Fahua Temple

Fahua Temple

Fahua Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Located at No. 271 Ji’an Road, Laomenxi, Shanghai, Fahua Temple is the only Tiantai Buddhism monastery in the city and has long been regarded as one of the Four Great Buddhist Monasteries of Shanghai.

Fahua Temple was first built in the last century. In 1918, the venerable Master Xingci was invited by Madam Luo Jialing, wife of Silas Aaron Hardoon, to come from Tiantai Mountain in Zhejiang to give lectures on the “Collected Annotations on the Tiantai Fourfold Teachings” at Hardy’s Garden in Shanghai. The lectures attracted a large audience, and the Dharma teachings flourished. After hearing the teachings, the lay devotee Shen Yingquan was determined to invite Master Xing to stay in Shanghai to continue his teachings. As a result, Chaochen Retreat was established for him in Xiaonanmen. However, the space was small and the location cramped, making it inconvenient for followers to study. By 1923, lay devotees including Wang Zhen, known as the White Dragon Mountain Man, initiated the purchase of over five acres of land between Ji’an Road and Dongtai Road. After five years of construction, Fahua Temple was completed.

The other three major monasteries in Shanghai—Jade Buddha Temple, Jing’an Temple, and Longhua Temple—had already been restored and opened to the public as early as the 1980s. Fahua Temple, however, was the last to be revived. It wasn’t until 1997 that the main structures of the temple were reclaimed. During the Cultural Revolution, the site had been repurposed as a factory, and the Mahavira Hall had been turned into an assembly workshop. After reclamation, it took over a year just to demolish unauthorized constructions and clear away the debris. The current reconstruction, to be precise, involved building a brand-new Mahavira Hall of the original scale atop a dilapidated ruin. The challenge was arguably even greater than constructing a new hall from scratch. The original Mahavira Hall of Fahua Temple featured a Romanesque architectural style, standing out uniquely among Shanghai’s Buddhist monasteries. Unfortunately, Master Xing passed away before the roof could be completed. It was not until sixty years later, during this renovation, that the roof was finally finished.

The newly built Mahavira Hall retains the original Western-style architectural design while being expanded to five stories. The roof adopts a traditional Chinese hip-and-gable style with upturned eaves, flying rafters, and bracket sets—clearly a fusion of East and West. With painted beams and carved rafters, yellow walls, red pillars, majestic Buddhas, and resplendent ornamentation, the hall exudes solemnity and grandeur. On both sides of the platform in front of the hall, new stone railings and corridors have been added, adorned with small stone lions, extending all the way to the steps in front of the hall, creating a spectacular sight. Beneath the Mahavira Hall, the original thousand-person hall has been preserved. Though it appears as a semi-basement from the outside, it can actually serve as a multipurpose hall—suitable for Dharma talks, reception banquets, and large-scale Buddhist ceremonies. Venerable Juehui and the monastic staff practiced frugality and endured hardships to complete this magnificent Mahavira Hall, leaving behind what can be described as a historic landmark. I am truly in awe.

Master Xingci preached Tiantai Buddhism and practiced Pure Land Buddhism. He declared the founding principle of the temple as: “Upholding the Pure Land as the school’s banner, practicing and teaching the Buddha-recitation method by which ‘ten thousand people practice, ten thousand attain liberation.’” Therefore, the renowned Buddhist scholar Venerable Fan Gengnong wrote in his article “On the Meritorious Deeds of Fahua Temple’s Pure Land Monastery”: “Master Xingci expounded the Pure Land teachings according to the sutras of Shakyamuni, based on the Land of Amitabha Buddha, and through the vows of Dharmakara Bodhisattva. To attain the same splendid fruition as Amitabha, one must cultivate the virtuous causes as Dharmakara did. Thus, the monastery was established and named Fahua.” This is the origin of the temple’s name.

