What are the more spiritual Taoist temples and temples in Taiyuan? Urgent! ~~

Chongshan Temple, located in Huangmiao Lane, Wuyi South Road, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, is not as eye-catching as Taiyuan Jinci Temple, but it has its own brilliant page in the course of history.

Chongshan Temple was founded in the Tang Dynasty, formerly known as Baima Temple, later renamed yanshou temple and Shan Zong Temple, and later renamed Xinsi. According to records, that's because Chongshan Temple was rebuilt on the basis of the original old temple. The name of the new Chongshan Temple has been used for hundreds of years from the beginning of14th century to the Republic of China in the 20th century.

In the 15th year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty (AD 1382), Ma Shi, the wife of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of Ming Dynasty, died of illness. Zhu Yuanzhang's third son, Jin Wang Zhu (Mugang), was brought up by a horse. In memory of his mother, Zhu Gang asked for permission to build Chongshan Temple. The construction of Chongshan Temple lasted for eight years from the 16th year of Hongwu (A.D. 1383) to the 24th year of Hongwu (A.D. 139 1 year). The magnificent scenery of Chongshan Temple in those days can be seen from a complete picture of Chongshan Temple, which is still preserved in the temple today.

Chongshan Temple in the Ming Dynasty was built in full accordance with the standard palace-style architectural format. The halls of King Kong, King of Heaven, Daxiong, Pilu, Dabei and Jinling on the central axis are lined up from south to north. On the left and right sides of each main hall, a series of small courtyards are neatly arranged. They are not only symmetrical, but also uniform. This pattern is very similar to the layout of the main hall and six palaces on the central axis of the Forbidden City in Beijing. From this picture, you can imagine how magnificent Chongshan Temple, which covers an area of 245 mu, is. At that time, Chongshan Temple was not only eye-catching, but more importantly, it had the conditions that other temples did not have, that is, it was not only a temple, but also the ancestral hall of Zhu Jiachao. The last hall on the central axis, Jinling Hall, is an ancestral hall without a throne. This is rare in the construction of Buddhist temples in China. Chongshan Temple is both a Buddhist temple and a royal ancestral temple, so it enjoys more incense than other temples. In this context, it has passed its vigorous and prosperous period.

The Chongshan Temple we see now is only a few tenths of the original temple, and it is only one of the six halls-the Great Compassion Hall. Other magnificent buildings of Chongshan Temple were all reduced to ashes in the fire of Tongzhi in the third year of Qing Dynasty (AD 1864).

The Great Hall of Compassion, which survived the destruction, was repaired during the Ming Chenghua and Qing Jiaqing years, but it was all minor repairs, from small beams to small doors and windows. When it was first repaired in the Ming Dynasty, it was basically the same. Therefore, it has high historical value.

The Great Compassion Hall covers an area of only 900 square meters, which is only a few tenths of the original Chongshan Temple, but it preserves the essence and priceless treasure of Chongshan Temple.

The Tibetan scriptures are its first treasure. There are a large number of Buddhist scriptures preserved here, and the rare versions are rare in the country. There are precious early editions in the history of woodcut printing in China-Chongning Wanshou Collection in the Northern Song Dynasty and Zhaisha Collection in the Southern Song Dynasty. Chongning Wanshou Cang, also known as Gushan Cang, took 33 years to carve. The original block printing version included 564 letters and more than 5,800 volumes. There are only 17 volumes 18 pages left. "Shacang" was carved in Shaoding four years in the Southern Song Dynasty (A.D. 123 1) and completed in Yuan Yingzong two years (A.D. 1323). After one hundred years of carving, Loki Sand Storage includes 59 1 letters and 6362 volumes. There are 562 letters and 4846 volumes. In addition, there are 505 copies and 4,257 volumes of Yuan Tibetan Scriptures collected by the people, namely, The First Year of the Qing Dynasty (A.D. 13 12) and Puning Tibetan Scriptures, which are 8 1 copy and 2,068 volumes less than the original works.

In addition to the above editions, there are many kinds of Tibetan scriptures that were moved from other monasteries or places in the future, such as the Ming version of Tibetan Scriptures "Southern Tibet" moved by Taiyuan Zhong100,000 yuan and "Northern Tibet" moved by Datong, and the photocopy of Tibetan Scriptures cleared from Japan in the 1970s, also known as "Ganjul". In addition, there are other distinctive stone carvings, such as the rubbings of Diamond Sutra, the golden Huayan Sutra, the Goblet of Fire and the Huayan Sutra of Pricking Blood. It is these Tibetan scriptures with different periods, versions and characteristics that make Chongshan Temple occupy an important position in Buddhist temples.

The second treasure of Chongshan Temple is those two sets of murals. In ancient times when there was no photography and plate-making technology, copying was the only means to spread famous historical paintings to future generations. Today, we can see the painting style on the two corridors of the Hall of the Great Hero, and we should thank our ancestors for leaving us such a precious copy. One of these two paintings is Buddha of Sakyamuni, which depicts the story of Sakyamuni becoming a Buddha. The other set is "Fu Tong Tu 53", which depicts the story of Fu Tong's visit to Buddha. Although these two sets of replicas have gone through more than 500 years, they are still as bright as ever, and they are called "gem paintings". These paintings can not only make us enjoy the beauty, but also provide valuable information for us to study the painting history of China.

The third treasure of Chongshan Temple is three clay sculptures and gilded bodhisattvas located in the front of Great Compassion Hall. These three Buddha statues were shaped during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, with a history of more than 500 years. In the middle is the Guanyin Buddha statue with thousands of hands and eyes; On the left is the image of Pu Xian; On the right is the manjusri bodhisattva, with thousands of hands and bowls. All three statues are about eight meters high, with beautiful figure, kind face and elegant appearance, giving people an amiable and respectable feeling. These three Buddha statues are unique in shape and exquisitely carved, which are really treasures of sculpture art in China.

The cultural relics of Chongshan Temple are very distinctive and precious. This is the pride of the Chinese nation. Nowadays, Chongshan Temple is welcoming more and more guests from all directions with its unique charm.