Zhangjiajie Puguang Zen Temple
The attraction we are about to visit is called Puguang Temple. Please look up. Why does the plaque above this gate read "White Sheep Ancient Temple"? Legend has it that more than 500 years ago, this area was covered with dense forests and towering ancient trees, and the local place name was White Sheep Mountain. As early as the Song Dynasty, Daoists built Gaozhen Temple here, but it was very small and insignificant. During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, one day, Yong Jian, the commander stationed in Yongding Guard, saw a flock of white sheep on this hillside and rode after them, but unexpectedly the white sheep burrowed into the earth. Feeling very puzzled, he ordered people to dig and unexpectedly unearthed a pile of gleaming silver. He reported this matter to the Yongle Emperor, who was greatly delighted, ordered the construction of a temple using local materials, and bestowed the name Puguang Temple. Later, some officials and wealthy gentry, taking advantage of this auspicious site, followed suit one after another and built ancient structures such as Songliang Academy, the City God Temple, and the Confucian Temple in this area, collectively known as White Sheep Ancient Temple. "Temple" is a transliteration from Sanskrit, referring to Buddhist pagodas and monasteries. Puguang Temple is an important component of the White Sheep Ancient Temple complex.
The ancient architectural complex of Puguang Temple was designated a provincial-level key cultural relic protection unit by the provincial people's government in 1959.
Puguang Temple was first built in the 11th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1413 AD). According to research, it was built 7 years earlier than the Forbidden City in Beijing and 3 years earlier than the Golden Summit of Wudang Mountain. Puguang Temple belongs to the Linji School, one of the five schools of Buddhism. It originally administered more than 80 Buddhist temples and over 200 monks in this region, with more than 50 resident monks. From 1919 to 1943, the Dragon Flower Assembly was held here six times, and nearly a thousand followers from Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, and Guizhou received ordination here, giving it the reputation of a famous temple in Jiangnan. The temple covers a total area of more than 11,000 square meters, with a building area of more than 3,300 square meters. The entire complex adopts traditional bracket sets and coffered ceiling structures, exquisitely designed and magnificently grand. It consists of a large ancient architectural complex including the Mountain Gate, Mengpa Gate, Bell and Drum Towers, Mahavira Hall, Arhat Hall, Guanyin Hall, Jade Emperor Pavilion, Gaozhen Temple, Martial Temple, and memorial archways. It possesses the architectural styles and characteristics of the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. At the same time, it integrates structural science, mechanics, literature, aesthetics, feng shui, and architecture, blending Buddhist culture, Daoist culture, and Confucian culture into one, and is the crystallization of the extraordinary wisdom of ancient laboring people, with high research value in both architecture and religion.
On this great mountain gate are four gilded characters reading "Puguang Temple," said to be in the imperial handwriting of the Qianlong Emperor. The side doors on the left and right are inscribed respectively with "Compassionate Clouds Universally Protect" and "The Path of Enlightenment Is Bright." According to Buddhist understanding, the Buddha's Dharma is boundless, sheltering all sentient beings; with compassion in heart, one delivers all sentient beings, and once enlightened, the future is bright. Why is the temple gate also called the mountain gate? Famous temples and ancient monasteries through the ages were mostly hidden deep in the mountains. "Most famous mountains are occupied by monks." Entering the mountain is equivalent to entering the temple, so the temple gate is also called the mountain gate. Inside this great mountain gate stand two gatekeepers, called the Hum and Ha Generals. The one with a closed mouth is Hum, and the one with an open mouth is Ha.
In the Mengpa Gate are enshrined the Four Heavenly Kings, who are the external generals of the Buddha Shakyamuni, also known as the Four Vajras. The one holding a pipa is Dhritarashtra, the Heavenly King of the East; the one holding a sword is Virudhaka, the Heavenly King of the South; the one with a dragon coiled around him is Virupaksha, the Heavenly King of the West; and the one holding a jeweled umbrella is Vaishravana, the Heavenly King of the North. These four Dharma-protecting divine generals are awe-inspiring and dutifully perform their duties. Please look carefully. What is remarkable is that the Dharma treasures of the Four Heavenly Kings are all incomplete: the pipa has no strings, the sword has no scabbard, the dragon has no scales, and the umbrella has no ribs. What is the reason? According to Buddhist scriptures, if the pipa had strings, the earth would quake and mountains would shake; if the sword were put into its scabbard, robbers would rise everywhere; if the dragon had scales, it would stir up winds and waves; if the umbrella had ribs, the sky would turn dark. Conversely, only then can one enjoy an era of peace and prosperity. There is another explanation: the sword has an edge, the pipa has tunes, the umbrella can shield from rain, and dragons and snakes have scales, metaphorically suggesting "favorable weather" and national peace and prosperity.
