Brief introduction of Baolian Temple in Xuzhou

Baolian Temple is located at the foot of Taopan Mountain in the east of Xuzhou, which is the main landscape of Taopan Mountain Buddhist cultural scenic spot in Xuzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone. Baolian Temple is the Dojo of Maitreya Bodhisattva. Built in the early years of Liu in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it is also the first temple with Indian style in China. Its founder, Master Fa Xian, was also the first monk to return from studying Buddhism in the West. After thousands of years of vicissitudes, it has been abandoned several times. First Longhua Temple, then Hongfeng Temple and Honglian Temple. During the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty, it was named Baolian Temple, which was abandoned on the eve of liberation. In 2009, the project was initiated by Hong Kong Jinfeng Company and rebuilt with the approval of the Provincial Religious Affairs Bureau. Master Xingyun personally wrote the name of the temple, and all walks of life actively participated in the construction, which lasted nearly four years.

The rebuilt Baolian Temple has eight halls, two pavilions and one courtyard, with an area of 1.64 million square meters. The architectural features show the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty, among which the palaces and towers are elegant and classical. The Heavenly King Hall, Galapagos Hall, Ancestral Hall, Guanyin Hall, Dizang Hall, Seven Buddhas Hall, Manjusri Hall, Pu Xian Hall, Jinge, Zangjing Pavilion, Abbot, Shangketang, Zhaifang and Sengliao are lined up, and the bell tower and drum tower are distributed on both sides of the temple gate. All buildings are scattered in the north-south direction with Tianjin Pavilion as the central axis, and the cloisters are round, with distinct grades and orderly, and each is in its place.

It is particularly worth mentioning that the rebuilt Baolian Temple has set four domestic firsts:

First, the Seven Buddha Hall is the largest hall in China, with a construction area of 2,377 square meters;

Second, there is a 37.5-meter-long and 9.5-meter-high Nanhai Guanyin mural in the temple, which is the largest Buddhist mural in China.

Third, Tsutenkaku, 59.88 meters high, is the highest Buddhist pavilion in China, dedicated to Maitreya, the true body of Maitreya, the heavenly official;

Fourthly, the Maitreya Buddha statue of Tianguan is 39.88 meters high, and it is also the largest indoor forged bronze Buddha statue in China.

Outside the temple, Bodhi Liansheng Square, Taopan Shengjingmen, Tianlong Babu Square and Zhutian Pavilion form the central axis of Taopan Mountain Buddhist cultural scenic spot, which also opens the framework for the future development of the scenic spot and is called Pengcheng First Temple. The reformed Flat Peach Buddhist Cultural Scenic Area integrates the functions of Buddhist culture, tourism, leisure and fitness, commercial services and so on, and is a key urban construction project and major cultural project in Xuzhou.