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No.9 Chonhshansi Road, Yingze District, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province.
One of the most popular and famous temples in Taiyuan
Chongshan Temple is a royal Buddhist temple, located in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. Originally built in the Tang Dynasty, it was known as the White Horse Temple at the beginning. And in Ming Dynasty, this temple was renamed as Chongshan Temple which means great mercy temple.
In 1381, the temple was extended. In the 19th century, most of the temple was destroyed. The temple is home to the Buddhist Association of Shanxi Province and includes the Bell Tower, the Dabei Hall, and the east and west wing rooms. The main hall has a statue of Guanyin, Goddess of Mercy, with 1000 hands and eyes.
Chong Shansi was a large Buddhist temple. From the full map of the ancient Chongshan Temple which has stored for a long time, this temple covered about 14,000 sq mters with six main halls, 18 courtyards and hundreds of rooms. During 1864, Chongshan Temple was caught a fire, and the main buildings were burn in ruins. Only one major hall could be preserved till now as the Shanxi Museum.
A remarkable scroll of the Hua-yan jing lies on the right side of the main hall. It was written by the monk Jing-jie during the Ming dynasty, using his own blood as ink. This enterprise of devoutness was completed in no less than twelve years. On the left side of the hall lie a Tibetan scroll of the Zang-wen jing, which arrived from Japan in 1973, and a Chinese scroll of the Zhong-hua da-zang jing, which arrived in 1983.
On both sides of the courtyard in front of the main hall stand a drum tower and a bell tower, also originally from the early Ming dynasty.
One of the most famous and popular temples in Taiyuan: Chongshan Temple is one of the most famous and popular temples in Taiyuan, which was built in Tang Dynasty. At the beginning, it was named White Horse Temple in Tang Dynasty. In Song and Yuan dynasties, it was called Yanshou Temple and Chongshan Temple.
Long history: The history of Chongshan Temple is longer than the Taihe Hall in the Forbidden City. In the past, Chongshan Temple was magnificent. From the Full View of the Chongshan Temple, we can find that the Chongshan Temple we can see now is only one fortieth of itself in its heyday. There were six main halls of the Chongshan Temple in the past. However, only the Dabei Hall remained.
The Huge Bell
The huge bell in the Chongshan Temple was made in 1506(Ming Dynasty). It is 2 meters high, and the outside diameter is 1.8 meters, which weighs 4999.5 kilograms. The sound of the bell is deep and powerful. Every celebration, the melodious bell can be heard throughout the city. This bell appears in the scene of the popular game: Black Myth: Wu Kong.
Statue of Manjusri Bodhisattva
Manjusri Bodhisattva is a statue in the Chongshan Temple with three faces and six arms, wearing a five-Buddha crown, looking down, with a calm expression, and her silk belt hangs down to the ground through her arms. Behind the Bodhisattva is a round decoration composed of countless arms. There is a golden bowl on each hand, and there is a Buddha statue of Sakyamuni sitting in each golden bowl. And each Buddha statue is exquisite, which symbolizes the infinite wisdom of Manjusri Bodhisattva.
Statue of Avalokitesvara
Avalokitesvara with a thousand eyes and a thousand hands, also known as Avalokitesvara with eleven faces, is very elegant with has slender eyebrow and benevolent appearance. The arms on both sides of the head of the Bodhisattva hold the stupa. The stupa and the high-hanging sun and moon, symbolize the Buddhism. There are also countless arms behind the Bodhisattva, which are arranged in a circular radial pattern, making the Bodhisattva statue more magnificent.
The remaining Chongshan Temple is small with screen hall, temple gate, bell tower, drum tower and Dabei Hall. But the layout and architectural design have the characteristics of Tang and Song dynasties. The Dabei Hall is the best-preserved wooden-structure building of Ming dynasty. And the collection of the Confucian classics is rich and most complete.
There are eighty-four Buddhist stories in Chongshan Temple, which tell the life experience of Sakyamuni Buddha in the form of comic strips. The series of Buddhist story paintings are magnificent and rich in content, showing important plots.
Twin Pagodas Park
Twin Pagodas Park is one of the landmarks of Taiyuan, which is located in the Haozhuang Town of Yingze District. The Twin Pagodas are the highest ancient buildings in Taiyuan. One of the twin towers is called Wenfeng Tower, which is 54.76 meters high and was built in 1599(Ming Dynasty). Another tower is called Wenfo Tower, which is 54.78 meters high and was built in 1608(Ming Dynasty). Both of the twin towers are brick and stone constructions, which have the elegance of buildings of wooden-structure.
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