Mr. Chen came from Jiuquan by high-speed rail and left a few long beards and sparse and flowing beards. He looked like a Taoist priest who had been practicing, but Mr. Chen was not like a Taoist. The Taoist was thin and fairy-like, but Mr. Chen was fat and round, and he didn't kn

Buddhism and temples

Ma Dong

Chen Chen has known friends for many years, has been in Shandong and has recently come to Hexi. I went to Zhangye and asked Mr. Chen to come and meet him.

Mr. Chen came from Jiuquan by high-speed rail and left a few long beards and sparse and flowing beards. He looked like a different person. He was practicing Taoist priest , but Mr. Chen was not like. The Taoist is thin and fairy-like, but Mr. Chen was fat and round, and he didn't know how to describe it for the time being.

Mr. Chen practices calligraphy, using ancient brushwork and quaint paper. He said that he would send me what he wrote recently. I said, accompany you to see the Big Buddha Temple. The ancient monuments and some national treasures that have been around for nearly a thousand years. I think he likes it.

Marco Polo once stayed in Ganzhou (Zhangye) for a year. Chapter 61 of "Ganzhou City" described it as follows: "Ganzhou is the capital of Tangwute Province ( Xixia ), with a vast territory. Ganzhou Zhishuohe accepted the power of the whole province (the capital of Gansu Xingzhongshuo Province in the Yuan Dynasty was located in Ganzhou). Most people believe in Buddhism, and there are also Christians and Muslims."

On the way to the Great Buddha Temple, I fiddled with some stories accumulated in my stomach at Mr. Chen. The Great Buddha Temple is a royal temple in the Western Xia Dynasty. Legend has it that two emperors including Kublai Khan were also born here. The murals of Journey to the West in the Buddhist temple were also earlier than the novels. As I said, Mr. Chen smiled, "You are so familiar with each other and can be easily picked up."

"How big is Xixia?"

Mr. Chen suddenly said something, and I was stunned for a moment, not playing according to the routine at all.

" The four counties of Hexi should all be under the control of Xixia." Speaking of this, I arrived at the ticket center of the Great Buddha Temple. The nucleic acid expired in 72 hours and I was turned away. A little depressed, and after repeated persistence, Mr. Chen went to the Big Buddha Temple alone and I took the nucleic acid. Mr. Chen didn't know if he would be lonely when he was alone in the Big Buddha Temple.

can't enter the Big Buddha Temple, so I went to Xilai Temple alone.

Ministry West Street goes west, cross the cross of County Mall Street, to the right, Zhangye wooden tower quietly stands up, two white clouds in the blue sky are slowly approaching, as if they are going to give birth to a pair of wings for something. A middle-aged man squats in the shade, next to it is a little girl. The little girl slowly stretches out her little hand, and five or six white chubby pigeons jump on the ground, and the doves are eating the food on the little girl's hands.

The chanting of scriptures came from the wooden tower. A middle-aged woman stood two meters in front of me, bowed and kowtowed, and silently began to circle the tower clockwise. I looked up and was shaken by the dazzling sunlight. I walked along the right side toward the tower. When I was still the middle-aged woman who bowed and kowtowed, I was a little unnaturally panicked. I actually forgot some basic Buddhist customs.

Go down the steps and pass by a long corridor. Under the corridor, there are three or three elderly people playing cards, crossing the road in the sun, and turning into Xilai Temple Lane.

entered from the entrance of the north alley, less than a hundred meters away, a small courtyard facing west, Nanhua Academy, exquisite and quiet, flowers and plants stood in the spirit, breeze, shaking their heads, as if they were satisfied, a door was open, and the sign at the door said "Some Exchange Center". I thought there was no one, but I stepped into the house and found that there was a person sitting behind the wide table, a young woman. It said casually:

"Is this an exchange center? Why is there a library brand?"

"This is Nanhua Academy and also the branch of Ganzhou Library."

