Lingquan Temple at Baoshan Hill,Anyang,Henan was a famous Buddhist temple in the Ye City area from the Northern Dynasties through the Sui and Tang Dynasties.It was established by Master Daoping in the fourth year of Wuding Era(546 AD) of the Eastern Wei Dynasty,and redesigned and constructed during the Northern Qi Dynasty by Daoping’s disciple,a famous master of Dasabhumika School whose name was Lingyu,with the sponsoring of Lou Rui,the Prince Dong’an of the Northern Qi.The two Buddhist scripture tablets of that time,which are the Huayan Jing(Avatamsaka Sutra,"the Flower Ornament Scripture") tablet sponsored by Lou Rui,the minister of education of the Northern Qi Dynasty,and the Huayan Bahui(the Eight Assemblies for the Delivery of the Flower Ornament Scripture) tablet were rediscovered in the later period of the Qing Dynasty,and they provided very important materials for the researches on the history of Lingquan Temple,the thoughts of Lingyu and the Buddhism in the Ye City area during the late Northern Dynasties.The titles of Lou Rui and his relation with Lingyu mentioned in the texts of these tablets let us know that these tablets were engraved around the first through the third moons of the third year of Heqing Era(564 AD).The author of this paper has testified that in addition to the chapter of Bodhisattvas Ask for Clarification and the Eight Assemblies for the Delivery of the Flower Ornament Scripture,the texts of the tablets also included the scriptures belonging to the Fahua Jing(Saddharma Pundarika Sutra,the "Lotus Sutra") and the Four-division Vinaya and the contents related to the Dharma protection thought.The appearance of these contents reflected Lingyu’s thoughts concentratedly.In addition to sponsoring the engraving of the Buddhist scripture tablets,Lou Rui might have also sponsored the carving of the elaborate Buddha statues in the Da Liusheng Cave of Lingquan Temple.
