第一篇：湖北歸元寺—英文導(dǎo)游詞

GuiyuanTemple

ChineseBuddhisttemplesareneversinglebuildings.Theyalwaysconsistofagroupbuildingsfollowingafundamentalpatter,whichcan,however,bemodified.Themainbuildingsandtheirsymmetricallycorrespondingsecondarybuildingsformindividualgroupsandcourtyards.Theentiretemplecomplexisspacious.Thebuildinginsidethecomplexareusuallysingle-storiedandthemainhallsaresometimesdecoratedwithadoubleroof.Thetowers,pavilionsandhallscanbemulti-storiedstructures.TheChinesetemplecomplexhasbeensubjecttogreatstructuralchangesthroughoutthecenturies.ButtemplearchitectsfollowthebasicprinciplesofsecularstructuresfromtheTangDynastyonwards.Thecomplexesstandonacentralaxis,usuallyanorth-southaxis:east-westonlyasanexception.(GuiyuanTempleisjusttheveryexception.)Themainbuildingsarestrungalongthiscentralaxis,theirbroadestsidesfacingsouthoreast.ThemostimportantandmostfrequentlypresentedbuildinginsideaBuddhisttemplecomplexarethemainentrancegate,thebellanddrumtowers,theHalloftheHeavenlyKings,theHalloftheBuddhaandapagoda.BuddhismissaidtobefoundedinIndiainthe6thcenturyBCbySiddathaGautama(BC565–BC486),thesonofanoblemanandmemberoftheKshatriyacastenearthepresentbordersofIndiaandNepal.BuddhismadvocatesthatallthepeoplearecreatedequalandturnsagainstthecastesystemofBrahmanism,soitwaspopularwiththecommonpeople.ItwassaidthatBuddhismwasspreadtoChinain2BC.Atthebeginning,itwasonlyregardedasakindofwitch.About200AD,ChineseversionofBuddhistscripturesbegantoappear,andthus,BuddhistdoctrinesbegantoemergewithtraditionalChinesereligiousthought.From2ndcenturytolate6thcentury,translationandresearchofBuddhistsectswithChinesecharacteristicswerebecomingmoreandmorepopularandmanytempleswerebuilt,whichreacheditspeakinSuiDynasty(581AD-617AD)andTangDynasty(618-907).SomeBuddhistsectswithChinesecharacteristicscameintobeing.BuddhismexertsagreatinfluenceonChinesephilosophy,literature,artandfolkcustoms.WhatispresentedbeforeoureyesisacopperstatueofafamousbodhisattvainHynayanaBuddhism.BodhisattvaisatittlewhichisonlynexttoBuddha.ThisstatueistheimageofAvalokitesvara,whichhasbeenpopularwithChinesepeopleormorethan1,000years.SheiscalledtheGoddessofMercycordiallybyChineseandisregardedasthesymbolofkindness,mercyandbenevolence.WhenwevisittheAvalokitesvarapavilionafterawhile,Iwillgiveadetailedintroductionabouther.ThiscopperstatuewassenttoGuiyuanTemplebyTaiwanBuddhistsinSeptember1990.ItshowsthatallChinese,whetherinthemainlandorinTaiwan,areeagerforthereunionofthecountry,evenincludingreligionbelievers.ThebuildingweseenowistheBuddhaHallwhereonecertainBuddhaandhistwoassistantbodhisattvasesareworshiped.ThisBuddhaisAmitabhaBuddha.Amitabhameansincomparablebrightness.AccordingtoBuddhism,timeandspaceislimitlessandthustherearemanymanyBuddhasindifferentspacesandtimes.Butinacertainspaceorinacertainperiodoftime,thereisonlyonecertainBuddhawhoisinchargeofinstructingalllivingcreatures.AmitabhaBuddhaistheBuddhawhopresidesovertheLandofUltimateBlissinthewest,whichwillcomeinthefuture.BuddhistscripturesdescribetheLandofUltimateBlissasawonderland,inwhichnopainexistsandthepeopleenjoytheirlives.Inoneword,it’sveryattractive.Somepeoplewillthinkitmustbeverydifficulttoentersuchaworld.HowcanIgotosuchaparadise?MaybeIhavetoworkhardandbearalotofsufferings.Infact,it’sveryeasytoentertheworld.Heonlyneedoftenmurmur‘MayBuddhapreserveus’sincerely.It’senough.Yousee,thestatueinthemiddleistheveryBuddha.OnhisleftistheGoddessofMercy.OnhisrightistheotherbodhisattvawhofollowstheBuddha.Itissaidthathecansaveallthelivingcreaturesfromthreekindsofterribledisasters.Now,let’sstepintotheBuddhistscripturespavilionwherethescripturesofBuddhismarekept.ButI‘mafraidwhatattractsourattentionatthefirstsightmustbethissnow-whitestatue.ItisastatueofSakyamuni,thefounderofBuddhism.Thisstatuewascarvedoutofabigpieceofjadewhichis2-meter-tallandweighs3tons.ItwascarvedbyMyanmarhandicraftsmenanddonatedtothetemplebytheRangoonBuddhistsin1935.Ifwewatchthestatue,wemaysensethatthepeacefulexpressionontheBuddha’sfacehasbroughtustoaquietandharmoniousstate.ThelastbuildingwewillvisitistheAvalokitesvarapavilioninthenorthyard.Whenweenteredtheyardjustnowwesawastatueofher.NowI’dliketointroducehercarefully.Asagoddess,shesworethatshewouldnotbecomeaBuddhauntilallthelivingcreaturessufferingfrompainsweresaved.SoshebecameabodhisattvawhoismostpopularamongthepeopleandattractsthemostbelieversofallthegodsandgoddessesinBuddhism.Itwassaidthatonewouldbesavedfromtroubleanddisasteraslongashe(she)chantedhernameandifitwasheardbyher.ThussheiscalledGuanshiyin,whichmeans‘hearingorlookingonthevoicesofthesuffering’.Becauseofherkindheartandbenevolenceshegotanothertitle‘theGoddessofMercy’.Generally,anAhratHallisasquarebuilding.Thebuildingissubdividedintofoursmallsquarecourtssothatthehallcangetenoughsunlight.ThiskindofstructureshowsomeluckyimpliesinChineseBuddhistculture.Anothercharacteristicaboutthehallliesinthesesculpturesthemselves.Theywereneithermadeupofwood,norstone,norclay.Aspecialwaywastakeninmakingthem,whichcouldpreventsthemfrombeingburned,beingsoakedorbeingeatenbyinsects.AllthesculptureswerefloatinginwaterwhileWuhanwasfloodedin1954,but,surprisingly,theyweresoundandsafeafterthefloodhadreceded.Itwasreallyawonder.AhratsaretheimmortalsinBuddhism.Butwhenyouhavealookaroundthesculptures,youmayfindfromtheexpressionsontheirfacesthattheyaresofamiliartoyou.That’sonlybecausetheyweremoldedonthebasisofthepeopleinthereality,sotheyarehumanbeingsinourdailyliferatherthanimmortals.Ahratsarethesymbolsofharmony,happiness,andgoodluck,sotheWuhannativeshavegotusedtocountingahratssinceancienttimetoprayforpeace.Thereareafewwaysofcountingahrats.Wecancountfromthefirstahratfromlefttorightorfromrighttoleft,whenwejustenterthehall.Wecanalsochooseanyahratasourstartingpoint,andcountinthesameway,lefttorightorrighttoleft.Weshouldbasecountingonourownageswhateverwetake.Forexample,I’m25,soIshouldstopinfrontofthe25thahratfromthestartingahrat.ThesculptureinfrontofwhichIstopismyluckyahrat.Myluckyahratwillaccompanymetospendapeacefulandluckyyear.Wouldn’tyouliketohaveatrynow?Ifyouneed,Icanexplainconnotationofsomeahrats.That’sallfortheexplanationtoGuiyuanTemple.Thankyouforyourcooperationandunderstanding.Youwillhaveanother30minutestohavealookaroundthetemple.Ifyouhaveanyproblems,doletmeknow.Iwouldliketorepeatourbusnumber,A3074.pleasedon’tforget.Seeyoulater.

