Home of tantra
Translated by Phil
Photos by Yao Fan

读万卷书, 行万里路. 纵情山水之中不仅能放松身心, 丰富视野, 更能在人文古迹中让我们感受文化的脉搏. 宗教的传播交流和文化历史的发展又是密不可分的. 过去中国佛教出现过许多派别, 现在流行的主要有八宗. 一是三论宗又名法性宗, 二是瑜伽宗又名法相宗, 三是天台宗, 四是贤首宗又名华严宗, 五是禅宗, 六是净土宗, 七是律宗, 八是密宗又名真言宗, 这就是通常所说的性、相、台、贤、禅、净、律、密八大宗派. 游览浙江天台山的国清寺, 您会对佛教天台宗的发展有所了解.

位于浙江省天台山南麓的国清寺, 系中国佛教天台宗祖庭, 也是日本佛教天台宗祖庭, 是国务院确定的汉族地区佛教全国重点寺院. 该寺创建于隋开皇十八年(公元598年).

虽然一向被呼作国清寺, 但据寺内的僧人说, 国清寺寺门横匾所写的"国清讲寺"才是寺庙的全名, 也就是讲经说法、研究佛礼的地方. 一个"讲"字道出了国清在佛教渊源中的地位: 当年一行禅师在国清寺拜师学习创立了密宗, 著名的济公和尚也是在此地出家修行, 更有丰干、寒山、拾得三位高僧曾在此修行过. 现在寺庙内外都还保留有丰干桥、寒拾亭、七佛塔、一行墓等历史遗迹. 唐贞元年间(公元785─805年), 日本高僧最澄到天台山国清寺学习天台宗义理, 回国后创立了佛教天台宗. 该宗教徒尊国清寺为祖庭, 时时来华参谒, 促进了中日文化交流. 十年浩劫中, 国清寺佛像被砸, 文物被抄, 法器、石狮毁坏殆尽. 1973年周恩来总理指示拨款重修, 从北京调佛像及法器等, 恢复佛事活动, 并对外开放.

Lying just to the south of Mt Tiantai in Zhejiang, Guoqing Temple is the home of the Tendai school of Chinese and Japanese Buddhism. It was founded during the Sui Dynasty in 598 CE. The temple has always been known as Guoqing Temple, but the monks there point to a tablet bearing the inscription "Guoqing Jiang Si" (Guoqing Preaching Temple) just above the main gate. For them, this is the true name of the temple, and it confirms the importance of Guoqing as a center for preaching and arguing the Buddhist precepts and research into Buddhist ceremonies. The single extra character "Jiang" demonstrates the key role the temple played in the evolution of Buddhism. It was here that the Zen (Chan) master Yixing studied and established his tantric school; the famous monk Jigong practiced here, as did Fenggan, Hangshan and Shide (all well known monks).

Today it is still possible to see structures commemorating them: the Fenggan Bridge, Hanshi Pavilion, Seven Buddha Pagoda and Yixing Tomb are in or nearby the temple grounds. At the beginning of the 9th century (Tang Dynasty), the Japanese monk Saicho came to Guoqing to study "Tiantai" Buddhism, and took the teachings back to Japan, where they were known as Tendai - the name by which the school is more commonly known today. The Japanese school always acknowledged Guoqing as the source of their teachings, and there were extensive exchanges between scholars of the two countries. However, during the Cultural Revolution the temple was badly vandalized. Statues and religious instruments were smashed. It was not until 1973 that Zhou Enlai directed some funds to be put towards the renovation of the temple and some religious items to be transferred from Beijing. After this intervention the temple opened again.

Vocabulary
preaching 布教
precept 戒律
evolution 发展
tantric 密宗的
acknowledge 承认
vandalize 毁坏
smash 捣毁
intervention 间歇
practice 修行
renovation 修复
inscription 刻字
pagoda 塔