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Good hokkien landlord is the FOUNDER of biggest Buddhist temple in Hokkien province
- Thread starter ginfreely
- Start date
Founded a temple because of a dream. No wonder so many temples in hokkien province Quanzhou.
Google translate
Quanzhou Kaiyuan Temple is the largest Buddhist temple in Fujian Province. On the land of BaMin, it is also a Buddhist temple in the Han area of China and a national key cultural relics protection unit. The two towers in the temple face each other and are spectacular. The tower is in the eye, and the sea peak is in the eye.
Soon the Cheena Communist Givernment will demolish it...
https://bitterwinter.org/1000-government-officials-demolish-buddhist-temple/
1,000 Government Officials Demolish Buddhist Temple
01/20/2019 LIN YIJIANG
Under the pretext of urban renewal, authorities in Wenzhou city, in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang, cause destruction.
The Buddhist temple in Zhuangyuan town has been turned into ruins.
Two hundred people were no match for a gang of 1,000, and yet, 200 villagers from Zhuangyuan Town
(鎮). A part of the fourth-tier Township Level of the administrative division of China, it normally indicates a small town and its surroundings.
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">town of Longwan District
(市轄區). An administrative unit at the same level of a county, but normally located within a municipality or a prefecture-level city.
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">district, under the jurisdiction of Wenzhou city, gathered to try to stop the more than 1,000 government employees sent to destroy a Buddhist temple. Roughly 50 villagers, from four different neighborhoods, lived at the temple in the hope of warding off the demolition.
On September 25, 2018, Wenzhou authorities, under the apparent lie of urban renewal, sent people to tear the temple, which was built in 2013 and had all of its required government permits, down.
According to eyewitnesses, at about 7 p.m., plainclothes officers from the local police station arrived at the temple to inquire about how many villagers were guarding the temple. When the villagers got wind of this, they immediately closed the gate to the temple.
In response to that move, government officials, around midnight, dispatched 1,000 personnel – special police, armed police, demolition, and relocation personnel, police station officers and medical staff – who then drove in a crane and commenced the demolition work. About 300 baton-carrying special police officers smashed the glass out of the windows, entered the temple.
Special police are dispersing villagers at the entrance of the temple:
And when one villager sought to reason with police, he was beaten with batons, severely injuring his ribs and requiring that he be sent to the hospital for treatment.
Special police surround the temple; villagers denounce the police:
Around 2 a.m. on September 26, after authorities had gotten all of the villagers out of the temple, the demolition personnel used a crane to remove all of the Buddha statues from inside and placed them in a sheet-metal shed. Later, the authorities brought in six excavators to demolish the temple and, two days later, the temple had been completely razed to the ground.
The temple is forcibly demolished by an excavator, as the villagers confront the police:
According to villagers, authorities had, six months earlier, warned that the temple would be demolished on the grounds of “urban renewal,” but the government promised they’d approve another plot of land where they could rebuild the temple. Except, of course, they didn’t. And when the person in charge asked about the specific location of the new plot, the local government failed to provide a clear answer.
The villagers shouldn’t expect to get one.
Reported by Lin Yijiang
https://bitterwinter.org/1000-government-officials-demolish-buddhist-temple/
1,000 Government Officials Demolish Buddhist Temple
01/20/2019 LIN YIJIANG
Under the pretext of urban renewal, authorities in Wenzhou city, in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang, cause destruction.
Two hundred people were no match for a gang of 1,000, and yet, 200 villagers from Zhuangyuan Town
(鎮). A part of the fourth-tier Township Level of the administrative division of China, it normally indicates a small town and its surroundings.
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">town of Longwan District
(市轄區). An administrative unit at the same level of a county, but normally located within a municipality or a prefecture-level city.
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">district, under the jurisdiction of Wenzhou city, gathered to try to stop the more than 1,000 government employees sent to destroy a Buddhist temple. Roughly 50 villagers, from four different neighborhoods, lived at the temple in the hope of warding off the demolition.
