From 1924 to this year, the Lilac Poetry Society in Fayuan Temple in Beijing has reached its 100th anniversary. "Appreciating cloves, taking flowers as an appointment, sharing poems, meeting friends with poems", since April, Fayuan Temple has held a series of cultural activities of the Centennial Lilac Poetry Society. Among them, starting from April 18, "Looking for Five-petal Lilacs" began to exchange for cultural and creative products of the Lilac Poetry Society in the square in front of the former site of Tang Minzhong Temple. According to legend, finding a rare five-petal lilac symbolizes happiness, and I don't know how many tourists are lucky enough to find a five-petal lilac.
法源寺丁香花开 sansanmu/摄
01
— Lilacs bloom all over the city —
Fayuan Temple has witnessed the ups and downs of half of Chinese history, creating a unique religious and cultural landscape. Fayuan Temple is also famous for the famous Taiwanese writer Li Ao's "Beijing Fayuan Temple", attracting countless Buddhist believers and tourists who seek to explore the ancient world.
At first, Fayuan Temple was called Minzhong Temple, which was built by Tang Taizong because of "deep compassion for the loyal people who died in the Rong Incident". At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, after the Jin army captured Bianjing, they captured Hui and the second emperor of Qin went north, and detained Song Qinzong in Fayuan Temple. In the twenty-sixth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1289), the Southern Song Dynasty relict and poet Xie Fang failed to resist the Yuan Dynasty and retreated to the Tang Stone Mountain in Jianning, and was later captured by the Yuan army and taken to Dadu. The Yuan court ordered him to be an official many times, but he insisted on resigning. After he fell ill, he lived in the Minzhong Temple, and when he saw the Cao E tablet inlaid on the wall, tears rained down: "Little girl Yuer, am I not as good as you!" After falling ill, he died of hunger strike, becoming a generation of loyal ministers and celebrities.
In the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Yongzheng renamed Minzhong Temple as Fayuan Temple. Emperor Qianlong wrote the plaque of "Fahai Zhenyuan" in the Fayuan Temple, and also wrote the poem "The most ancient Yanjing Temple, the origin of mercy and loyalty". On June 25, 2001, Fayuan Temple, as an ancient building of the Qing Dynasty, was approved by the State Council as the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.
The cloves of Fayuan Temple are said to have been planted in the Ming Dynasty. The cultivation of cloves in Fayuan Temple has climatic factors, the demand for elegance, and the wonderful use of Buddhism. Buddhist temples originally honored Bodhi, but most areas of the mainland are not suitable for the growth of Bodhi trees, so Fayuan Temple replaces Bodhi trees with lilac trees.
Lilac, only one word "incense", is like seeing the natural transpiration of the green grass on the earth under the sun, smelling the fragrant and fragrant atmosphere, beautiful, noble and elegant. The "Grass Flower Spectrum" written by Gao Lian in the Ming Dynasty recorded: "Lilacs, the flowers are as small as cloves (nails), fragrant and soft petals, and the color is purple. ”
Although the lilacs are as small as a lilac, many small flowers form a cluster, and many clusters of flowers bloom all over the tree. Lilac trees are all over the Fayuan Temple, the flowers bloom in April every year, the colors are colorful, the fragrance is rich, the capital is amazing, and it is praised as "the sea of flowers and fragrant snow in the resort" by Li Hongzao, the minister of military aircraft in the Qing Dynasty. It is recorded: "Every time in the flowering season, scholars and girls gather, in addition to incense, enjoy the strange flowers, which is a pleasure." This passage is about the lilac scene in the Fayuan Temple.
Image source: Xicheng, Beijing
In "Dream of Red Mansions", the lilac flower given by Jia Baoyu to Lin Daiyu has become a symbol of a moving love story. The flower language of the lilac flower represents purity, nobility and eternal love, which is why it is so popular.
The cloves of Fayuan Temple have been famous since ancient times, and have been called "the four major flowers of the capital" together with the peony of Chongxiao Temple, the begonia of Prince Gong's Mansion, and the peony of Tianning Temple. In addition to lilacs and white lilacs, there are also cloves born in Nanyang Maluku in Fayuan Temple. At the beginning of April every year, the flowers will bloom as scheduled, like auspicious clouds, covering the red walls and green tiles, carved beams and paintings, it is simply a beautiful scenery of "the sea of flowers blooming in the scenic spot". The lilacs of Fayuan Temple, the area between the Daxiong Treasure Hall and the Minzhong Pavilion are the most prosperous, and most of the lilacs in the temple are concentrated here, and the most lush and beautiful flowers, the fragrance of flowers is also the most intense.
Lilac is a symbol of auspiciousness and happiness, and can express the prosperity of Buddhism, so it has an indissoluble bond with Buddhism. In some parts of the northwestern part of the continent, the lilac tree is called the "Bodhi tree" by Buddhist believers. The Huayan Sutra records: "If the wind blows into the palace, all living beings will be filled with joy for seven days and seven nights, happy in body and mind, free from all diseases, not infringing on each other, free from all sorrows, not frightened, not chaotic, compassionate, and pure-minded." "The fragrance of the lilac tree communicates with the Dharma of Fayuan Temple, which invisibly makes Buddhism more refined and more accessible.
Therefore, in the ancient Fayuan Temple, the lilac trees are flourishing to this day, and the fragrance is still strong.
02
—Flower viewing and poetry are full of interest—
In 2017, the lilac flower appreciation custom of Fayuan Temple was selected as the intangible cultural heritage of Xicheng District.
