Professor Mo Huaming helped us solve the mystery. He said that the tomb of the monk was buried under that stone tablet. There is more than one tomb like this on Dinghu Mountain. But not every monk can have such a grave behind him. The owner of this tomb should be an abbot, who enjoyed certain status and honor before his death. This can be seen from the words on the tombstone, which says that the owner of the tomb is the abbot of Qingyun Temple during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty.
"Famous mountains and great rivers are all Buddhas", and Dinghushan is no exception. To explain the temple on Dinghu Mountain, we have to start from the beginning-
As early as the Tang Dynasty, monks came to Dinghushan to build temples for practice. At that time, the ancestors of Baiyun Temple took their disciples to plant land on the mountain to give lectures. For thousands of years, these monks have been handed down from generation to generation, guarding Dinghu Mountain like their own homes. Many rare tree species on the mountain were brought to Dinghu Mountain by monks for thousands of years.
The ancient Baiyun Temple was built on the top of Dinghu Mountain. According to the current abbot, Baiyun Temple was founded by Zhichang, a disciple of Huineng, the sixth ancestor of Zen Buddhism, and left many historical memories here. The locals also said that there are many historical sites in Baiyun Temple, such as ancient beauty and ancient expensive ... There is a nirvana platform outside the temple, and the eight characters "True dharma hides eyes, nirvana is wonderful" are engraved under the stage. The legend was written by Master Zhichang himself. Nearby, there are places of interest such as Laolongtan, Samaitan and water curtain cave Tianhe Bathing Buddha Pool, which all record the culture and history of Dinghushan.
How can there be only one temple in the vast mountains? Feng Yonghao, director of Zhaoqing Museum, said that there is also a Qingyun Temple halfway up Dinghu Mountain, which is one of the four famous temples in Guangdong Province and an important temple on Dinghu Mountain. There are endless stories about it, which cast a mysterious veil on Qingyun Temple.
Qingyun Temple is surrounded by green hills overlooking the mountain scenery. The overall shape is like a lotus, and Qingyun Temple is in the center of this lotus. There is a magical story about the origin of the name of Qingyun Temple.
In the Ming Dynasty, people built a Lotus Temple in this place. By the ninth year of Chongzhen (1636), Lotus Temple had begun to take shape. At this time, people were surprised to find that a piece of auspicious clouds appeared on the top of the Lotus Mountain. Xiangyun has always been a symbol of good fortune in ancient China. In order to commemorate this auspicious omen, the abbot of Lotus Temple at that time immediately renamed the temple Qingyun Temple, and this name has continued to this day.
Different from other monks in temples, planting trees is an important activity that monks in Qingyun Temple do every year. For 400 years, every spring, the abbot of the temple took his disciples to plant trees. The monks of Qingyun Temple planted many precious trees around the temple. It is said that there is a stout chestnut tree on Dinghu Mountain, the same age as Qingyun Temple! According to a monk in Qingyun Temple, every monk who enters the temple must plant trees first. Besides chanting and doing their homework, what monks have to do is to maintain this mountain forest. This tradition has been handed down from generation to generation for 400 years and continues to this day.
Director Feng of Zhaoqing Museum also said that there are inscriptions on the graves of the first, second and third ancestors of Qingyun Temple. The content of the inscription is that people are forbidden to cut down trees because these trees are planted by monks in the temple. They should protect these trees and protect the fine environment of Dinghu Mountain. The local people consciously abide by this rule. Now these trees can be integrated with the good ecological environment of Dinghushan, and they can be preserved to this day, which can not be separated from the tradition of planting trees by monks for generations, and of course, they can not be separated from the enthusiastic support of local people. 1923, Dr. Sun Yat-sen once visited Dinghushan. The towering old trees, the sound of drum music chanting, and the scene of peace and tranquility deeply touched him. So in Qingyun Temple, I wrote a banner of "All living beings are equal, all living beings are equal". Today, this couplet is still treasured in Qingyun Temple.
Nowadays, the daily life of monks in Qingyun Temple has become more and more abundant. In addition to learning Buddhist knowledge, monks also need to learn health and plant protection knowledge. The abbot of Qingyun Temple said that thousands of popular science books are bought in the temple every year. Now that the climate is changing, more scientific methods are needed to protect the trees around Qingyun Temple. Moreover, in the work of protecting mountain forests, every monk has a clear division of labor, and there are special people to do their jobs in planting trees, grafting and maintenance.
Although Qingyun Temple can't be regarded as a big temple compared with the thousand-year-old temples of the four famous Buddhist mountains in China, it is in harmony with this virgin forest on the Tropic of Cancer, creating a unique human landscape in the natural beauty. In a copper tower next to Qingyun Temple, the bones of the monk who released the sword in Qingyun Temple are still treasured. The story of the monk Shi Jian leading the monks to plant trees around Qingyun Temple is still sung on Dinghu Mountain by later generations.
Qingyun Temple also has a special plaque. It is special because it was given to Qingyun Temple by Empress Dowager Cixi in the Qing Dynasty on her 60th birthday. Maybe when she gave this plaque to Qingyun Temple, she hoped Qingyun Temple would live forever, and she also hoped that she would live forever. More than 400 years have passed, and the figure of Empress Dowager Cixi has long since disappeared in the dust of history, while Qingyun Temple is always integrated with this landscape.
In Qingyun Temple, there is another amazing phenomenon: the temple is surrounded by broad-leaved forests. Every autumn when leaves fall, yellow leaves fall one after another, and they are golden everywhere, but none of them fall on the roof of Qingyun Temple. The tiles on the top of the temple are clean and amazing!
There are too many legends and stories about Qingyun Temple. The ancient temple is surrounded by mountains, so it looks so quiet and harmonious. It silently tells its own story and attracts people's attention. In fact, there are more stories in the mountains than in temples. Throughout the ages, countless celebrities have visited Dinghu Mountain, and they have also left historical legends.