Xiangguo Temple

Hours & Admission Price Peak Season
Jan.-Dec.
08:00-18:30
30 Low Season
Jan.-Dec.
08:00-18:30
30 Address & Phone +86 378-5665090 No.36 Ziyou Road, Gulou District, Kaifeng City, Henan Province Transportation One can take bus No. 5, 9 20 from the railway station to get there. Notes

Located in the western section of Ziyou Road, Kaifeng City, Xiangguo Temple is one of the famous temples in China and plays an important role in the development of Buddhism in China.

Xiangguo Temple, located in the western section of Ziyou Road, Kaifeng City, is said to have been the residence of Xin Lingjun in the Warring Period (475BC-221BC). Originally built in 555, the sixth year of the Tianbao reign in the Northern Qi (550-557) Dynasty，Xiangguo Temple is one of the famous temples in China and plays an important role in the development of Buddhism in China.

History

Originally known as “Jianguo Temple”, the temple was bestowed the name “Xiangguo Temple” by the Emperor Ruizong of Tang Dynasty (618-907) in the year of 712. It was highly respected in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) and enlarged many times. Once covered an area of 33.3 hectares and with 64 meditation yards, law yards, more than 1,000 monks, Xiangguo Temple was the largest temple and the Buddhist center at that time. The magnificent and splendid architecture was heavily destroyed by the flood in the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and rebuilt in the 31th year of Qianlong Period in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Although the rebuilt scale is far inferior to the Tang Dynasty’s, the layout of the temple has been retained. The existing structures were mainly built during the Qing Dynasty, which is antique, resplendent and magnificent.

At present, the preserved buildings include Temple Gate, Heavenly Kings Hall, Mahavira Hall, Octagonal Glazed Hall, the Bell Tower and Drum Tower buildings and Sutra Hall.

Temple Gate

Firstly built in the region of Qianlong in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Temple Gate was damaged by the fire in the War of Liberation. After the liberation, it was renovated by the government as a brick structure. The presentTemple Gate was built by the Buddhist abbot Xin Guangda and titled by the former chairman of original Chinese Buddhist association Zhao Piaochu.

Heavenly Kings Hall

With five rooms and three gates, Heavenly Kings Hall is covered with yellow glazed tiles. In the middle of the hall, three sits a statue of Maitreya, who has a broad smile on his face. It is said to be the future Buddha. The four Heavenly Kings are standing beside Maitreya with sword, lute, blue umbrella and silver snake in their hands respectively. They all in round eye and eye covetously, which shows their resolution of destroy all the evil.

Mahavira Hall

As the main hall of the temple, Mahavira Hall was built during the Shunzhi Period in the Qing Dynasty with 7 rooms in wide, and 5 rooms in length, and 13 meters in height. It is magnificent and regarded as the first hall in the Central China. About 58 exquisite lions were carved on the balusters around the hall. Three Buddhas are worshiped here. That is Sakyamuni, Emitofo (guide of the Western Paradise) and Yaoshifo (the God of Medicine).

Octagonal Glazed Hall

Known also as Arhat Hall, the Octagonal Glazed Hall is in an octagon model, which is unique in the Buddhist temples in China. Covering an area of 828 square meters, Octagonal Glazed Hall is composed of Youlang hall, Courtyard and Center Pavilion. Inside the towering Octagonal Pavilion, there lies a wooden statue of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, which was carved from the bole of a huge gingko tree during the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty by a folk artist in 58 years. The statue is more than 3 meters high and more than 2,000 kilometers weight. Its four sides of the statue are of the same sculpt. On each side, there are six big hands and three to four layers of small fanlike hands, with an eye on each palm. There are 1,048 hands in total and folk known as thousands of eyes and hands. The statue is not only precious in material and exquisite in carver, which shows the fine art of Qing Dynasty and is the most precious one in the temple.

Sutra Hall

The magnificent two-storey Sutra Hall, where the sutras are kept is the built in the region of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty. It covers an area of 600 square meters and with 5 rooms wide, 20 meters height. Glazed lion ornaments line the ridges to the hall, tied with small bells, chiming beautiful music together with the breeze.

Kaifeng Culture