On September 25, 2018, Wenzhou authorities, under the apparent lie of urban renewal, sent people to tear the temple, which was built in 2013 and had all of its required government permits, down.
According to eyewitnesses, at about 7 p.m., plainclothes officers from the local police station arrived at the temple to inquire about how many villagers were guarding the temple. When the villagers got wind of this, they immediately closed the gate to the temple.
In response to that move, government officials, around midnight, dispatched 1,000 personnel – special police, armed police, demolition, and relocation personnel, police station officers and medical staff – who then drove in a crane and commenced the demolition work. About 300 baton-carrying special police officers smashed the glass out of the windows, entered the temple.
Special police are dispersing villagers at the entrance of the temple:
And when one villager sought to reason with police, he was beaten with batons, severely injuring his ribs and requiring that he be sent to the hospital for treatment.
Special police surround the temple; villagers denounce the police:
Around 2 a.m. on September 26, after authorities had gotten all of the villagers out of the temple, the demolition personnel used a crane to remove all of the Buddha statues from inside and placed them in a sheet-metal shed. Later, the authorities brought in six excavators to demolish the temple and, two days later, the temple had been completely razed to the ground.
The temple is forcibly demolished by an excavator, as the villagers confront the police:
According to villagers, authorities had, six months earlier, warned that the temple would be demolished on the grounds of “urban renewal,” but the government promised they’d approve another plot of land where they could rebuild the temple. Except, of course, they didn’t. And when the person in charge asked about the specific location of the new plot, the local government failed to provide a clear answer.
The villagers shouldn’t expect to get one.
Reported by Lin Yijiang
Thats the difference between good and bad people indeed. Good people sleep also think of doing good. Bad people the reverse and that’s why they deserved to be blown up into pieces.
China Destroying Cultural Heritage – One Piece at a Time
12/20/2018 YAO ZHANGJIN
In the most severe crackdown on Buddhism and Taoism since the Cultural Revolution, ancient temples and statues are being demolished across the country.
On July 15, the Buddhist Fangshan Temple, located in Weinan city, in the northwestern Province
(省). A part of the administrative division of China at the highest, provincial level. China includes 22 provinces (although sometimes the government mentions 23, by adding Taiwan).
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">province of Shaanxi, received the dreaded government notice saying that the temple was an illegal building and, therefore, must be demolished. And, if the order to destroy it weren’t followed through, those in charge of the temple would be imprisoned. But how does the government get any right to say that a temple preceding the current government – it was first built during the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) – is illegal?
The main hall of Fangshan Temple prior to being demolished.
Fangshan Temple, which is located in the Qinling mountain range, has a long history. First built under the Han dynasty, then called the Maling Temple, it flourished under the Tang dynasty (618-907) and, after being burned down during the Song dynasty (960-1297), was repaired and reconstructed in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). As the legend has it, the famous Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang (602 – 664), scholar, traveler, and translator who travelled to India to compare Indian and Chinese Buddhism, once lived at the temple. The temple has served as a hub for local Buddhists.
The original appearance of the Fangshan Temple’s tiers, which resemble the style of the Tang dynasty.
Bitter Winter reporters managed to visit Fangshan Temple before it was demolished and thus are able to describe the architecture of the temple, which harkened back to the Tang-period, with the temple being divided into three parts, two tower-like buildings on the east and west ends and a small building in between. The two tower-like structures were v-shaped tiled rooms, while the middle level had highly exquisite overhanging on the four-upturned corners. But now these beautiful temples are a pile of ruins.
The imitation-Tang tier during the demolition process at Fangshan Temple.
According to insiders, the government was afraid of attracting attention and arousing public resistance, so they gradually demolished the temple over the course of three or four sessions. On October 15, government personnel came for the second time to continue what they’d started. When reporters arrived at the scene, the west side portion of the temple had already been demolished, with bricks and tiles being all that remained. A two-meter-tall Buddha statue from inside this portion was also placed on the ground. The tower on the east side, meanwhile, was being demolished, leaving the large bell from inside placed on the yard in front of the nave.
