開化寺，高平，山西，中國

Kaihua Temple, Gaoping, Shanxi, China

開化寺位于高平市城東北17km的舍利山腰，寺區(qū)四周群山環(huán)繞，松柏蒼翠，風(fēng)景十分幽美。該寺初名清涼寺，宋改開化禪院，今名開化寺。寺院坐北面南，占地面積2970m2，現(xiàn)存建筑有山門（大悲閣）、大雄寶殿、東西配殿、延賓舍、講經(jīng)堂、維摩凈室、觀音閣、禪堂偏院等，并有碑十幾通。2001年6月25日，國務(wù)院公布為全國重點(diǎn)文物保護(hù)單位。

開化寺初創(chuàng)于北齊武平二年（571），晚唐龍紀(jì)、大順年間（889-891），有大愚禪師就山腰穴室建清涼蘭若，宋天圣八年（1030）改額為開化禪院，宋熙寧六年（1073）重建大雄寶殿。宋元祐、紹圣年間（1086-1098）再次興工，繪制大雄寶殿內(nèi)壁畫。金皇統(tǒng)元年（1141）建觀音閣。元、明、清各代，屢有修葺，始成今日規(guī)模。寺外東南山坡大愚禪師石塔為五代后唐同光三年（925）建造?，F(xiàn)存大雄寶殿及殿內(nèi)壁畫、彩繪，均為宋代原物，觀音閣為金元時(shí)所建，其余均為明清遺物。

大雄寶殿居于寺內(nèi)中央，雄健壯觀，宋熙寧六年（1073）建。該殿平面方形，建筑在一個(gè)高1.19m高的臺(tái)基之上。殿身面闊3間，進(jìn)深6架椽，單檐九脊頂。筒板布瓦屋面，琉璃脊獸，屋面施以“青混瓦”。殿前檐明間為格扇門，次間設(shè)破子欞窗，背面開板門一道，殿內(nèi)可前后穿行。我國格扇始于宋遼之際，現(xiàn)存實(shí)物除天津薊縣獨(dú)樂寺遼建觀音閣、山西大同華嚴(yán)寺遼建薄迦教藏殿外，此殿亦為北宋建筑的實(shí)例。前檐柱為青石抹角方形，柱上刻有施主姓名和年月題記，提供了建殿的確切年代。柱頭斗栱五鋪?zhàn)?，單抄單下昂，重栱?jì)心造，昂為批竹式。補(bǔ)間斗栱后尾于華栱之上施碩大的頭，墊在昂尾之下，這種做法開了后世華契之先例。各栱背面，昂尾均在四椽栿、乳栿或丁栿之下，承托檐面。轉(zhuǎn)角處正側(cè)兩面柱頭斗栱后尾搭交，45°角線上加施斜栱、斜昂一縫，上承大角梁和仔角梁。殿內(nèi)梁架徹上露明造，步入殿內(nèi)舉目可見。四椽栿對(duì)乳栿通檐用三柱，梁架結(jié)構(gòu)全部為宋制。殿內(nèi)梁枋斗栱上滿繪古錢紋、海石榴、龍牙蕙草等各種彩繪圖案，亦為宋制，與宋《營造法式》中的彩繪作紋樣極為一致。其中栱眼壁中的彩畫尤為精美，是我國古代建筑中保存最完整的宋代彩繪圖案。

殿內(nèi)東、西、北三面墻壁上滿繪壁畫，面積共88.2m2，是我國保存面積最大的宋代寺觀壁畫，也是山西僅存的宋代壁畫的優(yōu)秀作品。壁畫始繪于宋元祐七年（1092），至紹圣三年（1096）告竣，歷時(shí)5年，為畫匠郭發(fā)所繪。內(nèi)容為佛傳故事和講經(jīng)說法圖。繪畫精致，構(gòu)圖嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)；筆力勁道，流暢細(xì)密。人物眾多，面目清秀；姿勢(shì)自然，神情各異。整個(gè)畫面以大紅大綠為主，在人物冠飾和界面建筑物上配以瀝粉貼金，使整個(gè)壁畫絢麗多彩和金碧輝煌。其藝術(shù)手法之高、畫技之精，完全可與同時(shí)代精美的卷軸人物畫相媲美。

開化寺是現(xiàn)存的宋金時(shí)代的早期建筑，具有很高的藝術(shù)價(jià)值。大雄寶殿集建筑、壁畫、彩繪于一室，堪稱三絕，是我國古建筑中的瑰寶。 （撰文：常四龍）

Sitting on the mountainside of Sheli Mountain 17 kilometres to the northeast of Gaoping City, Kaihua (lit. "Enlightenment") Temple is set in a picturesque mountainous landscape overgrown with verdant cypresses. Originally known as Qingliang Temple ("Temple of Coolness"), it was renamed Kaihua Buddhist Monastery in the Song Dynasty and is now known as Kaihua Temple. The temple complex preserved today, facing south and covering an area of 2970 square metres, consists of the temple gate (Dabei Pavilion or "Pavilion of Great Compassion"), main hall ("Hall of Sakyamuni"), east and west side halls, Yanbin She (guesthouse), Jiangjing Tang ("preaching hall"), Vimalakīrti Jingshi ("clean house for lay Buddhists"), Guanyin Pavilion, and Meditation Side Courtyard. There are also a dozen of inscribed tablets. On 25 June, 2001, it was included in the list of State Priority Protected Site by the State Council.

