Beiduofo Chan Temple

Beiduofo Chan Temple

Beiduofo Chan Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Beiduofo Chan Temple is located on Jinzhou’s Beiduofo Mountain. The Sakyamuni Buddha enshrined in the hall is carved from sandalwood, featuring a resplendent golden surface adorned with 24K gold leaf. With radiant Buddha light, wafting incense, and chanting sutras, the temple attracts a continuous stream of worshippers from both China and abroad.

Beiduofo Chan Temple’s Dharma Treasure Tower houses the Nirvana statue of Sakyamuni Buddha made from Burmese jade, depicting the Buddha entering parinirvana at the age of 80 in a sal tree forest. Here, visitors can also see the world’s rare true relics of the Buddha—an invaluable treasure. Among them, the “Qianlong Buddhist Canon” is one of only ten such editions in China. In addition, there are precious items and handwritten calligraphy gifted by eminent monks from various countries.

To the east of Beiduofo Mountain Chan Temple lies the world-famous Five Hundred Arhats Slope. The five hundred arhats are depicted in diverse and lifelike forms, all protecting the Buddha, resembling stars surrounding the moon, creating an atmosphere of solemn grandeur akin to the Western Pure Land. The revered monk Master Weixian personally inscribed the name “The World’s Number One Five Hundred Arhats Slope.”

Beiduofo Mountain has been a sacred site visited by emperors, eminent monks, masters, and devotees throughout history. In the early Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Jiute, the birth mother of Emperor Shunzhi, visited Beiduofo Mountain Temple and bestowed a gift of one thousand taels of silver. In the 52nd year of the Qianlong reign, Wei Yangben, a local gentleman from Jinzhou, invested his entire fortune to build the stone path up the mountain. Throughout the dynasties, patriotic poets, national heroes such as Sun Chengzong, Yuan Chonghuan, and Wang Erlie, as well as founding Marshal Luo Ronghuan, visited the caves to compose poetry and couplets, leaving behind immortal inscriptions.

The imperial calligraphy of Emperor Guangxu’s “Beiduofo Mountain Stele” remains majestic to this day. The peerless talent Wang Erlie inscribed the running script “Endowed by Heaven” on the cliffs, inspiring awe and deep emotion in all who behold it.