The history of Daxiong Temple

The formation and decline of a monastery have historical causes, and so does the emergence of eminent monks. During the first year of Emperor Zhezong of the Song Dynasty, which had entered the period of conflict between the Yuan and Song Dynasties, Master Zhiming, who had long been the abbot of Shashui Temple, was a compassionate and approachable monk. Under contemporary historical conditions, the old monk lived in seclusion in the world and did not show his face. No one can measure the old monk's cultivation ability. Usually, the old monk is seen to practice strictly internally and attract believers from all walks of life. When the old monk was 99 years old, no one could have imagined that the old monk would do something that would influence all sentient beings before he turned 100. At that time, Lu Bian, the general of the Song Dynasty who surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty, led an army of 100,000 people to invade the Song Dynasty. They passed through the Meiguan Ancient Road and headed straight to Lingnan. They hacked and killed innocent people while passing through the Zhuji Ancient Lane. The sound of crying reached the temple. After hearing this, Master Zhiming knew that this was the cause of another nightmare. However, in order to influence all sentient beings to turn to and believe in Buddhism, Master Zhiming personally came to the enemy camp and summoned General Lu Bian. He asked General Lu not to kill the poor people indiscriminately. The people of the country will avoid sowing bad karma. General Lu not only didn't believe it, but also ridiculed the old monk for his ignorance. In this case, the master can only ask General Lu Bian how to give up? Lu Bian said loudly: "I will stop until the red blood turns to white blood." At that time, there were imperial envoys from the Yuan Dynasty accompanying the army, and people who were supervisors of the army were present. Due to the influence of Master Zangmi Ru'en, I also believe in Buddhism. Seeing the old monk's immovable demeanor, I knew that Master Zhiming was not an ordinary person, so he also said: "Old monk, I also testify that General Lu can kill red blood and turn it into white blood." If you say so, I promise to retreat without killing you." Turning red blood into white blood is a sign of a saint. Before the Tang Dynasty, Hui Ke, the second ancestor of Zen Buddhism, also had this example. But it is impossible to find it in this remote small village.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Master Zhiming also took over and said: "Okay, I will ask the Imperial Envoy to prove this statement. I hope General Lu will keep his promise." After the Imperial Envoy and General Lu expressed their opinions, Master Zhiming Invite the two of them to wait in front of the Shashui Temple. After the master worshiped the Buddha in the temple, he returned to the temple and looked up to the sky and said: "I am willing to use my forehead to save all the poor people from this disaster. I will not hesitate to do so." The Buddha mercifully bless his disciples, fulfill this great wish to be reborn in a land of peace and happiness, and achieve Anuttara Sambodhi." After saying this, he asked the imperial envoy to borrow the sword above and handed it to the executioner in front of the temple gate. As the executioner's sword fell straight down, Master Zhiming's head also fell down, and the stone lion's head on one side of the temple door was also chopped off by the sharp sword. Half a head. But the strange thing is that instead of red blood coming out of Master Zhiming's severed neck, milky white blood came out and sprinkled around the severed lion's head. This situation shocked everyone present. Knowing that this hundred-year-old monk was a person who had attained the Holy Fruit, they quickly knelt down and begged for repentance. Even the imperial envoy and General Lu knelt down unconsciously. In order to keep their promise, the Yuan army did not kill anyone and retreated on the spot. What has been handed down is the touching story of the headless lion being spilled with white blood. Since then, Shashui Temple has been prosperous and incense continues. It was not until December of the third year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty (1858 AD) that the Taiping Army and the Qing Army fought in Zhuji Lane. More than half of the ancient temple was destroyed. It was rebuilt in the early years of Tongzhi, but was later demolished during the "Cultural Revolution".

