河北蔚县小五台山金河寺调查记

The Jinbe Temple at Weixian in Hebei

小五台山是分布于河北省蔚县、涿鹿县境内的太行山支脉,为区别于山西省境内的五台山,故称小五台或东五台。清乾隆《蔚县志》卷五“山川”记“(五台山)在城东一百里,其山五峰突起,俗称小五台,又东五台,以别于晋之清凉山。”金河寺为辽代小五台山名刹,圣宗、道宗都曾亲临该寺。《辽史》卷十三《圣宗纪四》“(统和)十年(992年)九月癸卯,幸五台山金河寺饭僧。”《辽史》卷六十八《游幸表》“(道宗清宁)九年(1063年)七月,幸金河寺。”

The temple is located at Xiaowutai, Weixian, Hebei. As a well known Buddhist temple in the Liao dynasty, it once received such guests as Emperors Shengzong and Daozong who were crazy for Buddhism. However, it was on decline and thus scarcely recorded afterwards. On May 1994, the author paid an archaeological visit to the temple and made some discoveries. The most interesting find is the inscription on a stele celebrating 'the imperial bestowal of the Jinhe Temple'. Since the stele is buried largely underground, only part of the inscription is available. Nevertheless, we knew from what is left the writer of the inscription was Luo Hengxin, a then local officier. So, we went to library to read Luo' s collection Jue fei Ji which contains the whole text of the inscription in question. At this point it is clear that Buddhist monks came to build a temple here as early as Emperor Xiaowen' s Taihe reign of the Northern Wei dynasty. The inscription also carries a detailed record of the several renovations the temple underwent, thus throwing much light on its history.