Reconstruction vital for religion

Special Report:One Year after 5.12 Quake


Special Report:Beyond Survival

Er'Wang Temple in Dujiangyan was badly damaged in the quake. CCTV reporter Zhang Lu visited the temple which is now under reconstruction. As she finds out, the rebuilding is not only about the protection of cultural heritage, but also religious practice.

Er'WangTempleinDujiangyanwasbadlydamaged
inthequake.

Master of the Daoist Er'Wang Temple, Zhou Lihui, practises her morning ritual in front of a simple temporary altar. For almost a year after the quake, this small house has been the only place where she can worship.

Zhou Lihui, master of Er'Wang Temple, Sichuan, said, "The quake destroyed almost the whole temple. It used to be so magnificent. We are religious, so we can't stop our ritual. We repaired this small shanty house to be a temporary altar. It looks very basic, we feel sad."

The damage to buildings is only one aspect of the disruption the quake caused. There has also been an invisible impact on religious activities.

Re-establishing cultural relics in Dujiangyan

Special Report:One Year after 5.12 Quake


Special Report:Beyond Survival

As a tourism city, Dujiangyan has many cultural relics, some are even on the world heritage list. However, many were severely damaged during last year's earthquake. Rebuilding work started in less than a month after the disaster.CCTV reporter Pan Deng finds out the latest progress as the one year anniversary of the earthquake approaches.

The300-yearoldPuzhaoTempleisdeepintheQingcheng
Mountain.ItisseenasanauspiciousplaceforBuddhists.

No matter how hard a disaster hits, belief goes on.

The 300-year old Puzhao Temple is deep in the Qingcheng Mountain. It is seen as an auspicious place for Buddhists. But the temple was heavily damaged by the massive earthquake last year. Five of its major buildings collapsed. Luckily, all the nuns were out to receive a statue of Buddha on May 12th and no one was hurt.

This is the symbol of the Puzhao Temple, the Light Tower to Heaven. We are looking at an exact replica of the original, which was smashed into pieces by the earthquake.

Beijing ancient temples

For last week's China Cool segment, we introduced you to three temples in Beijing: Zhihua, Tianning and the Lamma temple. In today's edition of China Cool, we continue to take you around some other famous ancient temples in the capital.

Fa Yuan Temple

FaYuanTempleboastsahistorygoingback1300years.

Fa Yuan Temple boasts a history going back 1300 years. It is located in a quiet hutong in the southern part of Beijing. Trees and flowers in the temple grounds are also ancient. They include a pine tree planted during the Yuan dynasty, and a pair of Begonias planted by emperor Qianlong in the Qing dynasty.

FaYuanTempleboastsahistorygoingback1300years.

Seven main buildings as well as six courtyards are arranged from south to north. The main buildings include the Gate of Temple, Bell and Drum towers, Heavenly King Hall, the Hall of Great Compassion and Sutra Hall. Fa Yuan Temple is also home to China 's Buddhist Academy, and the Buddhist Books and Culture Relics Museum of China. It is a key place for nurturing young Buddhist disciples and scholars, and for the research of Buddhist culture.

Taiwan writer Li Ao published a novel called "Fayuan Temple", and it earned him a nomination for the Nobel Prize for Literature. This is another attraction for believers and visitors from far and wide.

Ancient Buddhist temples in Beijing

Beijing is home to a host of centuries-old Buddhist temples. Some were built for ordinary people, while others were only for the privileged members of the imperial court. Come with us as we take a look inside some of these temples.

Zhihua Temple

TheZhihuaTemple,inLumicangHutongofBeijing'sDongcheng
District,wasbuiltintheyear1443duringtheMingDynasty.

The Zhihua Temple, in Lumicang Hutong of Beijing's Dongcheng District, was built in the year 1443 during the Ming Dynasty.

It was formerly the ancestral temple of Wang Zhen, a eunuch of the Rites Supervising Office in the Ming Dynasty. Passing through the temple gate, there are the Clock Pavilion and the Drum Pavilion, the Gate of Wisdom and Cultivation, the Hall of Wisdom and Cultivation, the Hall of Great Wisdom, the Tibetan Hall, the Hall of Tathagata, the Hall of Great Sorrow and more. Among them, the Hall of Tathagata is the most exquisite and elegant. It has two levels and enshrines the Statue of Tathagata.

TheZhihuaTemple,inLumicangHutongofBeijing'sDongcheng
District,wasbuiltintheyear1443duringtheMingDynasty.

A wooden version of Tripitaka completed during the reign of Emperor Qianlong was kept in the Zhihua Temple. It contains 724 sections in more than 7,240 volumes and 1,675 Buddhist sutras. It weighs 400 tons and is one of two wooden versions of Tripitaka in Chinese in the world. The other is the Korean Version of Tripitaka, which is kept in the Haiyin Temple in Korea.

The roofs of the main buildings in the temple are covered with black glazed tiles. Despite several repairs, the main parts of the buildings, such as vaults, roof beams and colored paintings, still preserve the characteristics of structures in the early Ming Dynasty. It is the most intact complex of temple buildings of the Ming Dynasty in Beijing.