In my opinion, the most rare thing about a city is that it is both inclusive and full of diversity. Such cities are very common in the country, and each has its own characteristics and demeanor. Among them, Wuhan is also the case.
Regarding Wuhan, it is a big city with big rivers and lakes, and it is also Chushan, Chushui and Chuwen. It is both modern and classical, and it is different every day. Walking in this city of mountains and rivers, the architectural style is impressive and refreshing.
Wuchang and Hankou face each other across the river. In the depths of the modern high-rise buildings on both sides of the strait, each has its own clean blessed land. The view of Changchun in Wuchang and the Gude Temple in Hankou can be regarded as “wonderful architectural works”.
The former Taoist temple contains a Tibetan-style and Western-style building, making it the “only” among domestic Taoism.
In the latter temple, a Yuantong Temple is mixed with the characteristics of Eurasian religious architecture, which can be regarded as “a great wonder of Buddhist resorts” and “the first wonder of Buddhist temples in Han Dynasty”.
However, the two religious sites are difficult for outsiders to find, and it is also difficult to find them specially. Although they are scenic spots, their names are almost invisible in the list of tourist attractions in Wuhan.
Surprisingly, the locals in Wuhan are not familiar with them either. When I went to Gude Temple, I heard that many people in Wuhan didn’t know its existence. When I went to Changchun to view it, many people from Wuhan said that they often passed by and never went in to take a look.
The Buddha has a pure place, and the Tao has the law of nature. As far as spiritual cultivation is concerned, the two occupy the same position in my heart. The Gude Temple was founded in the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty by a monk named Long Xi, who was originally named “Gude Maopeng”.
After two expansions, the post temple was renamed “Gude Temple”, which means “good spirits of the ancients, Pudu with virtue”.
However, I am too vulgar. I walked into this place. Although I have an ancient mind and nature, I can’t match the “Pudu with virtue”. But it is also because of the ancient nature of the heart that allowed me to find this hidden place in this big city. From the perspective of architecture alone, it is very literary and beautiful, and it can be called the most beautiful ancient temple in Wuhan.
The core building of the Gude Temple is the Yuantong Temple. The Eurasian religious architectural style of the Yuantong Temple makes Gude Temple unique. This temple also integrates the three major Buddhist schools of Mahayana, Theravada, and Tibetan Buddhism. This is in the Han Dynasty Buddhist Temple. Medium is very rare.
Unlike traditional Chinese temples with yellow tiles, red pillars, and cornices, the Yuantong Temple has both Gothic Christian church architectural styles, Roman Catholic churches, Byzantine Eastern Orthodox churches and Islamic mosque styles. The architectural culture of Chinese temples can be said to be unique.
Between the inner and outer walls of the palace, a circular corridor is designed with many square pillars. The round windows and long windows on the facade are in accordance with the architectural style of the Christian church. There are nine pagodas and pagodas on the hall.
The most unforgettable thing for me is the design of the window. Notre Dame de Paris appeared in my mind the first time I saw it.
Can’t help but be puzzled, why does Wuhan have such a variety of Buddhist temples? As a Buddhist temple, why does it have a Western religious architectural style? Was this kind of building formed at the beginning of the establishment of Gude Temple, or was it added in the later expansion?
In this regard, I checked a lot of information, but did not find the details.
The Gude Temple was first founded by Long Xi, but it was abbot of Master Changhong from 1914-1919, and it was expanded twice. Under the auspices of Master Hongchang, the Gude Temple grew stronger and stronger. Not only did it add additional buildings to the temple, but also began to design the Daxiong Hall, which was completed in 1913. In 1919, Master Luangpo took over as the presiding officer. In the autumn of 1921, the temple was expanded again, mainly by converting the original Mahaung Hall into Yuantong Hall and repairing other temples. This expansion lasted 13 years.
From this, it can be inferred that the appearance of Yuantong Palace today is likely to have appeared under the design of Master Hongchang, and has undergone more cultural modifications under the expansion of Master Longpo.
Many researchers believe that the Gude Temple was built in imitation of the Ananda Temple, a group of pagoda-type temples in the Indian Panawa architectural style, and the Yuantong Temple was built in the art form of the Ananda Temple in Myanmar. But when this style was built and why it was built like this, it has become a mystery due to the lack of information (it is a mystery to me, friends who know the details may wish to tell).
However, the Yuantong Palace is not entirely a foreign architectural style, but also has considerable Chinese elements.
This temple is dominated by the tower-type buildings of Southern Buddhism. The overall layout adopts the layout of the three courtyards of Han Buddhism and the seven halls. The facade of the temple adopts the traditional Chinese square shape. There are 96 lotus squares on the four sides of the roof Pier wait. In addition to the striking Western and Southeast Asian architectural styles, it also absorbs the architectural style and inspiration of Chinese Han Buddhism.
Compared with the Gude Temple, the Changchun Temple in Wuchang has a grand scale, a rigorous structure and a reasonable layout.
Changchun Temple is a typical Chinese Taoism. Most of its main buildings are completely Taoist. Only the Taoist pavilion makes Changchun Temple the “only” among the domestic Taoist buildings, and it is also the “Changchun Temple”. One of the three must-dos”.
The overall building color of Daozang Pavilion is white, and its eaves are in the Chinese style with angled cornices, but most of the structure is European style: huge glass windows, slender and straight columns, external corridors, cement “plastic” floral decorations… …As for the Tibetan architectural style, it is located in Daozang Pavilion (due to the closed doors and windows, it has not been appreciated).
Among them, the traditional flower decorations made of cement “stacked plastic” under the eaves have lost their craftsmanship. Perhaps this is the case. Daozang Pavilion’s “one unique” meaning is even longer.
Daozang Pavilion has this style, and it is said that there are two reasons for its formation.
One is that the imperial minister who helped build the Changchun View in the late Qing Dynasty was a Manchu and believed in Tibetan Buddhism. The craftsmen used were influenced by it and decorated the temple with the Tibetan mascot elephant and saffron motifs.
The second is that Hou Yongde, the host of Changchun Temple in the late Qing Dynasty, was originally a member of Zuo Zongtang’s generals. Because of the influence of Western thoughts, he combined European and Chinese styles to build the country’s only European-style building as the main Taoist building: Dao Zang Pavilion.
But compared to the Yuantong Hall of the Gude Temple, the Taoist Pavilion in Changchun Temple is simple and majestic, but not eye-catching. If I hadn’t checked the relevant information about Changchunguan in advance, I would have walked to this building, and I would have never thought that it is part of the Changchunguan complex.
After all, looking from the traditional Taoist building complex, it is somewhat “alien”, no matter its color or structure, it is hard to think of Taoism. There is only one such building in Taoism in China.
Daozang Pavilion is suspected to be a Daoist lecture hall, and it can be understood as a large-scale Daoist series of books containing many classics. The “Tao Zang” is just a collection of Taoist scriptures.
But when I checked relevant information on the Internet, I found that many important meetings and events were also held here, but the time was still long and the latest information was very scarce. It seems that if you want to figure out this Taoist Pavilion, you have to consult the Taoist in the Taoist temple or the library.
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