---
title: "泉州開元寺志 · 大開元萬壽禪寺"
description: "泉州開元寺志由明代高僧釋元賢撰寫，是一部記載福建泉州開元寺歷史與文化的佛教寺志。該書成於明代，詳述了開元寺的創建緣起、歷代興修、高僧事蹟、寺規制度以及相關佛教活動，反映了宋明時期閩南佛教的發展脈絡與社會影響。作為研究中國佛教史與地方宗教文化的重要文獻，它不僅保存了豐富的歷史資料，還展現了漢傳佛教在泉州的傳播與融合，對了解明代寺志編纂和佛教地域化具有極高價值。"
url: "https://rushiwowen.co/en/r/cmgmz2jsn1crjl104w5w9aiod"
---

大開元萬壽禪寺，舊在郡城西清門外；後城增廣，則寺當城內之西區也。唐垂拱二年乙酉二月，州民黃守恭，晝夢一僧乞其地為寺，恭曰：「須樹產白蓮乃可。」僧喜謝，忽失所在。越二日，桑樹果產白蓮。有司以瑞聞，乞置道場，制曰：「可」。仍賜「蓮花」名，請僧匡護主之。長壽壬辰，陞為興教寺。神龍乙巳，改額龍興。玄宗二十六年，詔天下諸州各建一寺，以紀年為名。有司復以應命，改額開元。歷五代十國而至宋，旁創支院一百廿區，支離而不相屬。至元乙酉，僧錄劉鑑義白于福建行省平章伯顏，奏請合支院為一寺，賜額大開元萬壽禪寺。明年延僧玅恩住持，為第一世。禪風遠播，衲子競集。復得契祖繼之，垂四十年，食常萬指。當元之季，饑饉洊臻，盜賊並起，寺因之不振。至洪武三十年，寺僧臨難罄殞，有司以聞。次年，高祖皇帝命僧正映來住持。映至，修舉廢墜。不數載，寺為之中興。然纔一再傳，而禪風不競矣。至成弘間，遂復雲散四方，叢林規制，日就陵夷。至隆萬之際，老成凋謝，而佛宇僧舍强半民居。甚至戒壇為火藥匠所據，浸及法堂，亦頗畫而有之，垂三十年。至萬曆甲午，賴檀越憲副黃公文炳，力白當道，盡驅諸匠，始獲青氊舊物，然亦僅存十一于千百之間而已。

> The Great Kaiyuan Wanshou Zen Temple was originally located outside the West Gate of the city. Later, when the city walls were expanded, the temple fell within the western district of the city. In the second year of the Chui-Gong era (686 CE), during the second month, a local resident named Huang Shougong dreamed of a monk asking him for land to build a temple. Huang said, "Only if white lotuses grow from the mulberry trees will I agree." The monk thanked him joyfully and then vanished. Two days later, white lotuses indeed sprouted from the mulberry trees. The authorities reported this auspicious omen to the emperor and requested permission to establish a place of worship. The emperor approved and bestowed the name "Lotus Temple," appointing the monk Kuang Hu as its abbot. In the Changshou era (692 CE), it was upgraded and renamed Xingjiao Temple. In the Shenlong era (705 CE), it was renamed Longxing Temple. In the twenty-sixth year of Emperor Xuanzong's reign (738 CE), an imperial decree ordered every prefecture to build a temple named after the era name. The authorities complied, and the temple was renamed Kaiyuan. Through the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period and into the Song Dynasty, over 120 branch temples were established around it, yet they remained scattered and unconnected. In the Yuan Dynasty (1285 CE), the monastic registrar Liu Jianyi petitioned the Fujian provincial governor Boyan, requesting that all branch temples be merged into one. The emperor approved and bestowed the name Great Kaiyuan Wanshou Zen Temple. The following year, the eminent monk Miao'en was invited to serve as abbot, becoming the first patriarch. His reputation for Zen teaching spread far and wide, attracting monks from all directions. His successor, Qizu, continued the tradition for nearly forty years, with over ten thousand monks often gathering there. However, during the late Yuan Dynasty, famine struck repeatedly and banditry erupted, causing the temple to decline. By the thirtieth year of the Hongwu era (1397 CE), the temple's monks faced disaster and perished. The authorities reported the situation, and the following year, the founding emperor ordered the monk Zhengying to come and serve as abbot. Upon his arrival, Zhengying restored what had fallen into ruin. Within a few years, the temple experienced a revival. Yet after only two generations, the Zen tradition weakened once more. By the Chenghua and Hongzhi eras (1465-1505), the monks had scattered to all directions, and the monastery's rules and practices gradually deteriorated. By the Longqing and Wanli eras (1567-1620), the elder masters had passed away, and more than half of the Buddha halls and monk quarters had become civilian residences. Even the ordination platform was occupied by gunpowder artisans, who gradually encroached upon the Dharma Hall and claimed it as their own, a situation that lasted nearly thirty years. In the twenty-second year of the Wanli era (1594 CE), thanks to the devoted patron Vice-Surveillance Commissioner Huang Wengbing, who vigorously appealed to the authorities, all the artisans were driven out, and the temple's original property was recovered, though only a tenth of it remained from what had once been a thousandfold.