Jianfu Temple

Jianfu Temple is a Chinese Buddhist temple located at West Youyi Rd. outside the south gate of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. It hosts the famous Small Wild Goose Pagoda, which was listed as a world cultural heritage site by UNESCO in 2014. The Xian Museum is located in the southwest corner of the temple.

History

Jianfu Temple was originally the residence of Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang dynasty before he became the emperor. It was converted to a temple on the 20th day of the 3rd lunar month in AD 684 (100 days after the death of Emperor Gaozong) in order to dedicate postmortem fortune to the deceased emperor. Thus it was named as "Xianfu Temple". In AD 690 during Wu Zetian's reign, it was renamed Jianfu Temple, and also bestowed an inscribed board handwritten by the emperor. The famous Small Wild Goose Pagoda was built in the Jinglong era (707-710) of the Tang dynasty. Initially, the pagoda courtyard resided outside the temple gate, rather than inside the temple, but it was still a part of Jianfu Temple. 

Under the wing of the Tang Empire, Jianfu Temple, together with Da Ci En Temple, became prosperous. While in the Huichang era Buddhism was suppressed, Jianfu Temple was only allowed to keep 20 monks for daily maintenance, and it grievous days came. The temple suffered from the chaos of wars towards the end of the Tang dynasty, and was largely ruined. Only the Small Wild Goose Pagoda was preserved. According to historical records dating from the Yuanyou era of the Northern Song dynasty, Jianfu Temple had been moved into pagoda courtyard at that time, integrated with the Small Wild Goose Pagoda.

In the Ming dynasty, Jianfu Temple was reinvigorated. There were five times of large-scale renovations, largely preserving the original pattern. In 1426, a Tibetan monk, Shaosiji from Hongjue Temple of Xiningwei, Shaanxi Province, was awarded a certificate by the Ming government, and came to preside over Jianfu Temple. Seeing the dilapidated buildings in the temple, he swore to rebuild it. The reconstruction was completed in 1449, and Shaosiji appealed to government for its name. The current "Imperial Jianfu Temple" was handwritten by the Zhengtong Emperor of the Ming dynasty.

Major Buildings

The Jianfu Temple mainly consists of the gate, the Cishi Pavilion, the Mahavira Hall, the Depository of Buddhist Sutras and the Small Wild Goose Pagoda.

Ancient Trees

The ancient trees in the Jianfu Temple amount to ten, including nine Chinese scholar trees and one catalpa tree. Five Chinese scholar trees are on the two sides of the axis before the Mahavira Hall and the other four stand in the yard to the south of the Cishi Pavilion. The oldest one is called “the Dragon Scholar Tree”. Being about 1,200 years old, the tree measures 7.5 feet (2.7 meters) in girth and 30.2 feet (9.2 meters) in height. The catalpa tree is to the north of the Cishi Pavilion. With a girth of 10.5 feet (3.2 meters) and a height of 50.2 feet (15.3 meters), this tree is about 800 years old. Tourists can relax in the shade of these ancient trees.

Traditional Temple Fair

The temple fair is usually held from the 1st to the 15th of the first lunar month. People often go to the temple fair to pray for happiness during the Chinese New Year (Spring Festival). At the same time, there are large-scale lantern shows, delicate food, and all kinds of wonderful performances, including the lion dance, the Shaanxi opera, and stilt walking.

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Small Wild Goose Pagoda

The Small Wild Goose Pagoda, sometimes Little Wild Goose Pagoda, is one of two significant pagodas in the city of Xi'an, China. The other notable pagoda is the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, originally built in 652 and restored in 704. The Small Wild Goose Pagoda was built between 707–709, during the Tang Dynasty under Emperor Zhongzong of Tang (r 705–710). The pagoda stood 45 m (147 ft) until the 1556 Shaanxi earthquake. The earthquake shook the pagoda and damaged it so that it now stands at a height of 43 m (141 ft) with fifteen levels of tiers. The pagoda has a brick frame built around a hollow interior, and its square base and shape reflect the building style of other pagodas from the era.

