Chapter 33 Fragrant Hills

In the summer of 1931, Sicheng sent Huiyin to Xiangshan to recuperate.Hui Yinniang and Xiao Zaibing also came to Xiangshan together. They lived in Shuangqing Villa.The villa was built in 1917 and got its name from the inscription "Shuangqing" written here by Emperor Qianlong in his early years.Here, the trees are sparse, the mountain springs are clear and green, and the environment is quiet.There are low walls covered with glazed tiles around the yard. In the yard, a pond of lotus is spreading its buds gracefully in the breeze, and the water surface is covered by dense lotus leaves.

Sicheng went up the mountain to accompany Huiyin when he was not busy with work in the society.He hired a porter to bring some of his family's collection of books up the mountain, most of which are historical classics.They are doing a work similar to textual research, sorting out the rise and fall of the palace buildings of all dynasties in China bit by bit from historical records. When they were tired from reading, they went to accompany their mothers to gossip for a while.In the courtyard, Xiao Zaibing had a good time playing under the care of the maid.Sicheng doesn't let Huiyin read and write more, he always asks her to rest more.From time to time, I would take her for a walk on the mountain.There are many ancient architectural relics in the suburbs of Beijing, especially in the Xishan area.Among them, there are occasional remains of the Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties, and more buildings of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.Huiyin and Sicheng plan to focus on several representative buildings during their recuperation in Xiangshan.

Picking a fine day, they went to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. From Yuquan Mountain to Xiangshan Mountain, in Beixin Village, there is a fork road going uphill to the north, which is the road leading to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.The Temple of the Reclining Buddha is built to the south, and the undulating mountains are like a barrier to the north of the temple, and the buildings of the temple also go up with the mountains. Two rows of ancient cypresses lead the way.Facing a glazed archway, white marble door openings, white marble Xumizuo, yellow and green glazed pillars, banners, bucket arches, and eaves tiles.Sixiang seemed to be talking to Huiyin, and it seemed to be talking to himself: "This is what was done in the Qianjia period." Huiyin also said: "According to the "Records of the Old News under the Sun", there should be a Tathagata Pagoda here. It's gone now."

Inside the glazed archway is a white stone bridge, which is facing the mountain gate.Bell and Drum Towers stand on both sides of the mountain gate.This place seems to have been recently repaired. The copper bells under the corner beams have been soldered with white tin and painted red and green, which looks very eye-catching. After entering the temple, they watched slowly and carefully. Behind the Hall of Heavenly Kings is the main hall, where the famous reclining Buddha is enshrined, from which the temple got its name.According to legend, there was originally a reclining Buddha here, which was a sandalwood Buddha statue in the Zhenguan period of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty. Emperor Yongzheng once visited it, but it was lost in Qianlong period.Ordinary tourists are most interested in these Buddha statues, but what Sicheng and Huiyin are interested in is the architectural layout here.

Like all temples, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha is built on a central axis from the front archway to the back hall.But compared with other temples, it is not the usual "sihetou" structure, which is divided into several courtyards, but starts from the mountain gate and runs through the whole temple with two corridors on the left and right.Although there are the abbot's guest room and the east and west side halls in the middle of the corridor, the connected corridors make the whole temple form a large rectangle. Sicheng was talking with Huiyin while drawing the floor plan of the building in his notebook.

Huiyin said: "I remember that in the picture album of Dunhuang murals, the Buddhist temple at that time was like this." "This kind of architectural pattern was very common in the Tang and Song Dynasties." Sicheng said: "Some buildings in Japan's Heian Asuka era also have this kind of structure. They are obviously influenced by the architecture of the Tang Dynasty." In addition, the appearance and internal structure of the main halls of the Reclining Buddha Temple are all in the standard Qing Dynasty style.Huiyin and Sicheng were not very interested, so they chatted with the abbot of the monastery, monk Zhikuan.

Sicheng told Zhikuan: "This is the only temple in the whole of Beiping that was laid out in the Tang Dynasty. It should be brought to the attention of tourists and properly protected."