第二篇：湖北歸元寺——英文導(dǎo)游詞

Guiyuan Temple Chinese Buddhist temples are never single buildings.They always consist of a group buildings following a fundamental patter, which can, however, be modified.The main buildings and their symmetrically corresponding secondary buildings form individual groups and courtyards.The entire temple complex is spacious.The building inside the complex are usually single-storied and the main halls are sometimes decorated with a double roof.The towers, pavilions and halls can be multi-storied structures.The Chinese temple complex has been subject to great structural changes throughout the centuries.But temple architects follow the basic principles of secular structures from the Tang Dynasty onwards.The complexes stand on a central axis, usually a north-south axis: east-west only as an exception.(Guiyuan Temple is just the very exception.)The main buildings are strung along this central axis, their broadest sides facing south or east.The most important and most frequently presented building inside a Buddhist temple complex are the main entrance gate, the bell and drum towers, the Hall of the Heavenly Kings, the Hall of the Buddha and a pagoda.Buddhism is said to be founded in India in the 6th century BC by Siddatha Gautama(BC565 ¨CBC486), the son of a nobleman and member of the Kshatriya caste near the present borders of India and Nepal.Buddhism advocates that all the people are created equal and turns against the caste system of Brahmanism, so it was popular with the common people.It was said that Buddhism was spread to China in 2 BC.At the beginning, it was only regarded as a kind of witch.About 200 AD, Chinese version of Buddhist s criptures began to appear, and thus, Buddhist doctrines began to emerge with traditional Chinese religious thought.From 2nd century to late 6th century, translation and research of Buddhist sects with Chinese characteristics were becoming more and more popular and many temples were built, which reached its peak in Sui Dynasty(581AD-617AD)and Tang Dynasty(618-907).Some Buddhist sects with Chinese characteristics came into being.Buddhism exerts a great influence on Chinese philosophy, literature, art and folk customs.What is presented before our eyes is a copper statue of a famous bodhisattva in Hynayana Buddhism.Bodhisattva is a tittle which is only next to Buddha.This statue is the image of Avalokitesvara, which has been popular with Chinese people or more than 1,000 years.She is called the Goddess of Mercy cordially by Chinese and is regarded as the symbol of kindness, mercy and benevolence.When we visit the Avalokitesvara Pavilion after a while, I will give a detailed introduction about her.This copper statue was sent to Guiyuan Temple by Taiwan Buddhists in September 1990.It shows that all Chinese, whether in the mainland or in Taiwan, are eager for the reunion of the country, even including religion believers.The building we see now is the Buddha Hall where one certain Buddha and his two assistant bodhisattvases are worshiped.This Buddha is Amitabha Buddha.Amitabha means incomparable brightness.According to Buddhism, time and space is limitless and thus there are many many Buddhas in different spaces and times.But in a certain space or in a certain period of time, there is only one certain Buddha who is in charge of instructing all living creatures.Amitabha Buddha is the Buddha who presides over the Land of Ultimate Bliss in the west, which will come in the future.Buddhist s criptures describe the Land of Ultimate Bliss as a wonderland, in which no pain exists and the people enjoy their lives.In one word, it?ˉs very attractive.Some people will think it must be very difficult to enter such a world.How can I go to such a paradise? Maybe I have to work hard and bear a lot of sufferings.In fact, it?ˉs very easy to enter the world.He only need often murmur ??May Buddha preserve us?ˉ sincerely.It?ˉs enough.You see, the statue in the middle is the very Buddha.On his left is the Goddess of Mercy.On his right is the other bodhisattva who follows the Buddha.It is said that he can save all the living creatures from three kinds of terrible disasters.Now, let?ˉs step into the Buddhist s criptures Pavilion where the s criptures of Buddhism are kept.But I ??m afraid what attracts our attention at the first sight must be this snow-white statue.It is a statue of Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism.This statue was carved out of a big piece of jade which is 2-meter-tall and weighs 3 tons.It was carved by Myanmar handicraftsmen and donated to the temple by the Rangoon Buddhists in 1935.If we watch the statue, we may sense that the peaceful expression on the Buddha?ˉs face has brought us to a quiet and harmonious state.The last building we will visit is the Avalokitesvara Pavilion in the north yard.When we entered the yard just now we saw a statue of her.Now I?