What does Christmas mean in Dingguang Buddha?

The sixth day of the first month of every year is the Christmas of the ancient Buddha in Dingguang.

Dingguang Ancient Buddha, a monk in the early Song Dynasty, is called Dingguang Buddha, Dingguang Buddha, Dinggong Ancient Buddha and Dingguang Master, and is an important patron saint of Hakkas in Tingzhou, western Fujian. Master Ding Guang, whose common surname is Zheng and whose name is Yan, is from southern Fujian, but he spent most of his life teaching in Tingzhou.

The Lion Rock Temple in front of Wupingyan was established and has been preaching Buddhism for more than 50 years. Legendary stories have been left in the local and Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi areas, such as tearing down dumplings to lure tigers, dredging lanes, spouting active springs, praying for rain and sunshine, giving gifts to children, stopping water in a vicious circle, and repeatedly protecting the country and the people. Because "the master was charitable, responsive and powerful before his death", people worshipped him as a Buddha after his death.

Jun Qing Temple is full of incense. When he was alive, he was regarded as a god by many believers in western Fujian, southern Jiangxi and eastern Guangdong, and was called the incarnation of Dingguang Buddha. After his death, he became an important local god in Tingzhou, known as Dingguang Ancient Buddha.

Distribution area

Dingguang Buddhism belief is mainly distributed in Hakka areas in western Fujian, northeastern Guangdong and southern Jiangxi, and it is also common in other places. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Tingzhou immigrants crossed the sea to Taiwan Province, and the belief in Dingguang Buddha also spread to Taiwan Province Province.

Danshui Yinshan Temple, the soft clay statue of Dingguang Buddha is serene, solemn and lifelike. The way to make a soft idol is to make a jointed skeleton out of wood and then paste it with plaster. It is said that this statue was welcomed back from the ancestral hall in Yan Qian, Wuping County, Fujian Province, and it is very precious.