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yunju_Temple&oldid=1181057409"