“This ancient temple has a more than 2,000-year history,” one lay Buddhist told our reporters. “There was once an eminent monk who spent 15 years traveling around the country to collect alms [the practice of Buddhist monks to collect food] and only then did he build the temple. It was very large in scale and used to be the most famous temple in the area of several hundred li [which translates to roughly 0.5 kilometers]. Unfortunately, since it was built in the Han dynasty, it had experienced several twists and turns. Now the CCP
It stands for Chinese Communist Party, which from 1949 controls all social and political life in China. Members of CCP should in principle be self-proclaimed atheists. The ultimate goal of CCP is suppression of religion. However, how this goal is achieved has varied during time, and after Chairman Mao’s death the CCP has acknowledged that, notwithstanding its efforts, religions may survive in China for a long time.
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">CCP issued one command and, in a span of about 20 days, the first half of Fangshan Temple has been destroyed beyond recognition.”
At Fangshan Temple, the newly-built building for lay Buddhists was demolished.
Local residents were also very sad about the temple’s demolition. They told reporters that Fangshan Temple was not only a place of worship for nearby residents, but also a historical relic and part of their cultural heritage. “The government didn’t merely demolish the temple,” one said. “These parts of our cultural heritage are priceless, but it has been ruined by the government. It is truly a pity. This is a great misfortune for China.”
Some ancient Buddhist and Taoist temples were severely destroyed during the Cultural Revolution
(文化大革命 or文革). A movement promoted by the CCP between 1966 and 1976 to liquidate what remained of traditional Chinese culture, society and religion, regarded as incompatible with Communism. All religions were prohibited, including those in the red market. As the CCP itself later admitted, the movement caused incommensurable suffering to the Chinese population and ended in disgrace and failure.
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">Cultural Revolution, causing huge losses that are still difficult to make up for. After the Cultural Revolution, some ordinary citizens proactively reconstructed or repaired these historic sites. But this time, the CCP is launching such a large-scale attack against these historical artifacts they’ve become endangered once again.
On September 30, in Tangshan city of the northern province of Hebei, an 800-year-old ancient temple called Jinchan Temple was sealed off. The temple had previously been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, but in recent years, the locals raised more than 100 million RMB (about $14,520,000) to renovate it. Between August and September, personnel from the municipal government and the municipal China Buddhist Association
(中國佛教協會). Established in 1953, it is part of the red market and includes the government-approved Buddhist temples and associations, whose leaders are appointed by the CCP.
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">China Buddhist Association made four successive visits to the temple, expressly prohibiting the burning of incense and worshipping. The officials demanded that worshippers seal the incense burners with cement, remove the plaque on the main hall and also remove the statues of Guanyin (the Goddess of Mercy) and Ji Gong (a Buddhist monk who possessed supernatural powers and used them to help the poor) from the courtyard. In order to protect the main hall from being demolished, the believers had no choice but to follow these orders.
The Taoist Longmuyuan temple in Donggang, before it was sealed off.
But there’s more: Again, in September, a Taoist temple – named Longmuyuan, literally meaning “Dragon Mother Garden” – in Liaoning Province
(省). A part of the administrative division of China at the highest, provincial level. China includes 22 provinces (although sometimes the government mentions 23, by adding Taiwan).
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">Province’s Donggang city in northeastern China, was sealed off. Four Taoist priests were forced to leave. This Taoist temple was built in the Qing dynasty (1644-1912). During the Cultural Revolution, it was smashed and destroyed by the Red Guards. In 2010, one local businessperson provided funding and, after discussions with cultural scholars and experts, Longmuyuan was rebuilt. This Taoist temple was hailed as “The Number One Temple of Northern Chinese Longmu Culture.” (In Chinese mythology, Longmu was a woman, worshiped as a goddess after raising five infant dragons).
The Longmuyuan Temple was known as “Number One Temple of Northern Chinese Longmu Culture.”
Some people have commented that this round of religious persecution by the CCP authorities is the most severe since the Cultural Revolution. And, arguably, the people aren’t wrong: Temples are being shut down, Buddha statues are being toppled, monks are being expelled, and cultural relics are being destroyed. It’s the 2018 edition of the Cultural Revolution.
