Shenyang Cien Temple

Shenyang Cien Temple

Shenyang Cien Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Liaoning Province.

Cien Temple is located at No. 12 Cien Temple Lane, Da’nandong Street, Shenhe District. Originally built in the second year of the Tiancong era of the Later Jin Dynasty (1628), it was expanded and renovated during the Qing dynasties of Shunzhi and Daoguang, as well as the Republican period, making it the largest existing Buddhist temple in the city.

The temple faces east and covers an area of over 12,000 square meters. The main entrance faces the front, with a bell and drum tower inside the gate. To the west, the temple complex is divided into three sections. The central section features the Hall of Heavenly Kings at the front, with a width of three bays and painted beams. The hall enshrines statues of the Four Heavenly Kings, Maitreya, and Skanda. Further west are the Mahavira Hall, Bhikkhu Platform, and Scripture Repository.

The Mahavira Hall is built on a high platform, with five bays in width and three in depth, featuring corridors in the front and back. The hall houses statues of the Three Ages of the Tathagata, the Sailong Guanyin (Guanyin Crossing the Sea), the Four Great Bodhisattvas, and the Eighteen Arhats. The Bhikkhu Platform is a single-eave Xieshan-style structure with a front corridor. A brick inscribed with the words “Constant Rotation, National Peace and Prosperity” is installed on the main ridge beam. The hall enshrines a statue of Sakyamuni Buddha. The southern section of the temple includes, from east to west, the Retiring Quarters, kitchen, administrative office, dining hall, meditation hall, monks’ quarters, and Buddhist academy. The northern section includes the Meditation Quarters, Guest Hall, Buddha-Chanting Hall, Abbot’s Room, and storage rooms. The temple has a total of 135 rooms, covering a construction area of 2,995 square meters.

It is worth mentioning that one monk had a significant influence on Cien Temple. His Dharma name was Hanke, also known as Shengren, and he was the son of Han Rizuan, the Minister of Rites in the Ming Dynasty. At the age of 29, he became a monk on Mount Luofu. When the Qing army marched south, he witnessed the suffering of the people during wartime and the defection of certain Ming officials. He then wrote a book exposing current events titled *Record of the Second Upheaval*, which was discovered by the Qing army. He was taken to the capital for trial and later exiled to Cien Temple in Shengjing to practice Buddhism. Hanke organized a literary society called the “Ice Sky Poetry Society” in Shengjing, actively writing poetry with literati and scholars.

During an epidemic in Shengjing, he led other monks to gather and distribute medicine, saving many lives and earning him great respect among the people. He passed away in meditation in the sixteenth year of the Shunzhi era (1660) in Shengjing at the age of 49. His disciples built the Shengren Master Pagoda for him on Yingluo Peak of Qianshan Mountain.

The temple was listed as a municipal-level cultural relic protection unit of Shenyang in 1985, elevated to a provincial-level unit in 1988, and now serves as the location of the Shenyang Buddhist Association.

Further reading:

· Fourth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units in Liaoning Province