Kaihua Temple was first built in the 2nd year of Wuping period (571) during the Northern Qi Dynasty. In the years of Longji and Dashun period (889-891) in the late Tang Dynasty, a Buddhist master, Dayu (lit. "Great Fool") by monastic name, built the Aranya (Sanskrit, "temple") of Coolness on the basis of a cave-house on the mountainside. In the 8th year of Tiansheng period (1030) in the Song Dynasty, it was renamed Kaihua Buddhist Monastery; in the six year of Xining period (1073) in the Song Dynasty, the main hall was rebuilt. In the years of Yuanyou and Shaosheng period (1086-1098) in the Song Dynasty, a decoration project was launched to paint murals inside the main hall. In the first year of Huangtong period (1141) in the Jin Dynasty, Guanyin Pavilion was built. The Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties saw many repair projects before the complex reached today's scale. The Dayu Chanshi Pagoda ("Pagoda of the Buddhist Master of Great Fool") standing on a mountain slope to the southeast of the temple was built in the 3rd year of Tongguang period (925) in the Later Tang Dynasty of the Five Dynasties. The main hall and the murals as well as the coloured paintings inside were all originals of the Song Dynasty. Guanyin Pavilion was built during the Jin and Yuan dynasties. The rest structures were all built in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The magnificent main hall, standing prominently in the centre of the complex, was built in the 6th year of Xining period (1073) in the Song Dynasty. With a square plan, the structure sits on a 1.19-metre-high base. Three bays wide and with a six-purlin framework, it features a single-eave roof paved with tubular qing-hun tiles and decorated with glazed beasts on nine bridges. Latticed doors are employed at central bay under front eaves and grille-like windows at the secondary bays. In the back, there is a slab-door exit which allows through passage from front to back. Latticed doors were originated at the turn from the Song to Liao dynasties. Besides two Liao Dynasty structures, i.e. Guanyin Pavilion of Dule Temple in Jixian County, Tianjin, and Bojia Jiaocang Hall of Huayan Temple in Datong, Shanxi, this structure built in the Northern Song Dynasty is among the very few using latticed doors that have been preserved. The front-eave columns made of bluestone, roughly square with rounded corners, bears inscriptions indicating donators' names and the dates of the

donations, which shed light on the specific time of the hall's construction. Each bracket set at the capital of a column consists of fivepu-zuowith single overhanginggongand single ang in doublecrossed horizontalgong. And the ang features a "flat beak" or bevelled head. At the back of each bracket set between columns, a gigantic ta-tou (end of a timber trimmed into a folding line) is placed on the projecting bracket to support the ang tail. This is the original form ofhua-xieor "Chinese pegs" widely used in later times. At the back of each bracket set, theangtail is invariably placed beneath a 5-purlin beam or eaves-beam or T-beam as a supporting member of the eaves. At the corners, the tails of the neighbouring front and side bracket sets intersect. A slanting arm (xie-gong) and a slanting ang are employed at an angle of 45 degrees to support "senior-hip-rafters" (da-jiao-liang) and "junior-hiprafters" (zi-jiao-liang). All the beam framework was exposed to view inside the hall. Each roof frame consists of a four-purlin beam and an eavebeam, which are supported by three columns. The roof frames are of the Song style. On the beams and bracket sets inside the hall, various coloured patterns including the motifs of ancient coins, pomegranates and coiling grass are painted—they are also of the Song style and consistent with the descriptions of coloured patterns in the Ying-zao Fashi or Treatise on Architectural Methods compiled in the Song Dynasty. The coloured paintings in the apophyges (gong-yan, lit. "bracket eyes") are especially exquisite. They are the best-preserved colour-painted patterns of the Song Dynasty on ancient Chinese architecture.

The east, west and north walls in the hall are coated with murals, whose total area amounts to 88.2 square metres. These are not only the greatest of its type in size in all the Song Dynasty temples preserved, but also the only group of Song murals preserved in Shanxi. They started to be painted by an artist named Guo Fa in the 7th year of Yuanyou period (1092) in the Song Dynasty and were completed five years later, i.e. in the 3rd year of Shaosheng period (1096). Representing Buddhist-

themed stories and the Buddha preaching the Law, they are exquisite and well-composed. With vigorous, smooth strokes, the painters had managed to depict a host of handsome-looking figures in natural postures and with varied expressions. Red and green are the predominant colours, but the technique of embossed painting and gold foil painting has been applied to hat ornaments and borders on the structure so that the murals convey a general impression of splendour and magnificence. As works of art, they absolutely can compare with contemporary scrolled figure paintings.

As a temple complex of the early Song and Jin dynasties that has been preserved, Kaihua Temple has great artistic value. As an epitome of architectural art, mural and colour painting, the main hall is a rare treasure of ancient Chinese architecture.