Pictures of the ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate the reopening Longmuyuan after it was repaired.
Reported by Yao Zhangjin
12/20/2018 YAO ZHANGJIN
In the most severe crackdown on Buddhism and Taoism since the Cultural Revolution, ancient temples and statues are being demolished across the country.
On July 15, the Buddhist Fangshan Temple, located in Weinan city, in the northwestern Province
(省). A part of the administrative division of China at the highest, provincial level. China includes 22 provinces (although sometimes the government mentions 23, by adding Taiwan).
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">province of Shaanxi, received the dreaded government notice saying that the temple was an illegal building and, therefore, must be demolished. And, if the order to destroy it weren’t followed through, those in charge of the temple would be imprisoned. But how does the government get any right to say that a temple preceding the current government – it was first built during the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) – is illegal?
Fangshan Temple, which is located in the Qinling mountain range, has a long history. First built under the Han dynasty, then called the Maling Temple, it flourished under the Tang dynasty (618-907) and, after being burned down during the Song dynasty (960-1297), was repaired and reconstructed in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). As the legend has it, the famous Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang (602 – 664), scholar, traveler, and translator who travelled to India to compare Indian and Chinese Buddhism, once lived at the temple. The temple has served as a hub for local Buddhists.
Bitter Winter reporters managed to visit Fangshan Temple before it was demolished and thus are able to describe the architecture of the temple, which harkened back to the Tang-period, with the temple being divided into three parts, two tower-like buildings on the east and west ends and a small building in between. The two tower-like structures were v-shaped tiled rooms, while the middle level had highly exquisite overhanging on the four-upturned corners. But now these beautiful temples are a pile of ruins.
According to insiders, the government was afraid of attracting attention and arousing public resistance, so they gradually demolished the temple over the course of three or four sessions. On October 15, government personnel came for the second time to continue what they’d started. When reporters arrived at the scene, the west side portion of the temple had already been demolished, with bricks and tiles being all that remained. A two-meter-tall Buddha statue from inside this portion was also placed on the ground. The tower on the east side, meanwhile, was being demolished, leaving the large bell from inside placed on the yard in front of the nave.
“This ancient temple has a more than 2,000-year history,” one lay Buddhist told our reporters. “There was once an eminent monk who spent 15 years traveling around the country to collect alms [the practice of Buddhist monks to collect food] and only then did he build the temple. It was very large in scale and used to be the most famous temple in the area of several hundred li [which translates to roughly 0.5 kilometers]. Unfortunately, since it was built in the Han dynasty, it had experienced several twists and turns. Now the CCP
It stands for Chinese Communist Party, which from 1949 controls all social and political life in China. Members of CCP should in principle be self-proclaimed atheists. The ultimate goal of CCP is suppression of religion. However, how this goal is achieved has varied during time, and after Chairman Mao’s death the CCP has acknowledged that, notwithstanding its efforts, religions may survive in China for a long time.
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">CCP issued one command and, in a span of about 20 days, the first half of Fangshan Temple has been destroyed beyond recognition.”
Local residents were also very sad about the temple’s demolition. They told reporters that Fangshan Temple was not only a place of worship for nearby residents, but also a historical relic and part of their cultural heritage. “The government didn’t merely demolish the temple,” one said. “These parts of our cultural heritage are priceless, but it has been ruined by the government. It is truly a pity. This is a great misfortune for China.”
Some ancient Buddhist and Taoist temples were severely destroyed during the Cultural Revolution
(文化大革命 or文革). A movement promoted by the CCP between 1966 and 1976 to liquidate what remained of traditional Chinese culture, society and religion, regarded as incompatible with Communism. All religions were prohibited, including those in the red market. As the CCP itself later admitted, the movement caused incommensurable suffering to the Chinese population and ended in disgrace and failure.