In 1994, in order to cooperate with the construction of Zhuji Ancient Alley and promote the culture of Zhuji Alley and Buddhist culture, some giant businessmen from Hong Kong and Macao voluntarily donated more than 5 million yuan and requested the reconstruction of Shashui Temple. With the approval of the Shaoguan Municipal People's Government, it was approved by The Nanxiong Municipal People's Political Consultative Conference takes the lead in the construction work. In 1998, the Nanxiong Municipal Government politely invited the old monk Ben Huan to preside over the planning, and held a groundbreaking ceremony on April 16, 2001, a leap year in the lunar calendar, to officially start the construction work. Taking into account the large scale of rebuilding the temple, the old monk Benhuan felt that the name of Shashui Temple could not bear this cause, so he asked Ye Xuanping, the then vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, to mention Daxiong Temple again. The planned Daxiong Temple covers an area of ​​more than 100,000 square meters and will be constructed in three phases. The first phase of the project consists of six buildings including the archway, three gates, Tianwang Hall, Mahavira Hall, Dharma Hall, and Sutra Collection Building. The second phase of the project includes the guest hall, meditation hall, dining hall, abbot building, retreat building, and guest rooms, including the Rainbow Bridge. Release pool, meditation pavilion, parking lot, driveway, etc. The third phase of the project includes the Three Sacred Temples of the West, the Thousand Bodhisattva Hall, the Medicine Master Pagoda, the Painting and Calligraphy Academy, etc. It is large and majestic, with a total investment of more than 100 million yuan. Its construction scale ranks first in the Chinese jungle. It is also the largest temple built by the old monk Benhuan in his life.

Zhuji Ancient Alley, the birthplace of Guangfu culture, with its long history, splendid surname culture, and natural scenery like two dragons rolling balls, is like a huge magnet, attracting countless descendants of Zhuji Alley to find their roots. Ask about ancestors, travel and sightseeing. This place with outstanding people and geomantic treasures also deeply touched the heart of old monk Ben Huan. For this reason, the old monk Benhuan made a great wish to build the Daxiong Temple into a modern temple with the largest scale, the highest quality and first-class facilities in the country with a national style. In order to realize this ambition, the old monk Benhuan devoted himself to the construction of Daxiong Temple. In terms of architectural style, it integrates ancient architecture and modern garden construction, inherits the style and characteristics of imitating ancient Song Dynasty architecture, and develops the artistic characteristics of Jiangnan gardens. It adopts copper instead of wood, frame structure, cornices and brackets, overlapping eaves, and yellow eaves. The red tiles on the wall are extremely spectacular. The relief of the Five Dragons at the entrance of the Main Hall is made of large bluestone from Hui'an, Fujian. It is vivid and lifelike, showing the profound connotation of Chinese culture. Inside the hall, there are Sakyamuni Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, Medicine Buddha and Ananda, Kasyapa Venerable and Manjushri Bodhisattva. , the statues of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva and the twenty-four heavens are all cast in bronze, polished and pasted with gold foil. The three giant Buddhas are 6 meters high and 4 meters wide, with moderate proportions, calm expressions, radiant faces, and dignified treasures. The altars, niches, and decorative patterns in the hall are all carved with auspicious animals, lions, deer, dragons, elephants, cloud patterns and water waves, flags, umbrella covers, beads, bells, bottles, mirrors and other sacred objects. They match the Buddha statues and fully demonstrate the Buddhist cultural atmosphere. . The four Bodhisattvas in the Heavenly King's Hall, namely, the King of Controlling the Kingdom, the King of Growth, the King of Wide Eyes, and the King of Hearing, are made of high-grade resin, with bright colors and detailed details, lifelike and majestic. The Three Western Temples under construction are 28 meters high and the Bodhisattva inside the temple is 19.5 meters tall. They are cast in bronze and polished and gilded to look magnificent, sacred and solemn. The Thousand Bodhisattva Hall has a construction area of ​​3,000 square meters. The thousands of Bodhisattvas in the hall are made of high-grade resin and then polished and laminated with gold foil. They sit or stand, are still or move, are happy or sad, and are vividly alive. On October 15, 2014, the "Tenth Anniversary of the Reconstruction and Consecration of the Daxiong Zen Temple and the Consecration Ceremony of the Completed Buddha Statues of the Three Holy Temples" co-sponsored by Nanxiong Daxiong Temple in Guangdong and Hongfa Temple in Shenzhen came to a successful conclusion. This event not only received strong support from the local government and Buddhist circles, but also invited monks, kings, masters and distinguished guests from Cambodia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and other countries to attend the event in person. Nearly 10,000 believers *** witnessed "China's first "High" the completion of the Three Saints of the West.