You must have heard the phrase "If you can run, a monk can't run the temple", does the monk really live in the temple? Actually, no, the monk does not live in the temple.
We often say, "Let's go to that temple and worship," which sounds like a good thing, but in fact, a temple and a temple are not the same thing.
Speaking of "temple", we can immediately think of Shaolin Temple, Lingyin Temple, Hanshan Temple, White Horse Temple, and Qixia Temple.
When it comes to "temple", what may come to mind is the Guandi Temple, the Confucian Temple, the Yuewang Temple, the Longwang Temple, etc.
Have you noticed the difference between a temple and a temple?
The "temple" is dedicated to Buddhas, such as Shakyamuni, Guanyin Bodhisattva, Maitreya Buddha, etc., so, in essence, the "temple" is a Buddhist place.
And in the "temple", you can worship our ancestors, as well as some great sages of ancient times, such as Confucius, Guan Yu, Yue Fei, etc. In addition, the "temple" also has immortals to live, like the god of wealth, the god of the mountain, the dragon king, all have exclusive temples.
Therefore, in fact, although "temple" and "temple" look similar, the things offered and the meaning of the representation are very different.
Then why do we call the place where we offer to the Buddha "temple", but the place dedicated to ancestors, sages and gods is called "temple"?
Buddhism only came to China during the Han Dynasty. But you may not know that before Buddhism came, we already had "temples" in China. It is said in "All the Sutras and Meanings": "Temple, governance, and official residences." ”
"Temple", in fact, is the official house, is the place of office.
Like in the Qin and Han dynasties, many government agencies were called "temples". For example, "Honglu Temple" is a place to receive foreigners and ethnic minority friends; "Shizhong Temple" is the place where the entourage in the palace works; "Guanglu Temple", which is in charge of sacrifices and banquets; There is also the famous "Dali Temple", which is the place responsible for hearing cases.
Then in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty asked Dr. Cai Su and his disciples to go to the Western Regions to seek Buddhism. They not only copied back the 42 chapters of the Buddhist scriptures, but also invited two eminent monks, Gyalcemo Teng and Zhu Faran, to come to China to preach Buddhism.
These two monks rode white horses, with Buddha statues and Buddhist scriptures, and came to Luoyang with Cai Su, which is the legendary "White Horse Sutra". When they first arrived, they first stayed at Honglu Temple, which received foreign guests. In order to allow them to better spread Buddhism, Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty also specially built a "temple", which is named after their story of the white horse.
With the popularity of Buddhism, the word "temple" has gradually become a common name for Buddhist sites.
So what about the "temple", at the beginning, the "temple" was actually the place we used to commemorate our ancestors and worship the tablet. Speaking of building temples, in ancient times, it was exquisite, and the scale of construction had to be carried out according to the rules, just like the "Book of Rites" recorded: "Seven temples of the Son of Heaven, five temples of Qing, three temples of doctors, and one temple of scholars." ”。 The place where the emperor worships his ancestors is particularly magnificent, everyone calls it "Taimiao", and other officials make a "family temple".
When it comes to "family temples", they are actually similar to "ancestral halls", which are for ancestors. The ancestral hall became popular in the Han Dynasty, especially in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, everyone liked to build ancestral halls to raise the status of the family, so there were many ancestral halls at that time.
It is also from the Han Dynasty that "temples" and "shrines" began to mix together, and temples also began to worship gods, such as the Lord of the Land, the God of Wealth, the God of Mountains, and the Lord of the Dragon. Also, those literati and warriors with high prestige, such as Confucius and Guan Gong, people also built temples for them.
It is also because the "temple" can also worship the gods, and it is quite similar to the "temple" for the Buddha. After a long time, everyone likes to say the word "temple" together.
Chinese culture is really broad and profound, and each Chinese character has a special meaning.
Just like the words "temple, temple, temple, and hermitage", each has its own history and story. Today we mentioned "temple" and "temple", how did "guan" and "an" come about, and what is the difference, do you know? Feel free to leave a message.