Bailin Temple in Hebei
By admin on 2015-02-04

Bailin Temple 柏林寺, located at the southeast corner of Zhaoxian county, Hebei Province, was first built in the time of East Han Dynasty (approximately the 3rd century A.D.) and has a history of more than 1700 years today. In the early days of its history, it had been widely known as the Ancient Guan Yin Temple until Song Dynasty when it was renamed as Yong An Monastery. In Yuan Dynasty, the name of “Bailin Temple” (the Temple of Cypress Woods) first came into being in an imperial letter to the monastery, as there were lots of cypress trees growing vigorously in the courtyard of the temple at that time. 
   
From the limited epigraphs remained today, we know that Bailin Temple had always been an important Buddhist center throughout the whole ancient history. In the early years of Yuan Dynasty, three emperors had ever signed decrees to local regimes, ordering them to exempt taxes from the Temple so as to preserve this Buddhist holy land. The great Stupa of Master Zhaozhou, which is now still towering in the temple, was first built in the Yuan Dynasty, with the approval and support from Emperor Wenzong. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the government agency for administrating religious affairs in Zhaozhou Prefecture was set up in Bailin Temple and sometimes the Abbot of the Temple also acted as the director of the agency.

From time to time, Bailin Temple had trained generations of numerous eminent Zen masters.

Although many centuries have passed, some of the great masters like Master Zhaozhou, Guiyun, Yuexi and Luyun of various times are still well known by modern practitioners. Among them, Master Zhaozhou was one of the greatest Zen masters in the history of Chinese Buddhism, whose teachings have benefited numerous followers of both ancient and modern times, from both the inland and the aboard.

Master Zhaozhou

The most fruitful contribution of Chinese Buddhism to the human society is embodied in Zen, the very essence of Chinese Buddhist tradition. The practice of Zen began to flourish in Tang Dynasty, when Zen's sixth patriarch Master Huineng, despite his illiteracy, achieved profound realization and set up a very special way of teaching which was unconventionally dynamic and straightforward to the point of enlightenment. Master Zhaozhou was the fifth successor of Patriarch Huineng. He was ordained at his very early age and became enlightened in his youth when he was studying and practicing Zen under the guidance of Master Nanquan. After that, he spent all his time travelling from one place to another in search of spiritual teachers and friends until his age of 80 when he arrived at Bailin Temple and settled down there for the rest of his life. His profound realization and rich meditation experiences had brought out great fruition in the Dharma activities in his late years. Many practitioners of Zen tradition had achieved high level realization through his compassionate teachings. Many of his teachings and life-stories had become the most typical and effective practical guide for the later followers of Zen Tradition. Master Zhaozhou therefore was among the most eminent Zen teachers in the history of Chinese Buddhism. In 897 A.D., the great master passed away at his age of 120. Bailin Temple, as a Zen study center first established by Master Zhaozhou, has since become flourishing and been regarded as one of the most sacred holy sites of Zen Tradition over the centuries, and even until today.

Revitalization
               
In the recent history, confronted by many difficulties resulting from political and social adversities, Bailin Temple has ever experienced a period of decadency . When the Cultural Revolution was over and the Temple was reopened as a monastery in 1988, not a single hall or temple could be found on the ruined site, nor did a statue or scripture ever remain. Only the Stupa of Master Zhaozhou and a few cypress trees standing alone on the ground might still remind people that this had once been a sacred Buddhist center in the history. In 1988, the Venerable Master Jinghui became the Abbot of the Temple, who since then has worked devotedly and tirelessly to raise funds and organize the renovation program of the Temple. In 1992, the construction of the Hall of Light Lumination was completed. In the following years , a number of buildings were constructed one after another, which included the Main Gate, the Guan Yin Temple, the Bell Tower, the Meditation Hall, the Yunshui House and the Huixian House etc. After nearly 7 years of unremitting work, the previous dilapidated site has now been transformed into a sublime Buddhist center with beautiful, clean monastic environment and a pure, harmonious Sangha community, functioning as a pure land in this human world.