The Research On Lingyan Temple In Changqing Country Of Shandong Province

This paper mainly discusses the style and burial system of stupas located in Lingyan Temple. Moreover, what the sectarian beliefs they reflect.According to the literature and archaeological materials, at the first, this paper discusses the temple’s site selection and builders, which is for the purpose of finding the reason for the temple located in the Taishan. The monks take the temple as their place to cultivation. However, the stupas are the combs of their cremains. To a certain extent, geomantic omen play a role in their construction.Secondly, the era of stupas of Lingyan Temple is from Tang Dynasty continued to Ming and Qing Dynasties. Compared with other contemporaneous stupas, combining their shapes and ages, we can explain the architectural style which they represent. Thirdly, the paper analyzes the Sutra mantras lettering on the stupas, to reveal the Lingyan Temple sectarian beliefs. What’s more, by analyzing the burial system of them, we can know how to bury monks. Fourth, apart from the stupas of Lingyan Temple and Shentong Temple, there are few campaniform and drumtype cemetery towers. Through the analysis of their structure’s changes, we can understand how and why they are carved into their shapes.There are five main points of the significance of this study:first, it’s the innovation that this paper studied the Lingyan Temple at the angle of its stupas, because there are not scholars dedicated to the study the temple in the forest of them. Second, predecessors haven’t concerned on the relationship of temple and Taishan culture. Third, combining their shapes and ages, makes people understand from stupas to the whole temple’s development, which is beyond the previous focused only on their shapes. Fourth, about the shape of the campaniform stupa, someone had taken ones in the south of China for example to explain it. However, the campaniform and drumtype stupas in the Lingyan Temple are so pictographic that different from them. Therefore, the article on the analysis of the causes of their shape,is different from the former. Finally, there are some questions about human issues called forth on the studying, which leads to research the social problems reflected by stupas deeply. In addition, the describings of stupas in appendix are previous.