Chengde World Heritage Tour Part II | Secure in their dwellings, happy in their occupations, forever 'universal peace'
✅ Chengde. The Summer Resort built during the 'Kangxi and Qianlong Golden Age' of the Qing Dynasty, and the 'Jizhen Great Wall', which was responsible for the important task of guarding the capital in the 'Nine Border Towns' of the Ming Dynasty. These two dynasties, which once attacked and defended each other, have left exquisite relics here, together building this city of world cultural heritage. A hurried visit leaves much to be desired.
📍Route map:
Day1, arrive in the afternoon. Qing Hammer Peak, Pule Temple, Anyuan Temple, the golden top under the sunset, extremely beautiful.
Day2, get up early to see the temple, Puning Temple (Puyou Temple)—Putuo Zongcheng Temple—Xumi Fushou Temple; in the afternoon, measure the Summer Resort on foot.
Day3, go to Jinshanling, climb the Great Wall.
✅Day2. Get up early, pay homage to 'Puning Temple'. Among the Outer Eight Temples, it is the only temple with monks and Buddhist activities.
📍Locals call it 'Big Buddha Temple', which comes from the 'Great Compassionate and Merciful Thousand-Handed Guanyin Bodhisattva' enshrined in the Tibetan-style main hall 'Mahayana Pavilion' in the temple. The Guanyin statue is 27.12 meters high and 15 meters waist, and there is a 1.52-meter-tall Amitabha Buddha carved on the top of the head, which is currently the largest wooden Buddha statue in the world.
📍The entire temple is a combination of Han and Tibetan.
The front half is the Han-style 'Garan Seven Halls', with a double-layered Xieshan gold-rimmed green-edged glazed tile roof in the main hall, 'Nine Ridges and Ten Dragons', and the main 'Vertical Three World Buddhas'. The 'Shakyamuni Buddha' representing the present is in the middle, with the statues of the three generations of Panchen Lama in front of the Buddha, and the 'Ancient Buddha of Burning Lamp' and 'Maitreya Buddha' on both sides, symbols of the past and future.
The latter half is the Tibetan-style 'Mandala', or 'Altar City', which is a 'world' built according to the first Buddhist temple in Tibet, 'Samye Temple', which directly reflects the cosmology of Mahayana Buddhism.
✅Stepping into the mountain gate, I can't help but sigh: the rules of the royal temple are really not a model for all beings to be equal! The arch-shaped gate hole like a city gate is tall and deep, the Han white jade door frame is exquisitely carved, the red mountain wall is hidden by the green pines, and each building overlooks the passers-by under its feet with a high posture, making me and other ants who are struggling to survive in the world suddenly feel awe, and the division of heaven, earth, gods and people is drawn in my heart, and a sense of being a protected weak arises.
📍The 'Mahayana Pavilion' is located in the center of the altar city, symbolizing the center of the world 'Mount Sumeru', a five-pointed spire-style wooden building, tall and magnificent and intricately constructed, is recognized as a masterpiece of ancient architecture.
📍The 'Thousand-Handed Guanyin Statue' carved in the pavilion, with a height of more than ten floors, is adorned with pearl rings and fluttering robes, vivid expressions, showing a compassionate attitude, with drooping eyes, and a soft gaze looking up at humans.
📍On both sides of the pavilion are the Sun and Moon Halls, and there are four Han-style glazed tile-roofed halls symbolizing the 'Four Great Continents' in the four directions of southeast, northwest, and eight Tibetan-style white platforms symbolizing the 'Eight Small Continents', and there are red, white, blue, and black four glazed pagodas distributed at the four corners of the pavilion to deter all demons. All beings live in the major continents, surrounded by vast oceans, with the sun and the moon alternating, illuminating the mountains, seas, earth, and all beings. This is a microcosm of a world. Thousands, tens of thousands, countless worlds make up the 'Saha World' in the Buddhist universe, and the light of Buddha's compassion and wisdom illuminates the world.
✅In the morning at Puning Temple, tourists and pilgrims are endless, and the vast and magnificent gardens and temples seem to absorb the bustling voices, shielding the hustle and bustle of the world, and the surroundings seem to be quiet.
✅The smoke is curling. The Great Buddha is compassionate and protects a world, 'secure in their dwellings, happy in their occupations, forever universal peace'.