ˉd like to introduce her carefully.As a goddess, she swore that she would not become a Buddha until all the living creatures suffering from pains were saved.So she became a bodhisattva who is most popular among the people and attracts the most believers of all the gods and goddesses in Buddhism.It was said that one would be saved from trouble and disaster as long as he(she)chanted her name and if it was heard by her.Thus she is called Guanshiyin, which means ??hearing or looking on the voices of the suffering?ˉ.Because of her kind heart and benevolence she got another title ??the Goddess of Mercy?ˉ.According to Buddhism, bodhisattvases have no distinction of sex, that is, they are neither male nor female, because they are immortals.But it?ˉs very strange and interesting that most of bodhisattvases were engraved or carved in the images of various kinds of men in human society.Changes didn?ˉt take place until an emperor?ˉs mother thought it was inconvenient to worship a male bodhisattva in her bedroom.From then on, Guanshiyin, the bodhisattvas began to appear before her believers in the image of a beautiful and elegant lady.We?ˉll pay a visit to a very serious, sacred place.Generally, the place is regarded as the most holy by Buddhists.It is the Grand Hall, where the founder of Buddhism, Sakyamuni is worshiped.It is always the center of a Buddhist temple in construction and in Buddhists?ˉ mind.The statue in the middle is Sakyamuni.According to Buddhism his mother gave birth to him in a garden.He belonged to Kshatreya Caste.He married his cousin when he was 16 or 17 years old.At the age of 29, he was confronted with the sights of an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a wandering ascetic.With eyes opened to aspects of life newly revealed to him, he broke from the material world and became an ascetic.Six years later, he gave up mystic concentration that at last brought him enlightenment under a bo tree.He then founded an order of mendicants and spent his next 45 years preaching his ideas until his death.These two statue beside the Buddha are his two disciples.The one on the right was said to be Sakyamuni?ˉs cousin and he had good memory so that he could remember all the Buddha told his disciples.The one on the left was said to be the lord of Brahmnism and he once was Sakyamuni?ˉs tutor.But afterwards he was convinced by Buddhism after long-term debate between Buddhism and other religions and he accepted Sakyamuni as his tutor.Thus he became the eldest one of all Sakyamuni?ˉs disciples.Next, we?ˉll pay a visit to the Ahrat Hall in the south court.The Ahrat Hall is an important structure in a Buddhist temple.But not all temples have an Ahrat Hall, especially, well-kept Ahrat Halls are very rare in China.This one is among them, and what?ˉs more, it has its own unique characteristics.Generally, an Ahrat Hall is a square building.The building is subdivided into four small square courts so that the hall can get enough sunlight.This kind of structure show some lucky implies in Chinese Buddhist culture.Another characteristic about the hall lies in these sculptures themselves.They were neither made up of wood, nor stone, nor clay.A special way was taken in making them, which could prevents them from being burned, being soaked or being eaten by insects.All the sculptures were floating in water while Wuhan was flooded in 1954, but, surprisingly, they were sound and safe after the flood had receded.It was really a wonder.Ahrats are the immortals in Buddhism.But when you have a look around the sculptures, you may find from the expressions on their faces that they are so familiar to you.That?ˉs only because they were molded on the basis of the people in the reality, so they are human beings in our daily life rather than immortals.Ahrats are the symbols of harmony, happiness, and good luck, so the Wuhan natives have got used to counting ahrats since ancient time to pray for peace.There are a few ways of counting ahrats.We can count from the first ahrat from left to right or from right to left, when we just enter the hall.We can also choose any ahrat as our starting point, and count in the same way, left to right or right to left.We should base counting on our own ages whatever we take.For example, I?ˉm 25, so I should stop in front of the 25th ahrat from the starting ahrat.The sculpture in front of which I stop is my lucky ahrat.My lucky ahrat will accompany me to spend a peaceful and lucky year.Wouldn?ˉt you like to have a try now? If you need, I can explain connotation of some ahrats.That?ˉs all for the explanation to Guiyuan Temple.Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.You will have another 30 minutes to have a look around the temple.If you have any problems, do let me know.I would like to repeat our bus number, A3074.Please don?ˉt forget.See you later.