Ladies and gentlemen, with the Hum and Ha Generals at the gate and the Four Heavenly Kings guarding it, we can walk worry-free through this pure Buddhist land and feel a transcendence that gradually leaves the mundane world behind.
On the main hall gate of the Mahavira Hall hangs a large gilded plaque inscribed with "Mahavira Hall" by the late Mr. Zhao Puchu, former president of the Chinese Buddhist Association and a famous calligrapher. "Mahavira" is an honorific title and epithet for the Buddha. The eave pillars in front of the hall are carved with two golden coiled dragons, with bared teeth and brandished claws, commanding the wind and clouds. According to the "Yongding Local Gazetteer," during the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, a monk in the temple was sent to Tianmen Mountain opposite to handle affairs. The journey between the two places was long and rugged, yet he completed the matter and returned very quickly. The other monks all found it strange and asked why. He said he had ridden this dragon back and forth. Believe the legend or not, it is true that these two dragons are vividly lifelike. Everyone, look more carefully at the many figures and stories carved on the door panels; they are Buddhist allusions, such as Tang Monk's Journey to the West, Jianzhen's Voyage to Japan, Emperor Shunzhi's Renunciation, Li Zicheng's beloved general Yefo cultivating on Tianmen Mountain, and Huaisu Writing on Banana Leaves. The relief carvings on the doors also depict in full detail the entire process of Shakyamuni from birth to enlightenment, which other temples cannot match. The Mahavira Hall enshrines three golden Buddha statues, called the Buddhas of the Three Times. In the center is Shakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, also known as the Buddha; on the east side is the Medicine Buddha, and on the west side is Amitabha Buddha.
On the east and west walls of the Mahavira Hall there were originally two water-polished stone tablets, finely polished and smooth as mirrors. Whenever the bright moon was in the sky, the stone tablets reflected the moonlight, and the great hall was filled with silver radiance, hence the saying "the moon lights the lamp." Also, because of the ingenious design, a clear breeze often swept across the floor, keeping the hall floor clean throughout the four seasons, and thus it became known as "the wind sweeps the floor." "The moon lights the lamp" and "the wind sweeps the floor" are among the fascinating wonders of Puguang Temple, reflecting the ancient craftsmen's profound understanding and scientific application of optics and architecture. Unfortunately, "the moon lights the lamp" no longer exists because the stone tablets were lost. The Mahavira Hall is the core building of Puguang Temple, with a single-eave hip-and-gable roof, 26.5 meters wide, 12 meters deep, and 9 meters high. The entire hall has 5 bays totaling 365 square meters. I wonder if everyone has noticed why the hall is so spacious and bright inside and out. This is thanks to the six beams and bracket sets above. Bracket sets are the main feature of traditional Chinese architectural modeling. They have the function of projecting outward layer by layer to support loads, allowing the eaves to extend farther, which facilitates lighting and also has a decorative function. On the back side of the Mahavira Hall are three Bodhisattvas, with a male image of Guanyin Bodhisattva in the middle. On both sides of the passage pavilion are the Water and Fire Pools. No matter how severe the drought, the Water Pool never dries up in any season; no matter how heavy the rain pours, not a drop remains in the Fire Pool, complementing the Water Pool and forming yet another wonder of Puguang Temple.
Look, everyone. The Eighteen Arhats on both sides of the Arhat Hall—some with kindly faces, some with gnashing teeth, some laughing aloud, some glaring with both eyes—each has its own expression and is vividly lifelike. Arhat is an ancient Indian term referring to those who have extinguished all afflictions and are worthy of offerings from gods and humans, never again to undergo reincarnation, and who spread the Buddha's Dharma. It is a level of Buddhist practice lower than that of Bodhisattva. Although the levels of Buddha, Bodhisattva, and Arhat differ, they are all beings who have attained the fruition of cultivation.
