Extend the life of the ancient temple and stop to think about essays.
There is an ancient temple in the suburbs of Beijing whose exact age is unknown, which has lost its historical records and left only sporadic rumors. It happened that it is located in the deep mountains, with jade Buddha and strange pine inside and clear spring outside. The words typed by visitors naturally come from inner feelings. Although it is rare and widely used, it gives readers a feeling of personal experience.
Yanshou temple, Changping District, Beijing, is such an ancient temple with convenient transportation and little known, but it is worth savoring.
As far as the geographical scope of Beijing is concerned, most people who study temple culture know that there are two yanshou temple in Beijing, one in the prosperous area of Beijing and the other in the deep mountains in the suburbs of Beijing. Between urban areas, yanshou temple, a bustling street scene, was once famous for the life of a dynasty. A brief account of the cultural relics of the old capital is as follows: "Song Huizong was imprisoned here by General Jin Guo during the Jingkang Rebellion in yanshou temple, Changping District, Beijing." Back in those days, this romantic emperor, who started from the book of sparse gold, was unique in the world with his elegant learning. He did everything he could to print tea, but he could only curl up in the cold corner of yanshou temple in those years of imprisonment, sighing softly, looking up at the sky with tears, and humming "Looking back at his hometown for three thousand miles, there are no geese flying in the south of the mountain." When he recited, the guards shouted at him and bowed their heads in fear.
With the ebb and flow of history, the temple has long since disappeared, leaving only a place name "Yanshou Street", which leads tourists who look through historical materials and seek to visit the ancient times to either look disappointed or complain. Another yanshou temple, located in the Beishan mountainous area of Changping, has been restored with the concern of the local government. The monk who came with the fate is the abbot here, and the incense floats inside and outside the mountain gate.
In spring, I suddenly had the idea of visiting yanshou temple, a suburb of Beijing. To this end, I drove northbound to visit this famous ancient temple, which is not well-known and has few footprints, trying to seek the deep artistic conception of "all is silent here, only bells and bells".
It was an early morning after a rain, the road leading to the deep forest. The vegetation on both sides is full of spring, and even the vision is clear. Pink and white peach blossoms are in full bloom on both sides of the window. While highlighting the density and color sense, they cover the mountain in a relaxed state, so that they are placed in a slow-moving car, as if they are floating in a sea of flowers. Once you roll down the window, close your eyes and smell deeply, the fragrance on your face will make people intoxicated. Look at the spring grass like a blanket, and look up at the idle clouds like a dream.
When entering the gate of yanshou temple Scenic Area, you can choose to continue driving and walk around the mountain road to the gate of the ancient temple. You can also choose to take a winding mountain road to reach the ancient temple. Most believers have always chosen to walk, probably because this road can inspire some enlightenment: you can't see that the road sometimes goes up, sometimes twists and turns, sometimes magnanimous, sometimes deep, and occasionally looks up, and suddenly you see a huge Buddha character made of white marble shining on the undulating hills in the bright sunshine. The word Buddha was written by Jia Songyang, a great calligrapher, and it is said that it means "to visit the Buddha". Seeing the "word scene" in front of us, mediocre people often proudly think that approaching the ancient temple and seeing the word Buddha is "walking into Buddhism". Then step into the front of the temple, a bunch of high incense, a wisp of smoke, you can become attached to the Buddha. When the wise see this, they often look dignified and calm as water, hoping to wipe away the dust in their hearts with the white clouds fluttering lightly in the blue sky and wash away the shadow of their thoughts with the gurgling streams around them. Because the wise know that Buddhism is vast, but it only crosses people.
Unlike many ancient temples, there is a unique Gu Song in front of the Ursa Major Hall. Different from many Gu Song, the vigorous branches hover and extend, overlapping and pressing again without losing the sense of hierarchy, and the creeping posture reminds the viewer of Wolong waiting to fly. On close reading, the ancient "Matsui" seems to explain a kind of cultural accumulation, but we can see that Gu Song has 99 branches, overlapping 9 layers, intertwined and magnificent. It is not difficult to imagine that under the leisurely clouds or between storms, this Gu Song is like a roaring dragon, giving people a shocking feeling. Not far from the community, you will see the "Phoenix Pine" on the mountain. The two pines are opposite, and the scene of "dragon lying in phoenix" has lasted for nearly a thousand years. At the same time, it has formed a static and dynamic interest with a clear spring near Gu Song.
In front of the Buddhist temple in yanshou temple, the strange-looking Shousong seems to be silently thinking about the theme of "prolonging life" in the Millennium vicissitudes. The tourism culture extended by this theme is like witnessing the healthy tributes of chestnut, chestnut mushroom and sweet spring growing around the ancient temple, and the hearty laughter of the old and healthy people in Changshou Village not far away. In the west courtyard of the ancient temple, there is a clear spring trickling out from the gap between the granite mountain and the medical stone. I feel refreshed after bowing down. It is said that monks in past dynasties drank this spring to prolong life. Thus, the sweet mountain spring has a new meaning.
As there is no guide, I can only go alone. In the Hall of the Great Hero, I worship the Buddha III carved with precious wood, and any wisp of smoke goes straight to the sky. It is reported that there is also a jasper Buddha statue presented by Canadian believers, which is the three treasures of the ancient temple together with Song Qi and Ganquan, but it was not seen because the abbot went out. Although I haven't seen all of them, I feel comfortable, inconvenient and convenient, which may be the basis of enlightenment. It is important not to violate the Buddhist concept of karma.
Wandering around Chunshan Temple, I always want to find the exact historical site in yanshou temple, a suburb of Beijing. However, after many explorations, it is still confusing. At present, there are only online rumors and lack of authoritative appraisal. For example, the candlelight scattered in front of our eyes, although convenient to light and romantic, is always erratic.
Facing the main hall standing by the mountain, take "candlelight" as the ladder and follow the pace of imagination! While paying tribute to them, we might as well recall the topics about yanshou temple on the website and in ancient villages. A web page shows that Changping yanshou temple was built by Yuan Xin, a monk in Dinghai, eastern Zhejiang, during the Southern Song Dynasty. The ancient villagers said: In the early Ming Dynasty, Liu Bowen, a strategist of the dynasty, chose the imperial tomb for Zhujiajian Island's family. He took a fancy to this place at first, and later built the Ming Tombs in Shoushan for some reason. Liu Junshi couldn't bear to give up this land of geomantic omen, so he built the yanshou temple here. In fact, no matter how the indicators are verified, the Panlong pine in front of the ancient temple for nearly 800 years is really presented in Sri Lanka, which can still explain the age of the ancient temple.
Walking out of yanshou temple, a seemingly simple but tasteful question lingers in my mind: How to define "longevity" and "longevity"? Until the wail of Gu Song's old bamboo came from the cliff, until the villagers came up with saplings on their shoulders, until the fragrance of flowers spread all over the earth with the spring sunshine, and the answer came like a gurgling mountain spring. "Longevity" is to hope or explain the result, while "prolonging life" is a process of unremitting efforts, which seems more practical and tense. Because people's life span is long and short, and complicated factors are difficult to sort out and grasp. So the word "longevity" tends to be abstract, and the concept of "prolonging life" focuses on practice. Yanshou temple is relatively common in the whole country, but it has never been heard of "Changshou Temple", which may also be the reason.
Thought of here, looking back, hidden between the mountain flowers and Gu Song, yanshou temple under the blue sky and white clouds has a unique style.