潮州开元寺中英文

Kaiyuan T emple

[Introduction] –[Jingang Hall] –[Hall of Heavenly King] –[The Courtyard] –[Sakyamuni Hall] –[Scripture House] –[Pavilion of the God of Earth] –[Kwan-yin Pavilion]

[Introduction]

Kaiyuan Temple is located on Kaiyuan Road, Chaozhou City. It is recorded that Kaiyuan Temple was formerly called Lifeng Temple, constructed during Sui and Tang dynasties. In the 26th year of Kaiyuan, Tang Dynasty (738 A.D.), to celebrate his birthday, emperor Xuanzong ordered that each of the 81 states and co unties in the country should choose a big temple to be named after his reign title, Kaiyuan, so Lifeng Temple in Chaozhou was renamed Kaiyuan Temple.

Kaiyuan Temple is a quadrangle in palace style, currently covering an area of 17,000 square meters. As one of the four most famous temples in Guangdong Province and the largest of its kind in east Guangdong region, Kaiyuan Temple was listed as the key cultural relic protection units by the State Council in July, 2001.

The main construction of Kaiyuan Temple is laid out along the axis line. There are from south to north the Jingang (Naroyan) Hall, Hall of Heavenly King, Daxiong Bao Dian (Mahavira Hall) and Scripture House. To the east and west of the axis line lie the Pavilion of Guardian Deity of Children (Ksitigarbha) and Kwan-yin Pavilion respectively.

[Jingang Hall]

Jingang Hall was built in Ming Dynasty. There are two Jingangs in the hall and they are guardian spirits. They are called as “Heng”and “Ha”generals by the folk. One of them is Miji (traceless) Jingang. According to legend, Sakyamuni used to have an armed escort of 500 Jingangs when he went out to preach, and Miji Jingang served as the captain of the guard. Opposite of Miji Jingang is Naroyan, he is said to be the

most powerful spirit in ancient India. The Jingang statues in Kaiyuan Temple are all sitting up with mouths shut and Jingang rings in hands.

[Hall of Heavenly King]

Built in Song Dynasty, the Hall of Heavenly King is the only existing Xieshan-styled-roof structure left over from the Song Dynasty and so is highly valued in architecture. This hall has three characteristics: Firstly, there are 32 pillars, all wood-stone combined, with wood of the upper part and stone of the lower end. The pillars in the front are somewhat different from those in the back. Secondly, there is no pillar at all in both the east and west gables, only brick walls to support the housetop. This is different from the traditional way of using pillars to bear the weight. Thirdly, there is a cascade of arches on the upper pillars to join the roof. Looked from below, the arches seem blooming lotus flowers, hence they’ve got the name of “Lotus Torus” among the folk.

Inside the Hall of Heavenly King, there is a tablet plaque in the upper middle with characters: “Kaiyuan Country Pacifying Buddhist Temple”. And the two characters “Country Pacifying” cannot be freely used if without the permission by the court.

Maitreya Buddha is in the middle of the Hall. He is said by Buddhist sutra to be the aftertime Buddha, the successor of nowtime Buddha Sakyamuni. The statue here is his incarnation characterized by his big belly, i.e. the “Big Belly Maitreya”.

On the east and west sides are the four Heavenly Kings. The sculptures here differs from those in other temples: they all sit square, without one leg lift up as they generally do in other temples, because this is a “Country Pacifying Buddhist Temple”.

Behind Maitreya Buddha is Weituo Bodhisattva facing Daxiong Bao Dian (Sakyamuni Hall). It is said that each of the four Heavenly Kings has eight generals; Weituo is the most important one for his protection of Buddhism among the thirty-two and receives the decrees from the Buddha directly.

[The Courtyard]