第三篇：湖北歸元寺英文導(dǎo)游詞

Guiyuan Temple

Chinese Buddhist temples are never single buildings.They always consist of a group buildings following a fundamental patter, which can, however, be modified.The main buildings and their symmetrically corresponding secondary buildings form individual groups and courtyards.The entire temple complex is spacious.The building inside the complex are usually single-storied and the main halls are sometimes decorated with a double roof.The towers, pavilions and halls can be multi-storied structures.The Chinese temple complex has been subject to great structural changes throughout the centuries.But temple architects follow the basic principles of secular structures from the Tang Dynasty onwards.The complexes stand on a central axis, usually a north-south axis: east-west only as an exception.(Guiyuan Temple is just the very exception.)The main buildings are strung along this central axis, their broadest sides facing south or east.The most important and most frequently presented building inside a Buddhist temple complex are the main entrance gate, the bell and drum towers, the Hall of the Heavenly Kings, the Hall of the Buddha and a pagoda.Buddhism is said to be founded in India in the 6th century BC by Siddatha Gautama(BC565 –BC486), the son of a nobleman and member of the Kshatriya caste near the present borders of India and Nepal.Buddhism advocates that all the people are created equal and turns against the caste system of Brahmanism, so it was popular with the common people.It was said that Buddhism was spread to China in 2 BC.At the beginning, it was only regarded as a kind of witch.About 200 AD, Chinese version of Buddhist s criptures began to appear, and thus, Buddhist doctrines began to emerge with traditional Chinese religious thought.From 2nd century to late 6th century, translation and research of Buddhist sects with Chinese characteristics were becoming more and more popular and many temples were built, which reached its peak in Sui Dynasty(581AD-617AD)and Tang Dynasty(618-907).Some Buddhist sects with Chinese characteristics came into being.Buddhism exerts a great influence on Chinese philosophy, literature, art and folk customs.What is presented before our eyes is a copper statue of a famous bodhisattva in Hynayana Buddhism.Bodhisattva is a tittle which is only next to Buddha.This statue is the image of Avalokitesvara, which has been popular with Chinese people or more than 1,000 years.She is called the Goddess of Mercy cordially by Chinese and is regarded as the symbol of kindness, mercy and benevolence.When we visit the Avalokitesvara pavilion after a while, I will give a detailed introduction about her.This copper statue was sent to Guiyuan Temple by Taiwan Buddhists in September 1990.It shows that all Chinese, whether in the mainland or in Taiwan, are eager for the reunion of the country, even including religion believers.The building we see now is the Buddha Hall where one certain Buddha and his two assistant bodhisattvases are worshiped.This Buddha is Amitabha Buddha.Amitabha means incomparable brightness.According to Buddhism, time and space is limitless and thus there are many many Buddhas in different spaces and times.But in a certain space or in a certain period of time, there is only one certain Buddha who is in charge of instructing all living creatures.Amitabha Buddha is the Buddha who presides over the Land of Ultimate Bliss in the west, which will come in the future.Buddhist s criptures describe the Land of Ultimate Bliss as a wonderland, in which no pain exists and the people enjoy their lives.In one word, it’s very attractive.Some people will think it must be very difficult to enter such a world.How can I go to such a paradise? Maybe I have to work hard and bear a lot of sufferings.In fact, it’s very easy to enter the world.He only need often murmur ‘May Buddha preserve us’ sincerely.It’s enough.You see, the statue in the middle is the very Buddha.On his left is the Goddess of Mercy.On his right is the other bodhisattva who follows the Buddha.It is said that he can save all the living creatures from three kinds of terrible disasters.Ahrats are the immortals in Buddhism.But when you have a look around the sculptures, you may find from the expressions on their faces that they are so familiar to you.That’s only because they were molded on the basis of the people in the reality, so they are human beings in our daily life rather than immortals.Ahrats are the symbols of harmony, happiness, and good luck, so the Wuhan natives have got used to counting ahrats since ancient time to pray for peace.There are a few ways of counting ahrats.We can count from the first ahrat from left to right or from right to left, when we just enter the hall.We can also choose any ahrat as our starting point, and count in the same way, left to right or right to left.We should base counting on our own ages whatever we take.For example, I’m 25, so I should stop in front of the 25th ahrat from the starting ahrat.The sculpture in front of which I stop is my lucky ahrat.My lucky ahrat will accompany me to spend a peaceful and lucky year.Wouldn’t you like to have a try now? If you need, I can explain connotation of some ahrats.That’s all for the explanation to Guiyuan Temple.Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.You will have another 30 minutes to have a look around the temple.If you have any problems, do let me know.I would like to repeat our bus number, A3074.please don’t forget.See you later.

