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 The
Serenity of Magic Cliff Temple
Lingyan Si (Magic Cliff Temple) is often called the "first of
the four finest temples in China". It stands on Lingyan Shan
(Magic Cliff Mountain) south of Changqing, an outlying county of Jinan.
Lingyan Shan is one of the northern ranges of Taishan Mountain and
a scenic spot with ridges on three sides forming a horseshoe valley
of pines and cypresses, streams and cascades.
The temple we see today was built during the Tang Dynasty by Huichong,
another eminent monk. In the heyday of Tang, a period of prosperity
for literature and religion, there were over 500 monks and some 40
halls and 500 meditation rooms in
the temple. More buildings were added in the Song Dynasty, whose rulers
also encouraged the establishment of temples and monasteries, and
more monks joined the monastic order here, which had at one time over
1,000 members. Though most of the building and arhat works were damaged
or lost in the vicissitudes of history, a number of important relics
have survived, including rock grotto sculptures dating back to Northern
Wei, halls and pavilions of Tang, painted clay images of Song, and
stone carvings by famous sculptors of different periods. |
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