Shentong Temple Ruins

This is the Shentong Temple, the earliest temple in Shandong, but because the famous four-door tower is the oldest single-story pavilion-style stone tower in China, built in the past seven years, it has been 1400 years since the first stone tower in China, so here are called four-door towers.

Shentong Temple, Qilu's first ancient temple, many monuments, deep culture

Changqing District is very modern. On the way to enter the four-door tower range of more than 10 kilometers, there is a river on the side of the road. The river is the after-mai of Mount Tai. Every few hundred meters is a farmhouse. It stretches for 10 kilometers. The roadside is full of Jinan private cars. There are more hotel owners who pump the river directly into the mountain and form down the road. Man-made waterfall, spectacular! Watching the happy farmhouse we arrived at the site of the four-door tower Shentong Temple.

In the four-door tower scenic area, a very old monastery, the environment is very good, but there is only one site left in the monastery, the original name Langgong Temple, about to be built in the early East Jin, the first year of the former Qin emperor (351 AD), Kaishan ancestors for the monk Langgong Zen master. The original temple was destroyed from the time of Northern Wei and Northern Zhou, and the Sui and Tang Dynasty were rebuilt. The Emperor Yu Wendi was renamed Shentong Temple in 583 years because of the induction of the gods.

Since the Wei Jin and the North and South Dynasties, temples, pagodas and grottoes have been built in various parts of Shandong. The Jinan Shentong Temple, which was built in the early East Jin Dynasty (351 AD), is the oldest temple in Shandong and the earliest Buddhist center in Shandong during the East Jin Dynasty. Shentong Temple was founded by Langgong Buddhist monk, and was first known as Langgong Temple. Yang Jian, the founding emperor of the Sui Dynasty, prayed for blessings at the Longgong Temple before claiming the emperor, and then pioneered the foundation of the Sui Dynasty, becoming another "Han" emperor who realized the unified layout of China after the Qin Dynasty. In order to thank the blessing of the god Buddha, Yang insisted that the emperor gave Sheli to Langgong Temple and ordered the temple to be renamed Shentong Temple. In order to preserve Sheli, Yang Jian, the emperor of Yuan Wen, used the power of the Sui Dynasty to build a "four-door tower" in Shentong Temple, the oldest single-story pagoda in China, built with large local bluestones, 15 meters high, and half of the round arches on each side of the stone tower, so it was named. Due to the abnormality of the bluestone used in the construction of the tower, it has not been weathered for more than 1400 years and is still as flat as new. There is a square tower core pillar in the tower, and the core pillar of the tower is dedicated to a stone Buddha on all sides. In 1972, the cultural relics department carried out repairs, the inscription "Seven Years of Building" was found on the top of the tower, thereby determining the time of the tower's construction. In 1973, Yang Jian's Shelly was found on the foundation of the tower's core pillar. A 15-meter-high Han Dynasty ancient pine near the four-door tower, the trunk is divided into nine branches, shaped like nine dragons, so the name is "Nine-Ding Pine". Because the nine-Ding has the meaning of "Nine-Five Supreme", it is said that Yang Jian, the Duke of Suiguo, also knelt down this tree. Today, the nine top pine is surrounded by the pilgrims' blessing red ribbons, which are more and more spiritual. The small Song Pagoda on the hillside is a solid square stone tower with a height of4.17 meters. The stone tower was originally seven floors and now only three floors remain. On the south side of the tower is the inscription of "Buchu Fulin built a tower for his parents in Shaosheng, Northern Song Dynasty for five years". This unpretentious stone tower, although some are crooked, stands for thousands of years, is the only surviving Song Dynasty building in Shentong Temple. For thousands of years, the Shentong Temple has been up and down many times, although the original temple has been destroyed, the preserved four gate towers of the Sui Dynasty and the Han Dynasty nine top pine and other precious cultural relics are still well preserved, becoming a tourist attraction for people to linger.