第四篇：歸元寺英文導(dǎo)游詞

歸元寺 Guiyuan Temple

Ladies and gentlemen,Welcome to Wuhan.My name is LiBo.I am from Wuhan travel service.I will be your local guide during your stay in Wuhan.This is our driver,Mr Zhang.His bus number is WH12345.On behalf of my travel agency, we hope you have a nice journey here.If you have any special interest, plese tell your tour leader, and he will ler us know.My job is to smooth you way, care for your welfare, try my best to answer your question, and be your guide and interpreter.I will try to do my level to “warm the ceekles of your heart”.We highly appreciate your understanding andcooperation.Today we will go to visit the Guiyuan Temple.At first, I would like to give you a brief intronduction of it.Guiyuan Temple is a Buddhist temple in Central China.It located at the west end ofCuiwei Street, Hangyang Town of Wuhan.It is a famous relic of Wuhan.Guiyuan Temple was builtbetween the late Ming dynasty and the early Qing dynasty.Until now it is over 300 years old.According to the legend, during the late Ming dynasty there were two brothers in Zhejiang province, one was called Baiguang and the other called Zhufeng.They became monks in the same time.They believe in Buddhism very much when they were children, so they often went to other places to broadcast Buddhism.One day, they came to Hangyang and saw many bones of dead soldiers because of the great battle here.They were very sad so they spent three days to pray for these soldiers.Two rich merchants were moved by their good deeds, they donated a lot of money to build temple for them and named it Guiyuan Temple.The main meanning of the name is “If you practice Buddhism,keep purity in mind and do a lot of good deeds, you will have a chance to get into Heaven finally”.Contrasting with other temple, Guiyuan Temple has its own threefeatures.The first feature is the color.Guiyuan Temple's color is yellow, “yellow” was the symbol of noble and power, it was royal family's special color, only emperor and his family could use this kind fo color on their clothes and buildings.The second feature is the title.The title of Guiyuan Temple is straight, not across.The third feature is the gate shape, the gate of Guiyuan Temple is shaped like the Chinese character “eight”.Guiyuan Temple mainly consisted of four building groups.They are located individully in four courtyards.Today we will main visit the Great Hall and the Ahrat Hall.The back building is called the Great Hall in which the statua of Sakyamuni is standing.It was Sakyamuni whocreated Buddhism.Sakyamuni are his two disciples.It is said, when Sakyamuni was alive, there was not copyright record of Buddhist scriptures, people spread Buddhism only by recitation.After Sakyamuni died, one of his disciples asked somdbody to make a good record and made these into

books.This is why we can read Buddhist scriptures today.In front of the statua, there is an table 3.6 meters long and less than1 meter wide.It is a very precious wood-carving of Guiyuan Temple,carved according to the famous Chinese classical novel in Ming dynasty.Next, we'll go to visit the Ahrat Hall.The Ahrat Hall is an very important structure in a Buddhist temple.But well-kept Ahrat Hall are very rare in China.Guiyuan Temple's one of them.What's more, there is a characteristic about the Ahrats.They were nerther made up of wood nor stone.A special was taken in making them, which could prevent them from being burned, being soaked or being eaten by insects.They remained well after Wuhan was flooded in 1954.It was really a wonder.After getting into the hall , ladies count from the right, and gentlemen count from the left.When you start to count, please take anyone as the NO.1, then count according to your actual age.The last one will stand for you lucky ahrat.You can imagine your fortune according to the appearance of this Ahrat.And your lucky ahrat will accompany you to spend a peaceful and lucky year.That's all explanation for Guiyuan Temple.My friends, the time has gone very quickly and our trip is drawing to a close.It's a pity to say goodbye.Please allow me take this opportunity to thank you fou your cooperation and understanding, and if you come back in the future, I hope to see you again and be your guide again.

第五篇：歸元寺導(dǎo)游詞

“上有寶光，下有西園，北有碧云，中有歸元。”歸元禪寺位于武漢漢陽(yáng)翠微峰下的翠微路西側(cè)，與古琴臺(tái)相鄰。言“歸元無(wú)二路，方便有多門(mén)。”歸元寺寺名即來(lái)源于此。歸元寺原址為明代的私人花園，到一六五八年，由園主布施給化緣和尚在此修造了三座小塔，塔中掩埋無(wú)主的尸骨。后來(lái)蛻薪鄧財(cái)物修建寺廟，又經(jīng)歷代陸續(xù)重建，遂成為今日的格局。現(xiàn)歸元寺建筑面積二萬(wàn)多平方米?

