Today, the Yongzuo Temple, known as Yongzuo Temple, covers a total area of more than 130 acres, built by the mountain, sitting south to north, three courtyards, grand scale and magnificent momentum. But in fact, at the beginning of the establishment of the temple, the scale was simple, only one feng shui tower (now Wenfeng Pagoda) remained in the temple, and even the mountain gate was built more than ten years after the completion of the temple, and the current mountain gate is not the original mountain gate.
It all started with Master Miaofeng expanding the Yongming Temple.
In the thirty-fifth year of the Wanli Ming Dynasty (1607 AD), the 67-year-old protector of the country and abbot of Mount Wutai, Master Miaofeng, came to Taiyuan to preside over the expansion of Yongming Temple at the invitation of Zhu Minchun, the king of the Jin Domain, first changed the name of the temple "Yongming Temple" to "Yongzuo Temple", and then built a new "Xuanwen Stupa" at the beginning of the project, and then presided over the construction of the Daxiong Treasure Hall, the Three Holy Pavilions, the Meditation Hall, the Guest Hall, etc. In the 4 years of working day and night, the elderly Master Miaofeng accumulated labor and illness, and failed to complete the construction according to the original design scale, so he returned to Wutaishan with illness. Soon passed away.
Therefore, for a long time to come, there was no mountain gate in Yongzuo Temple. In the fifteenth year of Shunzhi (1658), the magistrate of Yangqu County made a renovation to the Twin Pagoda Temple, and a new hall between the two pagodas was built. According to relevant records, this time the temple was repaired, and the new mountain gate of the temple was prepared, but it was somehow not built.
In the twenty-first year of the Kangxi Reign (1682), Dai Mengxiong of Zhixian County, Yangqu County, also raised bricks and tiles, prepared for the construction of civil works, and built the walls and mountain gates of the Twin Pagoda Temple. Coincidentally, in the same year, he was promoted to the prefect of Hanyang, but he did not achieve his wishes.
It was not until the 30th year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1691) that Liu Hui of Zhi County, the successor of Yangqu County, gathered craftsmen to build the temple wall from the east hall to the west side hall, and built a simple mountain gate. In this way, the Yongzuo Temple, which has been empty and exposed for more than 80 years, has finally been covered.
Because the long-cherished wish to build the wall and the mountain gate came from his predecessor Dai Mengxiong, Liu Hui asked Dai Mengxiong to inscribe the gate of "Gion Victory Realm" for the mountain gate after the completion of the project. This mountain gate is the Ruyi Gate of today's Yongzuo Temple, commonly known as the second gate, with one wide face and one deep, and two ear rooms were added in 1988.
In the Republic of China, the Yongzuo Temple fell into disrepair due to its age, especially the Daxiong Treasure Hall and the Three Sacred Pavilions, which were mostly eroded by wind and rain, and were damaged to the point of almost "capsizing". In 1927, Yang Ziduan and others actively campaigned, organized fundraising to repair the pagoda temple, and on the basis of repairing the old, broke ground on the opposite side of the Daxiong Treasure Hall and the north end of the east and west halls, built six single-slope north rooms, and opened a new courtyard gate on the location of the original Tianwang Hall, forming a traditional courtyard-style layout. The three gates of today's Yongzuo Temple, that is, the temple gate of the gate book "Yongzuo Zen Forest", are the products of that time.
In addition to the four characters "Yongzuo Zen Forest" inscribed on the forehead, there is also a painting written by the famous contemporary paleographer Zhang Hao, "Fengzao no dome post love treasure virtuous flowers love purple, cause and condition has a meeting temple to ask for Yongzuo Pagoda to ask for double", the meaning of which is to praise the architecture of the temple, the treasure post and the Ming Dynasty peony purple xia fairy, but also describes the destiny people gathering here to pray for eternal blessings and peace.
Now, when we go up the stairs and enter the Yongzuo Temple, the first mountain gate that catches our eyes with the three big characters "Yongzuo Temple" on the forehead is the last to be built. It was expanded in the 80s of the last century imitating the shape of the Ming Dynasty, with three wide faces, one deep, beware of a brick coupon arch, two Anban doors, two small rooms, and open the door opposite to the doorway, which is a green brick grinding and cutting of the mountain-style beamless imitation wood structure building.
Although the scale of the mountain gate of Yongzuo Temple is not very large, it is very good, it relies on the high terrain of the temple, sitting south facing north, condescending, and full of energy, watching the changes and development of Taiyuan for a long time, ushering in countless guests at home and abroad.
Source: Yingze release