Donglin Temple (Shanghai)
Encyclopedia
Donglin Temple is a Buddhist
temple located in the town of Zhujing, Jinshan District
, Shanghai
, China
. It is dedicated to Guan Yin, the bodhisattva
of compassion.
in 1308, but has been destroyed repeatedly war, fire, neglect, and to make way for reconstruction. The only remaining historical building on the site (a hall) was listed as a city-level protected cultural site in 1987. The temple was complete redesigned and rebuilt in the years 2004 to 2007.
The central feature of the temple's court yard is a 5.4-meter-tall statue of Sudhana
, the Child of Wealth , decorated with Cloisonné
enamel
. The statue is surrounded by 8 copper fish with opened mouth into which visitors can toss coins.
In the back of the court yard lies, the main building of the temple, the Guan Yin Hall. The hall's exterior mimics a large red natural cliff. The entrance gate to the building is about 20 meters high and 10 meters wide. Its bronze doors are decorated with 999 relief images of Buddha. The hall is 31 meters wide, 42 meters deep, and 31 meters high and houses a gilded statue of the thousand-armed Guan Yin. The statue is 27 meters tall and stands on a 2-meter-high lotus base. Its arms are up to 5 meters in length.
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
temple located in the town of Zhujing, Jinshan District
Jinshan District
Jinshan District of Shanghai is neighbouring Zhejiang and near Hangzhou Bay. It has a land area of 586.14 km² and a population 536,900 as of 2001....
, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. It is dedicated to Guan Yin, the bodhisattva
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...
of compassion.
History
The temple was first constructed during the Yuan DynastyYuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
in 1308, but has been destroyed repeatedly war, fire, neglect, and to make way for reconstruction. The only remaining historical building on the site (a hall) was listed as a city-level protected cultural site in 1987. The temple was complete redesigned and rebuilt in the years 2004 to 2007.
Architectural layout
As of 2010, the temple has occupied a 20-hectare site. The main entrance gate of the complex is reached via three parallel bridges.The central feature of the temple's court yard is a 5.4-meter-tall statue of Sudhana
Sudhana
Sudhanakumâra , mainly known as Sudhana, translated as Child of Wealth, is the main protagonist in the next-to-last and longest chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra. Sudhana appears in Buddhist, Taoist and folk stories; in most of them he is one of the acolytes of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and is...
, the Child of Wealth , decorated with Cloisonné
Cloisonné
Cloisonné is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects, in recent centuries using vitreous enamel, and in older periods also inlays of cut gemstones, glass, and other materials. The resulting objects can also be called cloisonné...
enamel
Vitreous enamel
Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...
. The statue is surrounded by 8 copper fish with opened mouth into which visitors can toss coins.
In the back of the court yard lies, the main building of the temple, the Guan Yin Hall. The hall's exterior mimics a large red natural cliff. The entrance gate to the building is about 20 meters high and 10 meters wide. Its bronze doors are decorated with 999 relief images of Buddha. The hall is 31 meters wide, 42 meters deep, and 31 meters high and houses a gilded statue of the thousand-armed Guan Yin. The statue is 27 meters tall and stands on a 2-meter-high lotus base. Its arms are up to 5 meters in length.