主體建筑分內(nèi)外兩院。外院主要由門(mén)樓、庭院、池塘組成;內(nèi)院由北院藏經(jīng)閣、中院大雄寶殿及南院羅漢堂三個(gè)主體建筑，以及天王殿、地藏王殿等組成。歸元寺給人的一個(gè)突出印象是它的建筑風(fēng)格與其他寺院不大一致。它不具有整齊對(duì)稱(chēng)的宏大格局，卻略顯雜亂。原來(lái)，初建寺院時(shí)，化緣的和尚無(wú)法在短期內(nèi)湊聚足夠的錢(qián)財(cái)做整體安排。有錢(qián)時(shí)就趕快買(mǎi)地?fù)屝蓿駝t等到錢(qián)籌集足夠時(shí)，周?chē)鷺?gòu)想中的地方則已被別人搶先買(mǎi)了。和尚們不得已，只能夠有一筆錢(qián)就修一處。山門(mén)朝東，建筑物卻由南向北逐次側(cè)進(jìn)。與一般大叢林相比，歸元寺“百尺茂林，千桿修竹，紅分日剎，綠繞云房”，多彩多姿，秀麗宜人。

經(jīng)過(guò)荷葉滴綠、蓮花盛開(kāi)的蓮池，就是大雄寶殿，殿內(nèi)釋迦像兩旁是海島觀音，以及二十四諸天等像，放置在一個(gè)傾斜的面上，工藝水平極高。尤為值得注意的是，釋迦像前供桌的垂簾，它不是一般的紡織物，而是木刻而成的木質(zhì)垂簾。垂簾古樸典雅造型獨(dú)特，有較高的欣賞價(jià)值，是一件不可多得的藝術(shù)珍品。

向北而行可到藏經(jīng)閣，其建筑壯麗，裝飾典雅，是歸元寺收藏文物的寶庫(kù)。閣內(nèi)藏有清一套和貝葉真經(jīng)、牙雕或銅鑄佛像，俱為珍品，此外尚有國(guó)外贈(zèng)送的佛事文物若干。正廳陳列了一座緬甸玉雕釋迦佛像，十分精美。

藏經(jīng)閣向西，繞過(guò)大士閣，南行至南院的羅漢堂，進(jìn)入內(nèi)室，可以看見(jiàn)呈”田”字形排列的五百羅漢。它們起伏坐臥，喜怒哀樂(lè)，各具姿色，各富特色，或盤(pán)腿端坐、或抱石問(wèn)天、或研讀佛經(jīng)、或驅(qū)除邪魔，動(dòng)作各不相同，有的勇武、有的溫和、有的天真憨坦、有的飽經(jīng)滄桑，表情個(gè)個(gè)有異，有的在怡然自得地掏耳朵，有的在百無(wú)聊賴(lài)地打著呵欠，使人忍俊不禁。羅漢制作的工藝水平很高，為十九世紀(jì)末清光緒年間黃陂縣王氏父子費(fèi)時(shí)九年制成。工藝上采用了漆布脫胎漆型的特殊方法:先用泥胎塑制模型，再用厚布、生漆逐層粘貼套塑，并使每座羅漢的頭部、兩肩、肋骨、腿骨等各自形成一個(gè)傾向，從而用藝術(shù)的線條形象勾勒出一個(gè)大的面，使動(dòng)作、表情各異。這種工藝方法既利于固形，經(jīng)久不變，又能夠防腐，經(jīng)久不壞，此法為中國(guó)獨(dú)有。一九五四年武漢發(fā)大水，五百羅漢滿堂飄浮，水退之后卻完好無(wú)損，因此武漢民間又有了“五百羅漢洗過(guò)澡”的說(shuō)法。

歸元寺也是近代佛學(xué)復(fù)興的發(fā)源地之一。一九二二年間春，太虛法師在歸元寺講經(jīng)弘法，時(shí)聽(tīng)者甚眾，激發(fā)太虛弘法志愿，與兩湖聽(tīng)講的名流商議，為更好地弘法利生，必須設(shè)立佛學(xué)院，廣泛培養(yǎng)佛學(xué)人才，此是武昌佛學(xué)院得以興辦的緣起之一。