Overview of Chongfu Temple

Chongfu Temple is located on the north side of East Street, Shuocheng District, Shuozhou City, Shanxi Province. Locals usually call it the Great Temple. The temple is located in the north and south, with a large scale, 200 meters long from north to south and 1 17 meters wide from east to west, covering an area of more than 23,400 square meters. It has five courtyards and ten halls, with neat layout and spectacular structure. The statues, murals, glazed ridges, carved doors and windows in the hall are all gathered together, which is a rare ancient building art hall. Chongfu Temple was built in the second year of Linde in the Tang Dynasty (AD 665) at the behest of Wei Chijingde, a general of the Tang Dynasty, a native of Shuozhou and the Duke of Hubei. In the Liao Dynasty, the temple was changed to the official residence of Master Lin, and later changed to a temple named Linya Temple. During the reign of Emperor Xizong of Jin Dynasty, temples were expanded and built on a large scale. In the second year of Tiande in Jin Dynasty (A.D. 1 150), the "Chongfu Zen Position" inscribed by Wan Yanliang, King of Hailing in Jin Dynasty has been preserved to this day.

Chongfu Temple includes the mountain gate, Tianwang Temple, Bell Tower, Drum Tower, Thousand Buddha Pavilion, Manjusri Hall, Dizang King Hall, Sanbao Hall, Tomi Hall, Guanyin Pavilion and other buildings. The Jin Dynasty architecture, statues and murals in the temple are well preserved, and it is an ancient temple with high historical value.

Tommy Hall is the main hall of Chongfu Temple and the largest hall in the temple. It was built in the third year of Xizong in the Jin Dynasty (A.D. 1 143) and has a history of more than 850 years. Tomi Hall is tall and spacious, with green colored glass at the top, elegant and exquisite flowers on the front eaves and window lattice, which is a well-preserved work of Jin Dynasty in China. There are three sitting statues of "Three Sages of the West" on the Buddhist altar. On both sides of the main statue, there are four Bodhisattvas and two King Kong. These statues are all original works of the Jin Dynasty, and the molding method is simple and exquisite. On the temple walls, murals cover an area of over 340 square meters. Murals depict scenes of Buddhist missionary work. Kannonji, located behind Mituo Temple, is another representative temple and the last temple of Chongfu Temple. There are three buddhas in the temple: Guanyin Bodhisattva, Manjusri Bodhisattva and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, all of which are original works of the Ming Dynasty.

In addition to the above-mentioned magnificent temples and pavilions, Chongfu Temple also preserves carved pavilions, stone statues and many unearthed cultural relics from the Tang, Liao and Song Dynasties. Among them, the stone statues of the Liao Dynasty and the stone pagodas of the Northern Wei Dynasty are also very eye-catching.