THE EIGHT MAJOR SITES

History

The Ba Da Chu are scattered on three hills (from west to east; Cui Wei Shan, Ping Po Shan, and Lu She Shan) between which two torrents run. They are eight small temples which, if they are unaffected, still regularly host many walkers and tourists. It takes half a day to visit them.

Visit

The Temple of Eternal Peace (Chang An Si), built under the Ming in 1504, is located at the foot of Cui Wei Shan Hill. Restored in 1671, it presents itself as a succession of three rooms connected by courses planted with very beautiful and very old trees. Above all, we will notice the beautiful Taoist religious statues. The third hall exposes a great statue of the Taoist Goddess Niang Niang that was revered to have children, surrounded by other goddesses responsible for protecting children from various and varied diseases.

The temple of divine Light (Ling Guang Si) is located at the foot of Cui Wei Shan. His interest was mainly in the erection of a large pagoda of 13 high-floor 50 m high, which was originally built under the Liao in 1071 to be the nut of a relic of the highest importance, a tooth of Buddha, straight from India! The pagoda was destroyed, and it was in its ruins that we found the wooden box in which the famous tooth rested. Today, it is a much more recent pagoda than one can admire, resting on a basement of white marble crowned with golden gold.

The temple of the Three Mountains (San Shan 'an), at the foot of Ping Po Shan, was restored under Qian Long to be a monastery of nuns. In this building, many Buddha statues will be noticed, one of which is very large in the last room, where Buddha appears surrounded by the eighteen golden arhats.

The temple of the Great Mercy (Da Bei Si), located north of the previous, appears to have been originally built under the Yuan. It will be noticed above all the bas-reliefs at the entrance as well as eighteen beautiful wooden statues in the arhats accompanied by the same number of disciples. Beautiful bamboo in the first courtyard and two beautiful ginkgos in the second courtyard.

The temple of the King Dragon (Long Wang Tang), a little further on the hill of Ping Po Shan, was founded by Emperor Kangxi of the Qing in 1672. Right in front of the entrance, we will notice the source of the Dragon, and then a stole of marches leads to a succession of small halls in which some statues of Buddha are exposed, including three beautiful statues of golden wood disciples. You can admire the panorama in front of you from the terrace adjacent to the temple.

The Temple of the World of Incense (Xiang Jie Si), hung on the side of the same hill, heading north, appears as the largest of eight temples on the site. It is said that it was originally built under the Tang and then edited under the Yuan. The buildings that you see there were built in the eighteenth century, and on the whole this temple is not of particular interest, apart from a stalemate that one assumes from the Tang era and depicts Guan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) as a man; equivalent of the character Avalokitésvara of Mahayana Buddhism.

The precious pearl grotto (Bao Zhu Dong) is located at the top of Ping Po Shan Hill. The view over the area of Beijing from this site overlooking the entire valley is exceptional. It is said that a hermit monk lived in the cave, which lies behind the temple, for forty years in search of enlightenment. A statue was built to its effigy.

The Temple of Buddhemity (Zheng Guo Si) was built under the Sui (581-618) dynasty and reworked under the Yuan to honor the memory of a hermit of the name Lu Shi whose legend says he would have lived protected by the dragon king's son in a cave, "the roast" dear of mysterious genius, at the time of the Tang. From this first temple, there is nothing left today. The building you will visit dates from the Ming and comes under the classical architecture of the temples under the Ming dynasty. A small temple is built in front of the cave. It is accessed by a fairly steep staircase.