Analysis:
The ordinary tower is located in the north of Nangong North Old Town Village.
Where is the first stupa in China? Most people used to think that the White Horse Temple in Luoyang, Henan Province. In recent years, with the research of many people of insight and the disclosure of relevant media, more and more people realize that the first stupa in China should be an ordinary pagoda of an ordinary temple in Nangong City, Hebei Province.
Ordinary Temple is located in the northeast of Beijiao Village, about 1.5 km northwest of Nangong City, covering an area of 25,000 square meters. On March 19, 2005, the author came to the Ordinary Temple to search for this extremely precious historical site. Accompanied and led by Gong Xiushan, member of the Standing Committee of the Nangong CPPCC, and Master Guo Qing, the abbot of the common temple, the author made a detailed observation of this famous stupa, which stood for more than 930 years in the Spring and Autumn Period/KLOC-0, as well as the buildings in the temple, such as Daxiong Hall, Guanyin Hall, Tianwang Hall, Baoen Hall and Zutang.
The earliest tower in China.
According to historical records, the ordinary temple was built in Yongping ten years in the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 67), one year earlier than the famous Baima Temple in Luoyang, Henan. The ordinary tower was built in the 12th year of Emperor Yongping of the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 69), and was completed on the 15th day of the first month of the 15th year of Yongping, two years earlier than the Baima Temple Tower in Luoyang, and is called "the first tower in China". 1982, the common tower was designated as a key cultural relic protection unit in Hebei province. In recent years, many well-known figures in China's Buddhist academic research circles have regarded the Nangong as a sacred place of Buddhism in history, which largely benefited from ordinary temples and ancient pagodas in the temples.
The ordinary tower was jointly built by Indian Sanzang master Mo Teng and Indian Tianzhu scholar Zhu Falan. According to the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, "According to legend, Ming Di spent the night in the Nangong, dreaming that the Golden Man had grown up and had a bright roof to ask his ministers. Or:' there is a god in the west named Buddha, who is six feet long and golden'. The emperor then asked Tianzhu to ask about Buddhism and Taoism, so he painted in China. " "Biography of a Monk, Volume I" records: "In Yongping Middle School, Liu Zhuang, Ming Di, doctoral students Cai Cheng and Qin Jing were sent to Tianzhu in the western regions to seek Buddha. In Yueshi (now Afghanistan-author's note), I met Morten and Zhu Falan and invited them to come to China ... "According to legend, this tower was built in Nangong City because Liu Zhuang, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, was chased by Wang Mang with his father Liu Xiu, Guangwu, but fortunately he was able to escape the strong wind and was stationed in Nangong. Dafeng Pavilion ("Dafeng Pavilion ") was located in the old city village in the north of Nangong, and was originally the ten scenic spots in Nangong. Liu Xiuyan is a land of geomantic omen. Ming, Qing and Republic of China editions of Nangong County Records all recorded this. On the way back to Luoyang, Morton and Zhu Falan were ordered by Liu Zhuang to build a stupa near Dafeng Pavilion in Nangong.
This tower is an octagonal solid brick tower, with grade 9, height of 33 meters and bottom diameter of 5 meters. Each floor of the tower has eaves, and a bucket arch leans under the eaves. Just to the south of Mount Sumi, there is a hole leading to the center of the tower. There is a brick well below the center of the tower, and a stone Buddha sits on the east, west and north sides of the well. This kind of niche architecture is really rare. The tower has many unique features in architectural style, which provides valuable information for the study of Buddhist architectural art in China. The name of the tower takes the word "ordinary", which comes from the explanation of "Zhou Puyi" in the Buddhist sutra "Wonderful Lotus Sutra ● Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Pupin". Buddhism's "universal degree" refers to compassion and compassion, the universal degree of all beings, that is, the extensive use of magic to free all beings. "Child" is scarlet. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the imperial court where the empress lived was painted with vermilion, which was called "Tongting". Guanyin Bodhisattva is enshrined in the temple behind this pagoda. Both the pagoda and the temple are vermilion, so the word "Tong" is adopted. Therefore, this tower was named "Ordinary Tower" and the temple behind it was called "Ordinary Temple". The ordinary temple was later destroyed by the war, and now it was rebuilt in September 1996.