During the Tang Dynasty, the Small Wild Goose Pagoda stood across a street from its mother temple, the Dajianfu Temple. Pilgrims brought sacred Buddhist writings to the temple and pagoda from India, as the temple was one of the main centers in Chang'an for translating Buddhist texts. The temple was older than the pagoda, since it was founded in 684, exactly 100 days after the death of Emperor Gaozong of Tang (r. 649–683). Emperor Zhongzong had donated his residence to the building of a new temple here, maintaining the temple for 200 monks in honor of his deceased father Gaozong. The temple was originally called the Daxianfusi or Great Monastery of Offered Blessings by Zhongzong, until it was renamed Dajianfusi by Empress Wu Zetian in 690.

Inside the pagoda, a narrow wooden stairway winds its way to the top, requiring quite an effort by those making the ascent. Children and seniors with poor physical condition are not recommended to ascend. Additionally, it is hard for larger people to pass through the narrow stairway on the upper floors.

There is a small open platform on the top due to the missing two floors. Please be aware that it is very small, allowing only ten people at one time. For tourists successfully reaching the top, it is a special experience to have a bird’s eye view of the whole temple through the broken top. One can even see a panoramic view of the ancient city of Xian on clear days.

The Morning Bell Chime of the Small Wild Goose Pagoda has been known as one of the “Top Eight Scenes of Xian” since ancient times. The original bell was built in the third year (1192) during the reign of the Emperor Zhangzong in the Jin Dynasty. It was installed in the Jianfu Temple and tolled every morning to pray for happiness in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Now the bell hangs in the Bell Tower near the pagoda and a copy of it hangs in a steel frame in the open to be rung by tourists.

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Tang Paradise

Tang Paradise is a large theme park near the city of Xi'an, in Shaanxi province. It is a newly opened tourist attraction in April, 2005. The site covers a total area of 1000 mu (about 165 acres) and of which 300 mu (about 49 acres) is water. The park is at or near the site of an earlier garden complex in the Tang Dynasty, but consists almost entirely of modern construction.

The park features numerous buildings, squares, and gardens, all incorporating features of traditional Chinese architecture, such as eaves and cornices. Some features are named after historical sites or buildings. The park is one of several modern reconstructions of ancient sites in Shaanxi, which involve anachronistic styles and features, most notably the use of wide stretches of concrete surfaces. Altogether, twelve scenic regions are distributed here to provide visitors with the enjoyment of twelve cultural themes and a perfect exhibition of the grandness, prosperity and brilliance of the culture of the Tang Dynasty.

Many firsts are created here: the first and largest scale of buildings modeled on the Tang style in China, the first and most considerable groups of sculptures to show the poetic culture in the Tang Dynasty in China, the first and biggest single architecture modeled on the Tang style throughout China, the first theme park in China to cater to the five sense (vision, hearing, smell, touch and taste), the grandest fragrant project of the outdoors in the world, and the most spectacular water film on earth. Tang Paradise is praised as 'Garden of History', 'Garden of Spirit', 'Garden of Nature', 'Garden of Human Culture' and 'Garden of Art'.

The most special and amazing feast here is taste. The word 'taste' here does not refer to the delicious smell of food, but means that the whole Tang Paradise, like a fair lady, is full of aroma. Unbelievable, isn't it? But definitely true! You may wonder why. The secret is that there are incense burners here. Every few meters on both sides of the paths here, there is an incense burner which looks like a street lamp. It is only 1.5 meters (about 5 feet) tall with incense coils burning inside. It is this fragrance that makes the whole place seem like mysterious Xanadu. Thus wherever you walk, assuredly, you can be embraced by its faint redolence. 

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Qujiang Pool Park

Qujiang Pool Park, also called the “Qujiang Pool Relics Park, is located in southern suburbs of Xi'an Qujiang ruins scenic zone, north of Datang Furong Garden, south of Emperor Qin Mausoleum ruins, covering 1,500 acres. The park was designed by Zhang Jinqiu, a famous architect in China. She aimed to rebuild the royal garden of ancient China and made it a recreation area in Xian. Opened on July 1st, 2008, it has become a popular scenic spot by its natural beauty and abundant history. 

In history, Qujiang Pool was once the most famous scenic spot in Chang’an (the name of Xian in ancient China), a royal garden since the Qin Dynasty (221BC - 207BC). Later, in Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), Qujiang Pool has become a public recreation area. The Royal families, dignitaries and citizens usually went here.

Walking through the west gate of the park, the first thing you see is the pool, which covers an area of 500 mu (82 acres). Feeling the gentle breeze in the park, one can head south and there is the House in the Woods. There are nine houses named after the tunes to which Song poems are composed. In the houses, Shaanxi opera, leather silhouette shows and Fengxiang clay sculptures are presented. One of the buildings is a small museum, in which the discoveries of archeological excavations of Qujiang ancient ruins are exhibited. 