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">Cultural Revolution, causing huge losses that are still difficult to make up for. After the Cultural Revolution, some ordinary citizens proactively reconstructed or repaired these historic sites. But this time, the CCP is launching such a large-scale attack against these historical artifacts they’ve become endangered once again.
On September 30, in Tangshan city of the northern province of Hebei, an 800-year-old ancient temple called Jinchan Temple was sealed off. The temple had previously been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, but in recent years, the locals raised more than 100 million RMB (about $14,520,000) to renovate it. Between August and September, personnel from the municipal government and the municipal China Buddhist Association
(中國佛教協會). Established in 1953, it is part of the red market and includes the government-approved Buddhist temples and associations, whose leaders are appointed by the CCP.
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">China Buddhist Association made four successive visits to the temple, expressly prohibiting the burning of incense and worshipping. The officials demanded that worshippers seal the incense burners with cement, remove the plaque on the main hall and also remove the statues of Guanyin (the Goddess of Mercy) and Ji Gong (a Buddhist monk who possessed supernatural powers and used them to help the poor) from the courtyard. In order to protect the main hall from being demolished, the believers had no choice but to follow these orders.
But there’s more: Again, in September, a Taoist temple – named Longmuyuan, literally meaning “Dragon Mother Garden” – in Liaoning Province
(省). A part of the administrative division of China at the highest, provincial level. China includes 22 provinces (although sometimes the government mentions 23, by adding Taiwan).
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">Province’s Donggang city in northeastern China, was sealed off. Four Taoist priests were forced to leave. This Taoist temple was built in the Qing dynasty (1644-1912). During the Cultural Revolution, it was smashed and destroyed by the Red Guards. In 2010, one local businessperson provided funding and, after discussions with cultural scholars and experts, Longmuyuan was rebuilt. This Taoist temple was hailed as “The Number One Temple of Northern Chinese Longmu Culture.” (In Chinese mythology, Longmu was a woman, worshiped as a goddess after raising five infant dragons).
Some people have commented that this round of religious persecution by the CCP authorities is the most severe since the Cultural Revolution. And, arguably, the people aren’t wrong: Temples are being shut down, Buddha statues are being toppled, monks are being expelled, and cultural relics are being destroyed. It’s the 2018 edition of the Cultural Revolution.
Reported by Yao Zhangjin
Google translate
The Kaiyuansi Twin Towers, also known as the Ziyun Twin Towers, are more than 10,000 tons in accordance with the principles of mechanics. After more than 700 years of wind and rain, they have experienced an eight-level earthquake that occurred in the 32nd year of Ming Wanli (AD 1604).
China communist worse than taliban who blew up the 1500yr old bamiyan statue in afghanistan.
Soon the Cheena Communist Givernment will demolish it...
https://bitterwinter.org/1000-government-officials-demolish-buddhist-temple/
1,000 Government Officials Demolish Buddhist Temple
01/20/2019 LIN YIJIANG
Under the pretext of urban renewal, authorities in Wenzhou city, in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang, cause destruction.
The Buddhist temple in Zhuangyuan town has been turned into ruins.
Two hundred people were no match for a gang of 1,000, and yet, 200 villagers from Zhuangyuan Town
(鎮). A part of the fourth-tier Township Level of the administrative division of China, it normally indicates a small town and its surroundings.
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">town of Longwan District
(市轄區). An administrative unit at the same level of a county, but normally located within a municipality or a prefecture-level city.
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">district, under the jurisdiction of Wenzhou city, gathered to try to stop the more than 1,000 government employees sent to destroy a Buddhist temple. Roughly 50 villagers, from four different neighborhoods, lived at the temple in the hope of warding off the demolition.
On September 25, 2018, Wenzhou authorities, under the apparent lie of urban renewal, sent people to tear the temple, which was built in 2013 and had all of its required government permits, down.
According to eyewitnesses, at about 7 p.m., plainclothes officers from the local police station arrived at the temple to inquire about how many villagers were guarding the temple. When the villagers got wind of this, they immediately closed the gate to the temple.