In the long stormy years, the ordinary tower has undergone eight major repairs. Wei (Three Kingdoms) Taihe four years (AD 230), Tang Zhenguan four years (AD 630), Song Daguan first year (AD 1 107), Ming Jiajing fifteen years (AD 1536), Qing Guangxu ten years (AD/kloc-)
1966 Xingtai earthquake, the common tower was damaged, and three bronze buddhas were shaken off at the top of the tower, all of which were red bronze bodhisattvas. The largest is Guanyin Bodhisattva, which is 4 1 cm high and weighs 8.25 kg. It was cast when Ming Jiajing repaired the tower in the fifteenth year. Guanyin Bodhisattva sits peacefully on the coast of the "Haitian Buddha Country" (Putuo Mountain in the East China Sea), holding Buddhist scriptures and chanting them, with beads hanging on her body, one foot stepping on the shore and one foot reaching out to the sea. The lotus nut is in the water, and the foot, lotus and water are skillfully combined into one, vividly depicting the image of Guanyin Bodhisattva as kind, quiet, sad and general. The inscription on the back of the Buddha statue reads: "It was built by Mo Tengzhu Flange on the 15th day of the first month in the 15th year of Han Yongping, rebuilt by Haishang monk on the 5th day of the 4th year of Taihe, rebuilt by Qingjiang and Qinghai on the 15th day of July in the 15th year of Jiajing ..." The inscription provides precious historical data for the date of the tower's construction and reconstruction. 1992, when Master Hong Chuan rebuilt the common temple, he found the inscription on the rebuilding of the common pagoda temple in the 11th year of Guangxu reign of Qing Dynasty. The inscription reads: "There is an ordinary tower in Nanyi, which was built in the tenth year of Han Yongping and rebuilt by Zen master Da 'er in the fourth year of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty. It is one of the top ten scenic spots in this city with a long history.
Master Hong Chuan and the Restoration of Ordinary Monastery
When it comes to the restoration and prosperity of ordinary temples, we can't help but mention a well-known person in China's Buddhist circles-Master Hong Chuan.
Master Hong Chuan, commonly known as Wang Jincheng, was born in a poor family in Houdi Village, Yuetan Township, yanshi city City, Henan Province. My parents died when I was very young. Due to the pressure of life, 1949 moved to Taiwan Province Province at the beginning of the year, and later converted to Buddhism, and was given a holy praise of Dhamma, with a word spread widely. 1In August, 984, Master Hong Chuan broke through various obstacles and resolutely flew back to Chinese mainland from Taiwan Province Province via Hongkong. Zhao Puchu, former vice chairman of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and president of Chinese Buddhist Association, was praised as "the first patriotic monk in China". 1992, with the consent of Nangong city and according to the opinions of the provincial Buddhist Association, it was agreed to repair the ordinary temple. The Provincial Department of Ethnic and Religious Affairs recommended Master Hong Chuan as the abbot of an ordinary temple. Master Hong Chuan and three disciples moved into two simple sheds left by the maintenance of the stupa and began difficult preparatory activities. In order to raise funds, Master Hongchuan traveled around the world, raising funds while building, and successively invested RMB 1 10,000 yuan. In the tense construction of repairing the ordinary temple, he dragged his sick body around the clock, often sleeping only three or four hours a day. After several years of hard work, the ordinary temple was basically completed in September 1996, and the opening ceremony of the Buddha statue was held on September 26. Wang Shusen, Vice Chairman of Hebei Provincial Political Consultative Conference, Han Ruigai, Vice Minister of United Front Work Department, Ju Zhiqiang, Director of Provincial Ethnic and Religious Affairs Department, Master Jinghui, Vice Chairman of Chinese Buddhist Association and President of Hebei Buddhist Association, abbot of Bailin Temple and relevant party and government leaders of Xingtai and Nangong attended the opening ceremony. In his speech at the celebration, Master Jinghui specifically pointed out: "I want to emphasize that this temple should be said to be the first temple from the Buddhist East, because it is one year earlier than the White Horse Temple. We haven't publicized this historical fact for so many years, because the scale has not yet risen. Now this place has begun to take shape, with four people gathered and managed normally. Here we can solemnly announce to all walks of life that the real China First Temple is in Nangong City, Hebei Province, which is our ordinary temple. "
Master Hong Chuan is knowledgeable, has written many Buddhist works, and often donates money to help the poor. He used to be the executive director of Chinese Buddhist Association, the vice president of Hebei Buddhist Association, the director of Xingtai Buddhist Association and the member of the Standing Committee of Hebei Provincial Political Consultative Conference. He died in Nangong Normal Temple on June165438+1October 65438+March, 2004.
