Yunju Temple

Yunju Temple (simplified Chinese: 云居寺; traditional Chinese: 雲居寺; pinyin: Yúnjū Sì) is located in Fangshan District, 70 kilometers southwest of Beijing.

Guanyin Hall of the Yunju Temple

History

The temple was first built in the early 7th century. In 616, the first Buddhist stone scripture tablet was made at the temple by a monk named Jingwan. Because there were debates going between Buddhists and Daoists, and Jingwan feared reprisals from Daoists, he decided to carve his scriptures on stone instead of writing them on paper. The work on the stone tablets continued on for more than a thousand years before ending in 1655. In the Sui and early Tang twelve sutras were carved. In the Liao and Jin the Khitan Tripitaka 《契丹大藏經》 was carved and this is the only one of this version of the Chinese Buddhist canon surviving today.[1] Carved on 77,000 wooden blocks the scriptures attract a large number of visitors. [2] In total, 1122 Buddhist scriptures in 3572 volumes were produced at the temple.[3] In the 1930s, a significant portion of the temple was destroyed.[4] Two bone fragments believed to belong to Gautama Buddha are enshrined at the site. [5]

Sanskrit Mantra, part of the Liao-Jin Fangshan Stone Sutra collection

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.[4]

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

Notes

  1. ↑ Dan and Wang 2001, p26
  2. ↑ http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/beijing/2012-12/19/content_16031223.htm
  3. ↑ Pagoda, Library Caves and Stone Tablets of sutra of Yunju Temple - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Liao & Pin (2006), 25.
  5. ↑ http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/beijing/2012-12/19/content_16031223.htm

References

Coordinates: 39°36′29″N 115°46′04″E / 39.60806°N 115.76778°E