Image source: Ancient architecture of Beijing Jiaotong University
The custom of appreciating flowers originated in the Spring and Autumn Period, and was flourishing in the Tang and Song dynasties, Ming and Qing dynasties. Wu Yue Wang Qian Biao "Mo on the flowers slowly return" of the deep emotion of people, Wu Zetian appreciates the flowers and the story of the flowers is well-known to the world, and the Song people fight flowers and hairpins are recorded. In the capital city of Beijing, the custom of flower-viewing in the Qing Dynasty was greatly enhanced, and people flocked to the place where flowers gathered, indulged in the beautiful scenery of flowers, and obtained an elegant aesthetic experience. Beautiful flower scenery often triggers the poetry of the literati, and it is indispensable to enjoy flowers without poetry, not to mention that China is a country of poetry.
The Lilac Poetry Club of Fayuan Temple originated from the poetry singing and activities of poets in the Qing Dynasty and flourished in the Qing Dynasty. Every year in the late spring, Fayuan Temple prepares vegetarian food, invites literati and celebrities to enjoy flowers and chant poems, and has left the footprints or poems of Ji Xiaolan, Hong Liangji, Gu Yanwu, He Shaoji, Huang Jingren, Gong Zizhen and members of the Xuannan Poetry Society. Xuannan Poetry Society, also known as "Xuannan Poetry Society", originated from the "Cold Poetry Society" in the ninth year of Jiaqing (1804) in the Qing Dynasty, and was active in the nineteenth year of Jiaqing (1814) to the fourth year of Daoguang (1824), basically stopped before and after the Opium War, and could be tested more than 60 times. Lin Zexu, who was a member of the Xuannan Poetry Society, recorded in his diary that "I went to Fayuan Temple to see the begonia lilacs and went back", which shows that the flowers in Fayuan Temple are blooming.
In 1914, Wang Minyun (then 83 years old), a famous poet of the late Qing Dynasty and director of the Qing History Museum, invited more than 100 celebrities in Beijing to gather in Fayuan Temple to hold a spring banquet and enjoy flowers and poems together. Wang Minyun praised the grand occasion of the poetry meeting as "Shu Ji Lanting", just like the Lanting assembly in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Chen Yan chanted the poem "The Lilac Courtyard is co-located here, and the flowers are once prosperous", Cheng Songwan left the praise of "standing in many places and knowing that the temple has a year", and Gao Buying issued a sigh of "Where to find the scattered and remnant spring, and the Lilac Monastery sits deeply......
The romance and elegance of cloves have become a unique cultural business card of Fayuan Temple, attracting countless literati and ink writers to come to enjoy flowers and poems. For example, Qi Baishi participated in the Lilac Poetry Society initiated by the abbot of Fayuan Temple, Master Daojie (1919), and Yang Yinian chanted that the lilacs in full bloom were "Red Rui Beads Gather Xiaolu Cluster, Zhu Xia White Snow Cluster Carved Saddle" (1921) and so on.
On April 26, 1924, the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore, accompanied by Xu Zhimo, Lin Huiyin, Liang Sicheng, etc., came to Fayuan Temple to appreciate the lilacs and visit the ancient temple. Tagore, Xu Zhimo, and Lin Huiyin have been called "Three Friends of the Cold" because of their group photos in the temple. Lin Hui is as elegant as "plum", Tagore is tough as "pine", and Xu Zhimo is as elegant as "bamboo". On this day, Fayuan Temple, the spring dance is full of romance and affection.
On April 26, 1924, the "Three Friends of the Cold" took a group photo at Fayuan Temple.
Feng Zhi, Chen Xianghe, Yang Hui, Chen Weimo and other literary youths of the "Shen Zhong Society" went to Fayuan Temple in 1925 to enjoy the flowers. In 1928, the abbot of Fayuan Temple, Master Kongye, made poems such as "The ancient temple is full of lilacs in spring and March", "The boundless fragrant snow sea, and Jasic enjoys traveling together". Feng Zhi, Chen Xianghe, and Chen Kaidi came to Fayuan Temple again in the 50s of the last century to enjoy the flowers. Since then, although there have been occasional literati appreciating flowers and writing poems, Fayuan Temple has not held any large-scale poetry meetings until 2002, when the Lilac Poetry Society was reopened.
On April 10, 2002, the sun was shining in Fayuan Temple, the lilacs were fragrant, and the red banners were hanging high, and hundreds of writers, poets, and literature lovers gathered in front of the Daxiong Hall to participate in the first lilac poetry meeting held in the new era. This is the continuation of history, and the inheritance and development of traditional culture in the Xuannan area of Beijing in the new historical period. Since the resumption of the Fayuan Temple Lilac Poetry Club, it has been held once a year in April, and the larger the scale, the richer the content, and the more extensive the influence.
On the basis of the Lilac Poetry Society, the Xuannan Poetry Society was established in 2007 and edited and printed the Xuannan Poetry Journal, which promoted the creation and exchange of poetry in Beijing. At present, he has edited and published anthologies of calligraphy and painting works such as "Lilac April Day", "April Lilac Dream", "April Lilac Love", and "Selected Calligraphy and Painting Works of Lilac Poetry Society". The Lilac Poetry Club of Fayuan Temple has become one of the top ten well-known brand activities in Beijing and has become the blood of Beijing culture.
Image source: Xicheng, Beijing
Content source: Beijing Daily client, the content has been deleted