"The Ganzhou Library was not in the Big Buddha Temple before." After saying that, I turned around and walked out, leaving the girl who was confused and confused inside. I am destined to be a book, but you girl has no idea.

Diagonally opposite Nanhua Academy is Xilai Temple, with the door facing east. It seems that I only realized the truth for the first time. The door was closed and there was a big notice on the door. Due to epidemic prevention and control, all religious activities were suspended since one day. The same words were written on the walls on both sides of the door, "Namo Amitabha". There were two people squatting under the corner of the wall on the south side, and a man stood, playing chess and watching chess. The sound of drums and music came from the high wall. I don’t know if I was doing rituals or doing homework.

Xilai Temple did not go in, so she stubbornly went to the Big Buddha Temple again and called her two colleagues.

The tour guide is a beautiful young woman who speaks fluently and standard Mandarin , and her speech is slow and clear. I point to the picture of seeking scriptures on the outer wall of the Buddhist temple.

"Tell the story of Journey to the West".

"Tell me about the murals inside, that one is from ancient times."

I asked tentatively, "Where did you go to school?", " Lanzhou University , computer", I originally meant to see if she came from Yucai Middle School , yes, it's easy to climb an alumni.

For nearly a thousand years, the Buddha still lies quietly on his side, looking at him as if he wakes up, calling him as if he sleeps, and lying on his three thousand worlds .

The mural on the left hand side of the reclining Buddha Hall has a shape that looks like Sun Wukong . I never forget it. Every time I come with a guest, I have to point it to people, but I have never figured out why he stood there. The little beauty did not respond to my prompt.

I thought that Zhu Bajie 's Gao Laozhuang was in Gaotai , but today I heard that it was in Linze.

Many legends and unofficial history have always been legends, and there is no way to prove it. The "Zhangye Golden Sutra" and "The Great Tang Western Regions Records" in the hall of " Prajna Canghai" have always been my favorites. Last year, I studied for a while and came to the Great Buddha Temple to see the treasures of " Great Tang Canghai" .

1975, the kang caught fire. The 74-year-old Nirvana was burned to death. When the burned house was demolished, people found a secret passage in the bedroom of the Nirvana surnamed Yao. The secret passage was a wall-shaped secret chamber, 40 meters long, 20 meters high, 4 meters thick, and 12 sutra cabinets were neatly arranged. The official version of the "Northern Tibetan Buddhism of the Ming Dynasty" was first engraved and printed in the official version of the Ming Dynasty during the Yongle period of Chengzu Chengzu and the "Northern Tibetan Buddhism of the Ming Dynasty" and the "Great Prajna Paramita Sutra" copied by Wang Gui in the 37th year of Zhengtong to the Ming Dynasty from the 37th year of Jiajing.

Looking at the white marble statue, I admire it very much.

If Marco Polo witnessed the prosperity of Buddhism in Ganzhou, the people around me and I may have witnessed another inheritance.

"Beauty, are you a local?"

"I am from Zhangye. I have been working in Dafo Temple for four years." I have been from Zhangye for four years, and I have been from Zhangye since that day.

Oh, I am also from Zhangye. Although I left Zhangye, where I lived for nearly twenty years more than thirty years ago, I have always been from Zhangye.

I said goodbye to the little beauty in Zhangye language.

Suddenly realized that there were many tall willow trees growing in the Great Buddha Temple. When the sun sets, two white-haired old men sat on the bench under the willow trees.

bid farewell to Master Yao Ni, and then looked at the Buddha lying on his side. There was a man and a woman sitting upright on the ground in the hall, cross-legged, eyes closed, hands stacked, palms facing upward, facing the Buddha. Amitabha!

likes the tranquility of the yard.

(Author profile: Ma Dong, currently lives in Yinchuan, Ningxia, and has lived and studied with his parents in Zhangye, Gansu for nearly 20 years. He is good at reading, loves photography, travels, and makes essays and travel notes. He has driven through Gansu Qinghai-Tibet, Xinjiang, Southeast Asia and other places many times, dedicated to reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles.)