Today's ordinary temples are well managed, clean and tidy, with more than 30 permanent monks, cigarettes in the temple and pine and cypress trees in the yard. Being in it, the author deeply felt the solemnity, silence and sacredness of the Buddhist holy land.
The "stupa complex" of a CPPCC member
On August 14, 2004, the Overseas Edition of People's Daily published the article "The Earliest Tower in China-Ordinary Tower" and distributed photos of ordinary towers, which immediately aroused strong repercussions in the Buddhist circles at home and abroad. Gong Xiushan, author of this article, is currently a member of the Standing Committee of Nangong CPPCC and the Proposal Committee of CPPCC. He is a man of insight who devoted his spare time to the study of Buddhism and the investigation, textual research and publicity of ordinary pagodas for many years.
The ordinary tower was built in Yongping 15 of the Eastern Han Dynasty, two years earlier than the Baima Temple Tower in Luoyang, and it is truly the first tower in China. However, due to its remote location and insufficient publicity in the past, this historical fact is little known. In order to study the origin of ordinary temples and pagodas and safeguard the cultural and historical resources of his hometown, Gong Xiushan squeezed out limited funds and bought thousands of historical and Buddhist books and materials. At his own expense, he made a special trip to the cultural relics departments in Changsha, Hunan, Wuhan, Hubei and other places to find the ordinary tower as the key material evidence of Han Dynasty architecture. His article "Ordinary Tower-The First Tower in China" and "The First Buddhist Temple in China Should Be the Ordinary Temple in Nangong" have been published by the central, provincial and municipal media such as People's Daily Overseas Edition, Local accent, Nation and Religion, Old People's World and Hebei Daily, and have been reprinted by more than 30 domestic newspapers and periodicals, causing strong repercussions. The first tower in China, an ordinary tower, has been translated into seven languages, including English, Japanese, French and German, and has been included in the database of American Oriental Culture and Art Center. His research results have attracted the attention of China Academy of Social Sciences, Chinese Buddhist Association and American Oriental Culture and Art Center. Gong Xiushan has a soft spot for ordinary towers and is almost obsessed with them. On one occasion, he went to Xinhua Bookstore to buy books, and found that 1999 edition of Cihai mentioned in the annotation of the entry "Nangong" that "there are ordinary pagodas in the ancient ruins", but there was no separate entry for "ordinary pagodas" in the whole book. After returning to China, he immediately wrote to Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House, proposing that the ordinary pagoda is the first stupa in China, and suggesting adding a separate entry in the new edition of Ci Hai. His letter attracted the attention of Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House, which wrote back soon and invited him to Shanghai to discuss the entry of Ordinary Tower into Ci Hai.
A well-developed local historical and cultural resource not only has its significance and influence in the cultural field, but also promotes the development of local tourism and economy. As a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Gong Xiushan, together with Buddhist celebrities, actively offered suggestions and suggestions to the party and government leaders for the development and utilization of the historical and cultural resources of the ordinary pagoda. 200 1- 10 wrote and jointly put forward with Master Hong Chuan the Proposal on Declaring National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units of Ordinary Temples and Towers, which was instructed by Zhao Shiju, Deputy Secretary of Hebei Provincial Party Committee, and attached importance to by the Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau. In 2004, the proposal of "Attention should be paid to the development of tourism investment resources of China's first stupa-ordinary pagoda" written by him in cooperation with the Buddhist community was adopted at the second meeting of the ninth CPPCC Committee and forwarded to the organizers as an important proposal.
When the author wants to bid farewell to this thousand-year-old temple, it is already dusk, and the bloody sunset reflects the ordinary tower more antique. I secretly pray in my heart: I hope this historic tower can be approved as a national key cultural relics protection unit as soon as possible.