In response to that move, government officials, around midnight, dispatched 1,000 personnel – special police, armed police, demolition, and relocation personnel, police station officers and medical staff – who then drove in a crane and commenced the demolition work. About 300 baton-carrying special police officers smashed the glass out of the windows, entered the temple.
Special police are dispersing villagers at the entrance of the temple:
And when one villager sought to reason with police, he was beaten with batons, severely injuring his ribs and requiring that he be sent to the hospital for treatment.
Special police surround the temple; villagers denounce the police:
Around 2 a.m. on September 26, after authorities had gotten all of the villagers out of the temple, the demolition personnel used a crane to remove all of the Buddha statues from inside and placed them in a sheet-metal shed. Later, the authorities brought in six excavators to demolish the temple and, two days later, the temple had been completely razed to the ground.
The temple is forcibly demolished by an excavator, as the villagers confront the police:
According to villagers, authorities had, six months earlier, warned that the temple would be demolished on the grounds of “urban renewal,” but the government promised they’d approve another plot of land where they could rebuild the temple. Except, of course, they didn’t. And when the person in charge asked about the specific location of the new plot, the local government failed to provide a clear answer.
The villagers shouldn’t expect to get one.
Reported by Lin Yijiang
Ok so the local government didn’t just steal farm lands - like those of SEA returnees-refugees - but temple land too.
Last edited:
Unfortunate 2000 years old temple treasure get treated as trash. Proven that be it temple or women, how you get treated depends most important is whether you are fortunate or not and not whether you have virtue or ability.China Destroying Cultural Heritage – One Piece at a Time
12/20/2018 YAO ZHANGJIN
In the most severe crackdown on Buddhism and Taoism since the Cultural Revolution, ancient temples and statues are being demolished across the country.
On July 15, the Buddhist Fangshan Temple, located in Weinan city, in the northwestern Province
(省). A part of the administrative division of China at the highest, provincial level. China includes 22 provinces (although sometimes the government mentions 23, by adding Taiwan).
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">province of Shaanxi, received the dreaded government notice saying that the temple was an illegal building and, therefore, must be demolished. And, if the order to destroy it weren’t followed through, those in charge of the temple would be imprisoned. But how does the government get any right to say that a temple preceding the current government – it was first built during the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) – is illegal?
The main hall of Fangshan Temple prior to being demolished.
Fangshan Temple, which is located in the Qinling mountain range, has a long history. First built under the Han dynasty, then called the Maling Temple, it flourished under the Tang dynasty (618-907) and, after being burned down during the Song dynasty (960-1297), was repaired and reconstructed in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). As the legend has it, the famous Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang (602 – 664), scholar, traveler, and translator who travelled to India to compare Indian and Chinese Buddhism, once lived at the temple. The temple has served as a hub for local Buddhists.
The original appearance of the Fangshan Temple’s tiers, which resemble the style of the Tang dynasty.
Bitter Winter reporters managed to visit Fangshan Temple before it was demolished and thus are able to describe the architecture of the temple, which harkened back to the Tang-period, with the temple being divided into three parts, two tower-like buildings on the east and west ends and a small building in between. The two tower-like structures were v-shaped tiled rooms, while the middle level had highly exquisite overhanging on the four-upturned corners. But now these beautiful temples are a pile of ruins.
The imitation-Tang tier during the demolition process at Fangshan Temple.
According to insiders, the government was afraid of attracting attention and arousing public resistance, so they gradually demolished the temple over the course of three or four sessions. On October 15, government personnel came for the second time to continue what they’d started. When reporters arrived at the scene, the west side portion of the temple had already been demolished, with bricks and tiles being all that remained. A two-meter-tall Buddha statue from inside this portion was also placed on the ground. The tower on the east side, meanwhile, was being demolished, leaving the large bell from inside placed on the yard in front of the nave.
