Chinese Temple 中国寺庙

Temples is the symbolization of the long history and rich culture of China, and are regarded as valuable art treasures. Generally speaking, temple is not only related to Buddhism. However, in Buddhism, there are many kinds of titles for temple: such as "Temple", which does not refer to Buddhist temple. Official residences were known as Temple since the Qin Dynasty (qín cháo 秦朝). In the Han Dynasty (hàn cháo 汉朝), the living place of the monks from the West also known as Temple. From then on, temple has become professionals of Chinese Buddhist architecture gradually. It also can be said that when Buddhism spread to China, Chinese people called t the Buddhist architecture as temple so as to show respect for Buddhism.

There are many titles for temples in Taoism. When Taoism was founded its religious organizations and activity venues were all called “Zhi” (zhì 治), also known as “Lu” (lú 庐), "Jing” (jìng 靖) and “Jingbao” (jìng bǎo 静宝). In the Southern and Northern Dynasties,the activity venues of Taoism is called as Fairy House. During the period of Northern Zhou Wu Di (zhōu wǔ dì 周武帝), it was known as “Daoist Temple”, means viewing star and the air. Till Tang Dynasty (táng cháo 唐朝 ), the emperor regarded Laozi as ancestor. However, the emperor’s residence was “palace”. Therefore, the Taoist Structure was called “palace”. Apart from these, there are other titles, such as “court”, "shrine”, like Wenshu Yuan (wén shū yuàn 文殊院), Bixia Shrine (bì xiá cí 碧霞祠) and so on.

Chongsheng TempleIn Confucianism the temple is called "temple”, "palace” and "altar", for example, Kong Miao (kóng miào 孔庙), Wen Miao (wén miào 文庙), Yonghe Lamasery (yōng hé gōng 雍和宫), the temple of Heaven (tiān tán 天坛), etc.. Islamism is known as "temple”, such as the Mosque. In Catholicism, the temple is called “church”. In civil society, it was known as “temple”, "shrine”. For example, the places wher people worship ancestor, the deity or the former saptarsis were called the Imperial Ancestral Temple (tài miào 太庙), Zhong Yue Temple (zhōng yuè miào 中岳庙), Xi Yue Temple (xī yuè miào 西岳庙), Nan Yue Temple (nán yuè miào 南岳庙), Bei Yue Temple (béi yuè miào 北岳庙), Dai Temple (dài miào 岱庙) and so on.

Cultural artifacts of every dynasty are well kept in Chinese Temple culture in our country. And temple culture has influenced every aspect of Chinese people's life such as astronomy, geography, architecture, painting, handwriting, sculpture, music, dancing, antiquity, temple fairs, and folk-customs and so on. The annual temple fair all over the nation has not only enriched the Chinese culture, but also improved the development of local tourism.

Three famous temples in China:

White Horse TempleLuoyang White Horse Temple (luò yáng bái mǎ sì 洛阳白马寺)

White Horse Temple is located 12 km away from the east of Luoyang City (luò yáng shì 洛阳市). It was regarded as the "originating court in China". Established by the Eastern Han Dynasty (dōng hàn 东汉) in 68 AD when Buddhism started to spread, this temple is believed to be the first Buddhist temple built by the government in China. Covering a total area of 40, 000 square meters, the temple mainly consists of Tianwang Hall (tiān wáng diàn 天王殿), Great Buddha Hall (dà fó diàn 大佛殿), Mahavira Hall (dà xióng báo diàn 大雄宝殿), Jieyin Hall (jiē yín diàn 接引殿), Pilu Pavilion (pí lú gé 毗卢阁), and Qiyun Pagoda (qí yún tǎ 齐云塔) and so on.

Hangzhou Lingyin Temple (háng zhōu líng yǐn sì 杭州灵隐寺)

Lingyin Temple (or Yunlin Temple 云林寺) is situated at the foot of Lingyin Mountain, aside from the West Lake (xī hú 西湖). It was built in 326AD during the Eastern Jin dynasty (dōng jìn cháo Lingyin Temple东晋朝) (317 - 420 AD). Huili (huì lǐ 慧理), an Indian monk came to the area wher he was inspired by the spiritual nature of the scenery to be found here. To his mind this had to be a dwelling of the Immortals and so he gave the temple a name "Ling Yin (Temple of the Soul's Retreat). When Emperor Kangxi (kāng xī 康熙) in Qing Dynasty (qín cháo 秦朝) take a tour to the South China, he named Lingyin Temple as “Yunlinchansi Temple (yún lín chán sì 云林禅寺)". When the temple was in full bloom, it had nine buildings, eighteen pavilions, and seventy-two palace halls. The number of monks reached to 3,000. Lingyin Temple is one of the ten most famous ancient Buddhist temples in China.