The architecture of the Arhat Hall has its own distinctive features. The preserved one-dou-three-sheng double bracket set is a bracket set of the original Ming Dynasty style, and its greatest characteristic is that "the pillars are crooked and the beams bent, yet the house does not lean." Legend says this is the place where the white sheep burrowed into the earth and transformed. The timber for building the main hall was taken from here, and 43 years later, when this Arhat Hall was built, White Sheep Mountain no longer had thick, straight timber. Following the principle of using local materials, the craftsmen made the best of what was crooked and slanted. All 43 major components of the hall, including the upright pillars and horizontal beams, were made from crooked timber. In terms of craftsmanship, the bracket sets are all connected by wooden mortise-and-tenon joints, without a single iron nail, yet they are extremely sturdy and perfectly fitted, truly a marvel in architecture. The upper level of the Arhat Hall is the "Yuanyin Tower," with a statue of Skanda Bodhisattva facing due north, holding a vajra club and imposing in demeanor. Yuanyin Tower was once a place for storing scriptures and also enshrined Buddha statues. The coffered ceiling in the tower connects with the Arhat Hall. The smoke from incense and paper burned by believers in the hall rises curling upward and drifts to the upper floor, both preventing insects and guarding against moisture. Truly an ingenious way to protect the scriptures. Yuanyin Tower is actually a protruding rear annex of the Arhat Hall facing north, purely wooden in structure, exquisitely shaped and complex in structure. Together with the Arhat Hall it forms a two-story double-eave hip-and-gable roof. Viewed from the front it appears as one roof, while viewed diagonally three tiers of flying eaves appear. The water from the upper roof surface flows down to the second-story ridge, and at the junction a carved wooden dragon head with an opening is installed on each side, with a hanging pearl placed in the dragon's mouth. When rainwater drains, the hanging pearls naturally bounce back and forth, like real dragons playing with water. This not only regulates and slows the flow of water, providing a certain buffering effect, but also prevents the ridge from being washed away. It combines both ornamental and practical value and can be called a masterpiece. "The Architectural Gazetteer of Hunan Province" once introduced the crooked timber, bracket sets, beams and pillars, camel humps, and craftsmanship here as examples of ancient architectural achievements. The famous ancient architecture scholar Professor Chen Congzhou praised Puguang Temple as first-class ancient Chinese architecture.
The Guanyin Hall is the last building on the central axis of Buddhist architecture in Puguang Temple. Inside the hall is enshrined a female image of Guanyin. She sits upright on a lotus platform, with Sudhana as the attendant on her left and the Dragon Girl Bodhisattva on her right. It is said that Guanyin, full of compassion, manifests according to circumstances and can transform into male or female, being the embodiment of great mercy and great compassion, saving the suffering and delivering the distressed.
This well is called the "Dragon Eye Well." Together with another well in the former City God Temple 200 meters to the east, they are known as the two eyes of a dragon. It is said that the two wells are connected, and when water is drawn from one well, ripples surge in the other.
Friends, we have just toured the Buddhist buildings in Puguang Temple and paid homage to Tathagata Buddha and Guanyin Bodhisattva. I believe you have surely gained a sense of transcendence and elevation. Now let us walk together into the adjacent Daoist site. Daoism is the indigenous religion of China's Han ethnic group. It reveres Li Er, founder of the pre-Qin Daoist school, as its patriarch, and takes the "Tao Te Ching" as its main classic. It holds that "Dao" is "the mother of all things," an omnipresent force, "mysterious and wondrous, real and endowed with nature," which can be "attained through cultivation." If a person attains the Dao, he can achieve immortality and become an immortal in the orthodox fruition. Since the Jin and Yuan dynasties down to the present, Daoism nationwide has formed two major schools: the Quanzhen School and the Zhengyi School.
Please follow me up to the Jade Emperor Pavilion to pay respects to the Jade Emperor.
The Jade Emperor Pavilion was built in the late Ming Dynasty and rebuilt in the 18th year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (1813 AD). It has a three-story double-eave hip-and-gable roof and is 14.6 meters high. The lower level enshrines the Gods of the Five Sacred Mountains and the Patriarch of Morality, while the upper level houses the Jade Emperor along with the Golden Boy and Jade Girl. Look at that old Jade Emperor, sitting upright with a solemn, self-important air of supreme authority. In the past, some literati climbed the tower to gaze into the distance, and facing the ancient city below and the majestic posture of Tianmen Mountain, they improvised the fine line: "Ten thousand households all come into view, sixteen peaks seem to stand shoulder to shoulder." I wonder how you feel at this moment.
