How did the name Dule Temple come about? What’s the story?

There are three theories about the origin of the name of Dule Temple, as follows:

1. Because the internal bracket of the Guanyin statue is a towering big pear tree, it is named after "Du Le Temple". Named after the homophony of "pear".

2. The Buddhists have a pure heart and few desires, abide by the precepts, and only take pleasure in saving all sentient beings, hence the name Dule Temple.

3. Dule Temple was the place where An Lushan rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and swore to be his master. The name of Dule was also given by Anlu Mountain. Anlu Mountain wanted to enjoy alone but not enjoy with the people, so it was named. The last theory is the most widespread.

Architectural layout

The main gate of Dule Temple and the Guanyin Pavilion were built in the Liao Dynasty, while the others were built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The whole temple building is divided into three parts: east, middle and west; the east and west are monks' rooms and palaces respectively. The middle part is the main building of the temple, including Baishan Gate, Guanyin Pavilion, east and west side halls, etc. There is a corridor between the mountain gate and the main hall. connected. The mountain gate is three rooms wide and two rooms deep. The brackets are equivalent to half of the columns. They are strong and strong, typical of the Tang Dynasty style. It is the earliest existing mountain door with verandah roof in China. ?

There are two tall statues of Heavenly Kings guarding both sides of the mountain gate. They are commonly known as the two generals "Humph" and "Ha". They are treasures of painted sculptures from the Liao Dynasty. The owl tail on the main ridge of the gate of Dule Temple has its long tail turned inward, like a pheasant flying. It is the earliest actual owl tail among the existing ancient buildings in China.