“This ancient temple has a more than 2,000-year history,” one lay Buddhist told our reporters. “There was once an eminent monk who spent 15 years traveling around the country to collect alms [the practice of Buddhist monks to collect food] and only then did he build the temple. It was very large in scale and used to be the most famous temple in the area of several hundred li [which translates to roughly 0.5 kilometers]. Unfortunately, since it was built in the Han dynasty, it had experienced several twists and turns. Now the CCP
It stands for Chinese Communist Party, which from 1949 controls all social and political life in China. Members of CCP should in principle be self-proclaimed atheists. The ultimate goal of CCP is suppression of religion. However, how this goal is achieved has varied during time, and after Chairman Mao’s death the CCP has acknowledged that, notwithstanding its efforts, religions may survive in China for a long time.
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">CCP issued one command and, in a span of about 20 days, the first half of Fangshan Temple has been destroyed beyond recognition.”
At Fangshan Temple, the newly-built building for lay Buddhists was demolished.
Local residents were also very sad about the temple’s demolition. They told reporters that Fangshan Temple was not only a place of worship for nearby residents, but also a historical relic and part of their cultural heritage. “The government didn’t merely demolish the temple,” one said. “These parts of our cultural heritage are priceless, but it has been ruined by the government. It is truly a pity. This is a great misfortune for China.”
Some ancient Buddhist and Taoist temples were severely destroyed during the Cultural Revolution
(文化大革命 or文革). A movement promoted by the CCP between 1966 and 1976 to liquidate what remained of traditional Chinese culture, society and religion, regarded as incompatible with Communism. All religions were prohibited, including those in the red market. As the CCP itself later admitted, the movement caused incommensurable suffering to the Chinese population and ended in disgrace and failure.
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">Cultural Revolution, causing huge losses that are still difficult to make up for. After the Cultural Revolution, some ordinary citizens proactively reconstructed or repaired these historic sites. But this time, the CCP is launching such a large-scale attack against these historical artifacts they’ve become endangered once again.
On September 30, in Tangshan city of the northern province of Hebei, an 800-year-old ancient temple called Jinchan Temple was sealed off. The temple had previously been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, but in recent years, the locals raised more than 100 million RMB (about $14,520,000) to renovate it. Between August and September, personnel from the municipal government and the municipal China Buddhist Association
(中國佛教協會). Established in 1953, it is part of the red market and includes the government-approved Buddhist temples and associations, whose leaders are appointed by the CCP.
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">China Buddhist Association made four successive visits to the temple, expressly prohibiting the burning of incense and worshipping. The officials demanded that worshippers seal the incense burners with cement, remove the plaque on the main hall and also remove the statues of Guanyin (the Goddess of Mercy) and Ji Gong (a Buddhist monk who possessed supernatural powers and used them to help the poor) from the courtyard. In order to protect the main hall from being demolished, the believers had no choice but to follow these orders.
The Taoist Longmuyuan temple in Donggang, before it was sealed off.
But there’s more: Again, in September, a Taoist temple – named Longmuyuan, literally meaning “Dragon Mother Garden” – in Liaoning Province
(省). A part of the administrative division of China at the highest, provincial level. China includes 22 provinces (although sometimes the government mentions 23, by adding Taiwan).
" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important; text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">Province’s Donggang city in northeastern China, was sealed off. Four Taoist priests were forced to leave. This Taoist temple was built in the Qing dynasty (1644-1912). During the Cultural Revolution, it was smashed and destroyed by the Red Guards. In 2010, one local businessperson provided funding and, after discussions with cultural scholars and experts, Longmuyuan was rebuilt. This Taoist temple was hailed as “The Number One Temple of Northern Chinese Longmu Culture.” (In Chinese mythology, Longmu was a woman, worshiped as a goddess after raising five infant dragons).
The Longmuyuan Temple was known as “Number One Temple of Northern Chinese Longmu Culture.”
Some people have commented that this round of religious persecution by the CCP authorities is the most severe since the Cultural Revolution. And, arguably, the people aren’t wrong: Temples are being shut down, Buddha statues are being toppled, monks are being expelled, and cultural relics are being destroyed. It’s the 2018 edition of the Cultural Revolution.
Pictures of the ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate the reopening Longmuyuan after it was repaired.
Reported by Yao Zhangjin
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