Baipu Temple

"All good but remember to bring your own food and drink"

RV EU 16 CAMPER

"It was an interesting experience and amazing trip"

Mohammed Ahmed

"At the foot of Jincheng Mountain, north of Yubai Village, Yanchi Town, Mentougou District, Beijing, China, lies a Han Buddhist temple.

The temple was first built in the early Qiantong period of the Liao Dynasty. It earned the name "Baipu Temple" because of its proximity to two waterfalls. At its peak, Baipu Temple boasted a hundred monks. The main hall enshrined a thousand Buddhas circumambulating Vairocana, one of only two in China. The bell tower boasted a bronze bell approximately 1.5 meters in diameter. The temple also boasted a water-controlling tower, a Medicine Buddha tower, and a stupa-style, dense-eaves tower. The temple boasted 11 sub-courtyards.

In the early years of the Republic of China, a warlord, attracted by the auspicious feng shui of Baipu Temple, planned to relocate his ancestral tombs there. He subsequently led his troops to destroy the temple. Residents of Yubai Village, the closest village, decided to rebuild the temple, but the resulting structure was far smaller than the original, consisting of a three-story courtyard. The three-story Baipu Temple, with its three-story courtyard, was ultimately destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. The Thousand Buddhas Circling the Vairocana Buddha, which the warlords dared not destroy, were destroyed, and the large bronze bell was sold as a "loudspeaker" for propaganda. Only the stupa-shaped Liao Dynasty pagoda remains.

Today, Baipu Temple boasts a mountain-side terraced structure encompassing the mountain gate, the Chariot God Hall, the Heavenly King Hall, two-story dormitories, a bell tower, a drum tower, a guest hall, a Dharma distribution center, and the Main Hall. The Liao Dynasty pagoda, the Yuanzheng Master Pagoda, stands to the right of the Main Hall, while the newly built Medicine Buddha Pagoda is to the left. Flanking these are the Jialan Hall, Medicine Buddha Hall, Amitabha Hall, Patriarch Hall, and monk quarters. Circular corridors encircle the hall, winding their way to the Dharma Hall and Sutra Library. To the left of the circular corridor is the abbot's chamber, while to the right is a small stone bridge leading to the release pond, the dining hall, and a four-story building. The hall, dining hall, and buildings are interconnected. To the southwest of Baipu Temple lies the Ksitigarbha Hall, a white marble statue of Guanyin, the Jieying Hall, and a 10-meter-tall bronze statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. In front of the statue stands a seven-story stupa housing the remains of the Buddha. Also located are the God of Wealth Hall, a release pond, a well house, and a boiler room. To the east of Baipu Temple are two monasteries, and behind them is the Mituo Village Nursing Home. In front of the two monasteries is the Guanyin Pavilion, housing a 6-meter-tall statue of Guanyin carved from a fossilized camphor tree. Past the Guanyin Pavilion is a winding stone staircase leading to the Medicine Buddha Guanyin Cave.

Baipu Temple is a jungle-style monastery designed and built in accordance with Buddhist rituals, offering a comprehensive range of services for both monks and laypeople, from spiritual practice to chanting for the deceased, passing away, and the storage of their remains.

The Yuanzheng Pagoda, built on October 1, the sixth year of the Huangtong reign of the Jin Dynasty (1146), is a combination of a dense-eaves and a covered-bowl pagoda. This pagoda is a solid brick and stone structure with a hexagonal plan. The upper half is a covered bowl, while the lower half is a dense-eaves style. The pagoda inscription records the life of Master Yuanzheng and the temple's construction. The lower part of the pagoda rests on a Sumeru pedestal, with three layers of dense-eaves above. Above these layers, double-layered lotuses support the covered bowl, which is then topped with lotuses. Above this, an eleven-tiered wheel rests on a hollow iron ball, with an iron brake rod inserted into the ball. Only the brake seat and brake rod remain of the pagoda's top.

The pagoda stands 16.175 meters tall. This pagoda is a rare and dignified structure, a masterpiece of the dense-eaves pagoda of the Jin Dynasty. In 1981, the Mentougou District People's Government designated this pagoda as one of the first batch of Mentougou District Cultural Relics Protection Sites.

On November 18, 2004, the Ancient Architecture Branch of Beijing Urban Construction Yatai Company announced that the restoration of Master Yuanzheng's pagoda had been completed, having passed the joint inspection by the Beijing Municipal Quality Supervision Station and the Mentougou District Cultural Committee. Master Yuanzheng, whose surname was Cao, was born on June 15, 1067, during the reign of Emperor Xianyong of the Liao Dynasty. Legend has it that he radiated white light at birth. He developed a keen interest in Buddhism from a young age and later became a monk. During the Shouchang period of the Liao Dynasty, he resided in Jincheng Mountain, where he lectured and gained increasing influence.

In the early years of the Qiantong reign of the Liao Dynasty (1101), monks and laypeople from Changping, Yuhe, Fanshan, and Huailai raised funds to build Baipu Temple. On March 11, 1134, during the 12th year of the Tianhui reign of the Jin Dynasty, Master Yuanzheng passed away at Baipu Temple. After cremation, his remains yielded 300 relics, which were enshrined in this pagoda."

紀Chi, 丫hui (紀先生)