As a “preaching temple,” Fahua Temple regards teaching as its duty and benefiting sentient beings as its mission. It holds annual Dharma assemblies to promote the doctrines of Tiantai Buddhism, eliminate malpractices, and does not engage in ritualistic Buddhist services. Master Xing himself established four monastic regulations: First, the system—permanently adopting a merit-based system where any of the ten directions may be chosen, meaning even his own disciples are not permitted to inherit the abbotship. Second, the abbot—must be morally and scholastically outstanding, proficient in both practice and doctrine, committed to Pure Land practice, capable of guiding the faithful, promoting scriptures and commentaries, and educating newcomers, in order to assume the responsibility of leading the monastic community. Third, co-residents—the monastery is divided into two sections: the Pure Practice Hall and the Study Society. Those who enter the Pure Practice Hall dedicate themselves to Buddha-recitation around the clock. Those without such aspiration are not allowed to reside together. Those who join the Study Society focus primarily on studying Tiantai Buddhism, along with other schools as auxiliary. Those distracted by worldly affairs or negligent in self-discipline are not allowed to stay. Fourth, Buddhist services—apart from conducting Buddha-recitation and Ullambana rituals for patrons, no other services are to be performed. These four regulations ensured that Fahua Temple maintained pure monastic discipline and became widely renowned, earning the title “Spiritual Rock of Shanghai,” with the Pure Land teachings flourishing for a time.

The venerable Master Xingci was a Buddhist educator. When I was a child, I often went to listen to his Dharma talks and received his personal teachings. In addition to lecturing on many scriptures and commentaries such as the Diamond Sutra, Lotus Sutra, Surangama Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra, and Amitabha Sutra Commentary, he also founded the Fahua Buddhist Academy and invited eminent monastics such as Master Jingquan, Master Chisong, Master Zhifeng, Master Mochan, Master Yihuan, Master Xueliang, as well as lay scholars Xia Mianzun and Ruan Bokang to teach. He established the Ciguang Supplementary School on Ji’an Road, offering both general and elective courses, providing free secondary education to underprivileged children. His disciple Venerable Weiyun transformed his “One Mind Hermitage” near Songjiang’s Zhongshan Park into Xingci Middle School to provide education for society, which also included a monastic class where over thirty young monks received basic education. The original Fahua Temple had a scripture depository that housed precious Buddhist artifacts, such as an ancient bronze standing statue of Guanyin, the relic stupa of Master Xuanzang, the complete Ming Dynasty edition of the Southern Canon (Nanzang), the complete Qing Dynasty Qianlong edition of the Dragon Canon (Longzang), and the complete Pingqia Scripture Press edition of the Pinqia Canon from the Republican era—all of which, unfortunately, were destroyed. Fortunately, the inscribed plaques and couplets written by eminent figures such as Master Yinguang, Master Yuanying, Master Chisong, Master Xingci, as well as lay devotees Wang Yiting, Dai Jitao, and Li Liejun, still remain. During the reconstruction of the Mahavira Hall, these were restored to their original locations on the walls. The restoration of Shanghai’s Fahua Temple has only just begun. Full restoration remains a long and arduous journey. But I firmly believe that with the nation’s prosperity and the flourishing of the Dharma, the aspirations of Master Xingci will surely be inherited and furthered in the new century, and Shanghai’s only Tiantai Buddhism monastery will regain its vitality.

Editor’s Note: In early March, the Shanghai Buddhist Association passed a resolution inviting Venerable Guanghui to serve as the temple’s “Director of Temple Affairs,” planning to promote monastic education, propagate Tiantai teachings, and fulfill the late Master Xingci’s aspirations. Venerable Juehui, on multiple occasions, requested to “yield to the virtuous” due to old age, entrusting the heavy responsibility of spreading the Dharma to younger monks—a spirit of selflessness that has earned great admiration from monastics worldwide. During his tenure overseeing the renovations, he poured immense thought and effort into the project. Despite extremely challenging conditions, he managed to accomplish such a significant task, transforming decay into marvel. The majestic temple now shines brilliantly in Shanghai, an act of immeasurable merit that illuminates the human realm.

Transportation

Address: No. 271 Ji’an Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai

Transportation: Bus routes 24, 864, 17, 932, 109; Metro Line 8