The Survey On Baotong Temple: Inheritance Evolution And Impact

Bao Tong Temple is the existing largest royal monastery in Wuhan City. It is theessential part of the Buddhist culture in Wuhan, and has a profound impact on themultiple aspects, such as religion, society, culture and education. This treatise focuseson the thorough study on the objective relationships between the development of BaoTong Temple and the social factors in Wuhan City, and the profound understandingtowards a variety of factors that relate to the successful development of Bao TongTemple. In order to achieve this goal, I make some specific analysis on thedevelopmental process from Bao Tao Temple’s origin, heyday to its decay. Furthermore,I also give some reliable reasons to clarify its development process, and how it haddeveloped for1,500years. Also, its profound influence towards the development ofBuddhist culture and urban culture in Wuhan city cannot be neglected.In the preface of this treatise, I stand in the macro perspective to make a collectionand an organization towards a series of researches that are related to Bao Tong Temple;and demonstrate the methods used in the process of study and writing, theories, and theissues that need to be resolved. In, chapter one, I demonstrate some analysis on thenatural elements and humanistic factors which led to the establishment of Bao TongTemple and the connection with these elements in the development of the1,500historyperiod that was from the Liu Song era of the South Dynasty in the ancient China; and allthese natural and humanistic factors lay the theoric foundation for the followingdiscourses. In chapter two, according to the order of time period in the developmentalhistory, I systematically sorting out the millennial development venation of Bao TongTemple, and its development history was divided into three parts that would help us tomake a better understanding of it: the ancient times, the modern period, and thecontemporary era. This developmental history specifically introduce its vicissitudevenation from its foundation under the reign of Liu Song in the South Dynasty to thecontemporary era. It is noteworthy that, when I am analyzing the developmental venation, I carefully make some compares among many history materials and look upinto the Bao Tong Temple Chi to probe the authenticity of the historical records on themigration event of the You Ji Temple in North Song Dynasty from Da Hong Shan inSuizhou to Dong Shan Temple in Wuchang; by comparing the materials results, I putforward the pragmatical deductions and corrected the spurious records. In chapter three,I formulate some studies on the internal and external factors that contribute to thevicissitude of Bao Tong Temple and try to cover all sorts of possibilities and thoroughlydig out different factors that have some profound impact on its development. Bycarefully reading all these materials, I classify these factors into two parts, the internalones and the external ones, which cover the aspects of economy, politics, culture,religious faith, religious schools, religious doctrines and senior monks. When studyingon these basic factories, I largely emphasize the impact of evolution history ofBuddhism schools on the development of Bao Tong Temple. By demonstrating thespecial background information of multiple religious denominations and theiradvancements at an equal pace, Bao Tong Temple is put in an unique place in the fieldof Buddhism in the Hubei Province. Furthermore, by spending one section’s words onthe description of the contemporary senior monks, Master Taixu and Master Chisong,and their close connections with Bao Tong Temple and their impact on the entireBuddhism field in Wuhan, their important roles are revealed in the contemporarydevelopment history of Bao Tong Temple. Finally, I make a conclusion on the mainfactors that affect the development of the urban Buddhism temples and the vicissitudesof a variety of Buddhist culture it represents. By analyzing the special cultural value inthe development of Wuhan city and Buddhism, I appeal to pay attention to the culturalvalue, rationally develop and utilize its resources, and practice the urban temples’environmental sustainable development path.