The most worthwhile ancient building ruins in Shanxi [Xuanzhong Temple]

The Pure Land School is a practice that simplifies the profound Buddhist theories into easy-to-follow methods, accommodating the expectations and aspirations of believers. By chanting the name of "Amitabha Buddha", people can transform the "joy, anger, sorrow and happiness" in their hearts into their longing for the future Western Paradise. It was advocated by the eminent monk Huiyuan of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and founded by the eminent monk Shandao of the Tang Dynasty. It became widely popular, especially in the middle Tang Dynasty. Its representatives are the three eminent monks Tanluan, Daochuo and Shandao, who are usually called the founders of the Pure Land Sect. When tracing the place where Pure Land Buddhism was spread, one must inevitably mention Xuanzhong Temple in Jiaocheng County. Xuanzhong Temple was founded in the second year of Yanxing in the Northern Wei Dynasty (472 AD) and completed in the first year of Chengming in the Northern Wei Dynasty (476 AD). ), is located in the Shibi Mountain 10 kilometers northwest of Jiaocheng County. It is a place with steep mountains and a quiet environment with beautiful scenery. But the fame of Xuanzhong Temple spread throughout the world not only due to its elegant scenery, but mainly due to the prosperity and development of the Pure Land Sect of Buddhism. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, the eminent monk Tanluan came to Shibi Mountain. On the one hand, he worked hard to build a temple; on the other hand, he studied Buddhist classics, wrote books, and vigorously promoted the Pure Land doctrine. His "Commentary on the Sutra of Contemplation of the Infinite Life Buddha" is praised as one of the three major sutras of the Pure Land Sect. For a time, the temple was crowded with people, all beings were happy and praising, and the sound of chanting Buddha's name echoed throughout the forest and valley. Eminent monks such as Daochuo in the late Sui Dynasty and Shandao in the early Tang Dynasty followed their teacher's aspirations, chanted Buddha's name with beads, promoted the sect's style, expanded and repaired the temple, which brought this ancient temple into its heyday and made the Pure Land Sect famous both at home and abroad. In the ninth year of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty (635 AD), Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, visited the temple in person as the Son of Heaven and donated "many treasures" to pray for future generations and eliminate disasters, and named it "Shibi Yongning Zen Temple"; in the seventh year of Yuanhe in the Tang Dynasty (812 AD), Emperor Xianzong of Tang named it "Longshan Shibi Yongning Temple"; until 1231, Emperor Taizong of Yuan named it "Longshan Huguo Yongning Shifang Daxuanzhong Zen Temple", and since then it has been named "Xuanzhong Temple". It is worth mentioning that during the Tang Dynasty, when Xuanzhong Temple was flourishing During that period, the Japanese monk Ennin came to the Tang Dynasty to study the Tiantai Sect and Esoteric Buddhism, and also absorbed the Pure Land Sect. From then on, the Pure Land Sect of Chinese Buddhism spread to Japan. Afterwards, the Japanese monk Genku founded the Japanese Pure Land Sect, and his disciple Genshin founded the Jodo Shinshu Sect. The believers and disciples of these two sects all call China's Tanluan, Daochuo, Shandao and others their ancestors, and regard Xuanzhong Temple as their ancestral temple. The most worth seeing things in the temple are the inscriptions from past dynasties. Here there are statue steles from the Northern Wei, Northern Qi and Sui dynasties, the ordination platform stele, the temple, village and forest four boundaries stele from the Tang Dynasty, and the stele in praise of the Iron Maitreya Statue in Shibi Temple. In addition, there are dozens of steles from the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. These inscriptions, dating from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, are not only a group of artistic treasures, but also a rare group of historical documents for studying the history of Chinese Buddhism, especially the Pure Land Sect. Just as the couplet on the Patriarch Hall says: "Tanzu, Daozu and Shanzu, three generations of ancestors promoted the Pure Land; the Buddha treasure, Dharma treasure and Sangha treasure, the precious raft for thousands of years will cross the maze."