华严寺

The tradition & historical record

Huayan Temple or Huayan Monastery (simplified Chinese: 华严寺; traditional Chinese: 華嚴寺; pinyin: Huáyán Sì) is a Buddhist temple located in Datong, Shanxi, China. Huayan Temple has been burned down and rebuilt several times. The Daxiongbao Hall and Cangjing Ge still preserve the architectural style of the Liao and Jin dynasties (907–1234). It is an artistic complex of ancient Chinese architecture, sculpture, frescoes and inscriptions, as well as a cultural synthesis of religion and politics. ¹

The temple was first established in 1038, in the 7th year of Chongxi period (1032–1055) in the Liao dynasty (907–1125). The name of "Huayan" derives from Avatamsaka Sutra, which more commonly known as "Huayan Sutra" (华严经) in China. Part of the temple was devastated in 1122, during the war between Liao and Jin dynasties. ¹

Huayan Temple was restored and redecorated in 1140, in the 3rd year of Tianjuan period (1138–1140) in the Jin dynasty (1115–1234). Abbot Tongwu (通悟) rebuilt the Daxiongbao Hall, Guanyin Hall, Shanmen, and Drum tower. In 1166, Emperor Shizong visited the temple. ¹

During the reign of Emperor Wuzong (1308–1311) in the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), abbot Huiming (慧明) supervised the reconstruction of Huayan Temple. Daxiongbao Hall, abbot's room, and dining room were gradually renovated. In the heyday of the temple, it had hundreds of halls and rooms. After the fall of the Yuan dynasty, most of the temple buildings were destroyed in the battle between the Hongjin and Mongolian armies. ¹

In the early Ming dynasty (1368–1644), the temple was confiscated. It reactivated its religious activities in the mid-15th century, during the Xuande (1426–1435) and Jingtai periods (1450–1456). ¹

At the dawn of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), in 1648, Huayan Temple was reduced to ashes by a devastating fire, with only the Daxiongbao Hall and Buddhist Texts Library remaining. The temple declined and incredibly disappeared during the middle and later Qing dynasty. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Huayan Temple (Datong)”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Huayan Temple is building in Datong, China, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 4 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²