The Qujiang Pavilion is by the lake. From the pavilion you can see another scenic spot, the Jiangtandieshui. It is a tiny waterfall which naturally divides the pool into two parts. Go south from the Pavilion, two reed marshes are ahead, which you can walk through on a wooden landing stage.

At the end of the landing stage is the Yunge Pavilion, where you can rent a boat and take a visit on the lake. To the south is the Willow Dam, a long dam with willows on both sides. At the end of Willow Dam, the Yuejiang Tower is situated in the south of the park, where you get a birds-eye-view of the park and can have a rest. Going north from the Yuejiang Tower you see a house with small pavilions off its winding corridor: this is the House on the River. 

A small island was designed with some houses and galleries for tourists to have a rest. You can also go fishing there. You can reach the island from a wooden bridge on the east bank. The last scenic spot is the traditional Chinese style Changguan Teahouse. Have a cup of tea and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the river. You can really feel the history of Xian here.

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Green Dragon Temple

Located 3 kilometers (about 1.87 miles) southeast of Xian city, Green Dragon Temple is a famous Buddhist Temple from the Tang Dynasty (618-907). First built in 582 during the Sui dynasty (581 - 618 A.D.), the temple was originally named Lingan Temple (Temple of Inspiration) and later in 711 during the Tang dynasty renamed Qinglong Temple (Green Dragon Temple). The temple was destroyed in 1086 and the present one was the product of restoration.

Green Dragon Temple is the ancestor temple of Tantra sect of Japan Buddhism, and the holy temple for Japanese. In the early and middle 9th century, large quantities of Japanese monks were sent to China to study Buddhism scriptures. Among the well-known "eight monks entering the Tang", six once studied Buddhism in Green Dragon Temple, in which Monk Kukai was the most famous one. 

Kukai, the most learned of the six monks, made great progress in learning Buddhist sutras, Sanskrit, poems and Chinese calligraphy. After his return to Japan in 806, he advocated the building of a Vagra Temple (Vagra means Buddhist Warrior Attendant) and founded the Zhenyan Sect (the True Word Sect). He is highly honored by both Japanese and Chinese, and in 1982 Kukai Monument was constructed inside the Green Dragon Temple.

For uncertain reasons the Green Dragon Temple which had no fortune, like others in ancient China was destroyed. This was perhaps during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). The present temple was reconstructed in 1963. Memorial halls for the earlier monks and exhibition halls with some excavations displayed are all built in the Tang architectural style.

Green Dragon Temple is a place where the cherry blossoms can be enjoyed. Every year during May and June, an endless stream, of tourists comes to appreciate its beauty.

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Guangren Lama Temple----- a Royal Tibetan Buddhist Monastery

Located in the north-west City Wall of Xian, Xian Guangren Lama Temple is the only Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Shaanxi Province. Guangren Lama Temple was built in 1705 as a Xanadu for the Grand Lama of the Northwest and Tibet when he passed through Shaanxi along the road to Beijing to meet with the Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It is a nice combination of Han Culture of architecture and the culture of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also a witness to Tibetan and Han nationality's cultural communication and national solidification.

The main architecture, such as the Mahavira Hall, the Sutras Keeping Hall and the Bodhisattva Hall were brand new for they had been rebuilt in 1952. Besides, as it was cited as a National Key Buddhist Monastery by the State Council in 1983, Guangren Lame Temple was underwent extensive repairs again in 2006 and expanded to the present large scale, an area of 2.6 acres. The main architectural features fall into place from south to north as follows: the Mountain Gate, the Devajara Hall, the Mahavira Hall, the One Thousand Buddha Halls and the Sutra Keeping Hall. Besides, on either side of these main halls are some flanking halls, wing-rooms and cross-yards.

The original Mountain Gate had already been destroyed before the rebuild. Carved with beams and beautiful paintings, the new gate looks magnificent. As the entrance door is closed, visitors should enter the temple from the small eastern wicket. Inside the Mountain Gate, there is a Zhao Bi (a stone wall) engraved with the embossments of Buddha and the eighteen arhats. It is a grandiose brick-carved piece of architecture. Round across the Zhao Bi, you will see a tall hexagonal pavilion with an imperial stele of 'The Guangren Lama Temple Stele Erected under the Imperial Order' written by Emperor Kangxi who erected it. There are wells with stone rails on both sides of the stele.