Dengfeng Shaolin Temple (dēng fēng shào lín sì 登封少林寺)

Shaolin TempleIt is located 12 km away from the northwest of Dengfeng County (dēng fēng xiàn 登封县), Henan Province (hé nán shěng 河南省) , at the foot of Shaoshi Mountain (shào shì shān 少室山). It was named after the ubac of Shaoshi Mountain. Shaolin Temple was established in 495 during the Northern Wei Dynasty (běi wèi 北魏) (386-534). Thirty-two years later, Bodhidharma, the legendary Indian monk, came to Shaolin to instruct Zen Buddhism. Bodhidharma was known as the first ancestor of Chinese Buddhism, and Shaolin Temple was regarded as the original place of Zen Buddhism. Shaolin Temple is probably the most famous temple in China, not only because of its long history and its great importance in Chinese Buddhism, but also because of its martial arts or Wushu (wǔ shù 武术). The temple mainly consists of Tianwang Hall (tiān wáng diàn 天王殿), Mahavira Hall (dà xióng báo diàn 大雄宝殿), Drum Tower (gǔ lóu 鼓楼), Clock Tower (zhōng lóu 钟楼), Sutra Collection Pavilion (cáng jīng gé 藏经阁) and so on.
                      Shaolin Wushu             
中国寺庙
      寺庙—我国的艺术瑰宝库，它是我国悠久历史文化的象征。
      从广义上来说，寺庙不仅仅与佛教一家有关。但在佛教中，寺庙就有许多种称谓：如“寺”，最初并不是指佛教寺庙，从秦代以来通常将官舍称为寺。在汉代把接待从西方来的高僧居住的地方也称为寺，从此之后，“寺”便逐渐成为中国佛教建筑的专称。也可以这样说，“寺”是佛教传到中国后，中国人为尊重佛教，对佛教建筑的新称呼。

   Longxing Temple
      在道教中，寺庙的称谓也很多：道教创立之初，其宗教组织和活动场所皆以“治”称之。又称为“庐”、“靖”、也称为静宝。在南北朝时，道教的活动场所称呼为仙馆。北周武帝时，道教活动场所的称呼叫“道观”，取观星望气之意。到了唐朝，因皇帝认老子为祖宗，而皇帝的居所称为“宫”，所以道教建筑也称为“宫”了。其它还有叫“院”、“祠”的，如文殊院、碧霞祠等。

      儒家则称之为“庙”、“宫”、“坛”，如孔庙、文庙，雍和宫，天坛等。伊斯兰教称之为Yunlinchan Temple“寺”，如清真寺等。天主教称之为“教堂”。在原始或民间中，称之为“庙”、“祠”，如旧时奉祀祖宗、神佛或c的地方。叫太庙、中岳庙、西岳庙、南岳庙、北岳庙、岱庙等。

      寺庙文化它完整地保存了我国各个朝代的历史文物，在国家公布的全国文物保护单位中，寺庙及相关设施约占一半，谓之“历史文物的保险库”， 乃当之不愧。寺庙建筑与传统宫殿建筑形式相结合，具有鲜明民族风格和民俗特色。   

      同时，寺庙文化已渗透到我们生活的各个方面:如天文、地理、建筑、绘画、书法、雕刻、音乐、舞蹈、文物、庙会、民俗等等.各地一年一度的庙会如火如荼,不仅丰富了各地的文化氛围，同时促进了地方旅游业的发展。

中国三大名寺

White Horse Temple洛阳白马寺:白马寺位于洛阳市东12公里，称为“中国第一古刹”。白马寺创建于东汉十一年(68)，是佛教传入中国后由官方营造的第一座寺院。白马寺总面积一共为四万平方米，寺内主要建筑有天王殿、大佛殿、大雄殿、接引殿、毗卢阁、齐云塔等。

杭州灵隐寺:灵隐寺又名云林寺，位于灵隐山脚下，西湖旁边，其创建于东晋咸和元年（公元326年）。当时印度僧人慧理来到杭州，看到这里山峰奇秀，认为是“仙灵所隐”，所以就在这里建寺，取名“灵隐”。清康熙南巡时，赐名灵隐寺为“云林禅寺”。灵隐寺全盛时期，有九楼、十八阁、七十二殿堂，僧徒达三千余众。灵隐寺建筑中轴线上依次为天王殿、大雄宝殿、药师殿。

                Lingyin Temple
登封少林寺:少林寺在河南登封县城西北12公里的少室山麓五乳峰下。因寺院坐落在丛林茂密的少室山阴，以此得名。少林寺始建于北魏太和年间(495年)。32年后，印度名僧菩提达摩来到少林寺传授禅宗。达摩被称为中国佛教禅宗的初祖，少林寺被称为禅宗的祖庭。可能少林寺是中国最著名的寺庙，不仅仅因为它悠久的历史以及其在中国佛教中的重要作用，而且它的武术闻名全世界。寺内主要建筑有天王殿、大雄宝殿、鼓楼、钟楼、藏经阁等。