Gaozhen Temple is the earliest building of Puguang Temple, built at the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty. Its characteristics include a single-eave hip-and-gable roof, all using large bracket sets to support the beams, with especially large carved corner braces padded beneath the architraves. Inside the hall are two full tenons symbolizing square-earth techniques; between the two rear eave pillars and the pillar bases are cushioned pieces of cake-shaped wood about 3 centimeters thick, which can disperse rising moisture and reduce the coefficient of the wooden pillars being directly affected by dampness. It inherits the architectural features of the Tang and Song dynasties and has high scientific value.
Gaozhen Temple had no Daoist priests long ago, and its incense offerings were managed by monks on its behalf. This is because Daoism is divided into two main schools, the Quanzhen School and the Zhengyi School. The Quanzhen School regards temples as home, cannot marry, and often practices alchemy and martial arts, while the Zhengyi School normally lives at home, often performs folk prayers, exorcisms, and funeral rites, may marry, and need not live permanently in temples. Gaozhen Temple belongs to the Zhengyi School. Therefore, Daoist practitioners need not leave home, and only gather at the temple to worship once on sacred festivals. On ordinary days, Buddhist disciples could not bear to see the Daoist halls deserted, so they worshiped and offered incense "treating the gods as the same." Over time, this became customary among the Buddhist monks. Puguang Temple is a famous temple in Jiangnan, with very flourishing incense offerings. Buddhism and Daoism coexisting peacefully and harmoniously has become a major feature.
What Gaozhen Temple enshrines are the highest gods worshiped in Daoism—the Three Pure Ones. In the center is Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun, on the east side is Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun, and on the west side is Taiqing Daode Tianzun (that is, Taishang Laojun). Legend says these three divine lords govern the Three Heavens and Three Immortal Realms, so they are also called the "Lords of the Three Caverns." Gazing at the calm, serene, and wise expressions of the "Three Pure Ones," will you perhaps feel a sense of transcendence beyond the mundane?
The Martial Temple was built in the 23rd year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty (1814 AD), also called the Guan Temple. It mainly consists of the resting hall, main hall, front hall, Buddha hall, and front gate. In the main hall sits Guan Gong, known as the "Martial Sage," with Guan Ping and Zhou Cang standing on either side, mighty and solemn. High fire-blocking walls surround it, forming a courtyard layout. Inside the front gate is a theater stage. On both sides of the courtyard in front of the main hall are the bell tower and drum tower, designed with octagonal pyramidal roofs, cleverly attached to the walls at the corners. At first glance they look like complete towers, but in fact they are only half, this design of revealing completeness within brokenness and combining the virtual and the real highlights the main hall's design and form, sharing a similar excellence with the bell and drum towers in Puguang Temple. The open ground outside the hall was formerly a place for martial arts practice, watching opera, and sacrifices. The side halls on both sides of the open ground display some unearthed cultural relics from Yongding District, ancient furniture from private collections, and carved wooden panels.
Here are two memorial archways, built during the Jiaqing and Daoguang periods respectively. Carved on the archways are stories of ancient Chinese sages studying diligently, such as "Zhu Maichen Carrying Firewood While Studying," "Li Mi Hanging Books on Ox Horns," "Kuang Heng Boring a Hole in the Wall to Steal Light," and "Che Yin Reading by Fireflies." More than 80 years later, in the first year of Xuantong, the Wenchang Shrine was built. This Daoist structure cleverly used the gaps of the archways as gates and filled the open doors of the archways with stone to serve as the front wall. Thus the entire Puguang Temple formed a layout integrating temple, monastery, shrine, archway, and pavilion, which is truly rare in China. In 1990, after visiting Puguang Temple, Li Rui, former secretary to Chairman Mao Zedong, improvised a couplet: "Temple, monastery, pavilion, shrine, and archway in one; Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, civil, and martial merged into one stream." In just over ten characters, it provides the best summary of Puguang Temple's distinctive characteristics.