Zhiyuan Temple, Buddhist temple in Qingyang County, China.
Zhiyuan Temple is a palace-style Buddhist complex on Jiuhua Street, Mount Jiuhua, with its main halls on a central axis: the Shanmen, Tianwang Hall, Daxiongbao Hall, a third hall and a rear hall. The Daxiongbao Hall has a double-eave gable-and-hip roof covered in yellow glazed tiles and houses three gilded copper Buddhas about 7 metres tall, the tallest on the mountain.
Zhiyuan Temple was first built during the Jiajing period (1522–1566) of the Ming dynasty and was repaired and enlarged repeatedly under the Qing. It was originally named Zhishu'an and took its present name after expansion led by the monk Dagen. Abbot Longshan died in 1841 and his body became a mummy, later destroyed by Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution. In 1983 the State Council named it a National Key Buddhist Temple in Han Chinese Area.
The temple's name comes from the Jetavana monastery where the Buddha stayed, and it was first called Zhishu'an before monk Dagen expanded it and gave it the present name. It ranks with Ganlu Temple, Baisui Palace and Dongyan Chan Temple as one of the Four Buddhist Temples of Mount Jiuhua. The Cangjing Ge keeps the only Tripitaka printed by the Qing imperial court in Chinese, plus 1,669 other Tripitaka books.
Zhiyuan Temple stands on Jiuhua Street in the Jiuhua Mountain scenic area of Qingyang County, Anhui. The halls are arranged along a central axis, entered through the Shanmen gate and continuing to the Tianwang Hall and the Daxiongbao Hall. The Cangjing Ge and the upper guest hall lie on the east side of the temple.
The temple kitchen holds seven bronze cauldrons called "thousand monks cauldrons"; the largest measures 173 cm across and 56 cm high and could cook 200 kg of rice at once. The Cangjing Ge keeps the only Tripitaka printed by the Qing imperial court, plus 1,669 other Tripitaka books.
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