Go out of the pavilion and you will come to the Devajara Hall in which a statue of Thousand-Hand Avalokitesvara on the lotus throne (the supreme one in Shaanxi Province) was placed there after the rebuild. It shimmers from gilding all over the body. The hall is surrounded by a lot of gilded rotational sutra barrels outside. At the back of the Devajara Hall, there is a courtyard in which lies an Eight Diagrams. It can be infused with 54 kilograms of kerosene at a time so that it is lit day and night. Thus it is called 'Ten Thousand Year Lamp'. Then you will see Mahavira Hall behind the lighthouse. Three Buddha statues are worshipped in the Mahavira Hall the Green Tara statue stands in the middle. On its left is the statue of Manjusri and on its right is the statue of Samantabhadra. It is said that all of them were passed down from Tang Dynasty.

Continue to the rear part, you will find the One Thousand Buddhas Hall which was built in 2006. The statue of the Tsong Khapa who founded Gelugpa (a sect of Tibetan Buddhism) is worshipped here. In front of this hall, there is a marble lotus which came down from the Emperor Qianlong period in the Qing Dynasty. Then the Sutras Keeping Hall will come into view when you go out of the One Thousand Buddhas Hall. The reproduction statue of the 12-year-old Buddha Sakyamuni is bestowed in the middle while the statue of Prince Wencheng (a prince who was ordered to marry a minority chieftain in Tang Dynasty) is on the left. 

There are many precious sutras in Sutras Keeping Hall, especially the Qing version of 'Tibetan Ganzhuer Sutra' in 108 volumes and the Ming versions of 'The Heart of Prajna Paraminta Sutra' in 6,600 volumes. There are flanking halls and wing-rooms on both sides of the Mahavira Hall and the Sutras Keeping Hall. The statues of Sykyamuni, Pharma-kaya and medicine's three seniors (three very important medicine men) lie in the east flanking hall while the four-arm Avalokitesvara, Maitreya Buddha and Saghirima are worshipped in the west flanking hall.

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Shaanxi Song & Dance Theater

Shaanxi Song and Dance Theater is a comprehensive theater restaurant established in 1998. The Theater not only provides a stage for the Shaanxi Provincial Song & Dance Troupe, but also offers traditional Chinese food to guests all around the world.

Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show is performed on the spectacular stage by the artists every day. Shaanxi Song and Dance Theater provides all the guests with excellent services and enjoyment with the accommodation of 700 customers. In the recent years, the Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show is treasured as a national art. Such an exciting recreation of the cultural attractiveness of the Tang Dynasty will introduce you to an amazing world. You will be marvel at the feeling of being taken back to the days of the Tang (618 - 907).

With the Northwest Art Performance Group established in 1940 as its predecessor, it officially became a theater in 1963, got its present name in 1998, and was included in the Shaanxi Performing Arts Group Co. Ltd. in 2009. During its long history and development, the theater has reserved a professional performing team and a large number of excellent programs, including operas, dance dramas, vocal and instrumental music works.

Among all the programs, the Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show is the most attractive and popular since its debut in 1983. The show reproduces the magnificent scenes of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, delighting the audience with fascinating ancient imperial court music and dance. The programs have been delicately designed by many Tang history experts, scholars and artists. The whole performance inherits the original song and dance of the Tang Dynasty, and fully shows the charm of traditional Chinese culture.

The major programs include the Huaqing Palace, White Ramie Cloth Costume Dance, Zither Solo ‘Pilgrim Feast’, Rainbow Skirt and the Feathered Coat Dance, Battling Dance of the King of Qin, Oriole Singing in Spring, Ta Ge Dance, Mask Dance, Qiuci Dance, Suona Solo ‘Jujube Harvest’, Maoyuan Drum Dance, Drum Music ‘Quarreling Ducks’ and ‘Tiger Grinding Teeth’, and Great Tang Ritual Dance.

The Dumpling Feast gathers the quintessence of Chinese Dumplings and is famous in Shaanxi. The chefs are able to produce a wide variety of dumplings, showing different styles, shapes and tastes. Dumplings served are pleasing to both the eye and the mind, and have a palatable taste. While enjoying the wonderful performance, you can have the delicious food including the famous local snacks, the dumpling banquet and the Tang style banquet.

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