Songjiang Futian Jing Temple

Songjiang Futian Jing Temple

Songjiang Futian Jing Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Futian Jing Temple is a reconstructed Buddhist sanctuary that inherits several former temples in the Songjiang Sijing area, including the "Dongtian Chan Temple" bestowed with the imperial title by Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty in 1008, and the "Yan Family Nunnery," originally built in 1776 in Beizhangjing. Songjiang, a water town and Buddhist haven, has deep roots in Buddhism. As early as 926, during the Zhengyuan era of the King of Wuyue, the Lubao Hermitage was relocated three times from Mount Lubao to the winding Panlong River at Hengtangkou by Wusong (present-day west of Guilong Bridge on the Dianpu River in Sijing). It received the imperial Buddhist scripture, the Golden Lettered Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Dharma, bestowed by the King of Wuyue, thereby becoming the earliest Buddhist site in the Sijing area.

Forty years later, due to flooding, the hermitage was moved to Qibao in the final years of the Qiande era (967) under the leadership of Monk Xin. Later, a devotee named Zhang Ze donated his residence to establish Qibao Jiao Temple. Ten years after the Lubao Hermitage’s eastward relocation, Monk Yingrui, through hardships and fundraising, sought land and began construction. By 1008, the temple was completed and Emperor Zhenzong bestowed its name, granting the plaque “Dongtian Chan Temple,” along with another plaque naming “Qibao Jiao Temple.” This established two grand Buddhist temples standing side by side, gaining fame even in the imperial court. During the early Ming Dynasty in the Hongwu era, a Guanyin Pavilion was added, and a bronze pagoda (Yingyang Pagoda) was cast to house scriptures. In the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, three large three-arch stone bridges—Pudu, Fuliuan, and Wu’an—were built. Each bridge’s arch was inscribed with “Namo Amitabha Buddha,” earning reverence from merchants far and wide as the “Buddhist Water Town.” The bridge west of Dongtian Chan Temple also gained the name “Xianghua Bridge” (Incense Flower Bridge) from the burning of incense and candles there. A folk rhyme celebrates “three bows (bridges) and one arrow (bronze pagoda) bringing peace to the land,” referring to this scenic past, which also inspired the reconstruction of the Sijing Anfang Pagoda more than 600 years later.

The original site of Dongtian Chan Temple spanned nearly 100 acres from the former Shanghai Temperature Instrument Factory in Sijing to the edge of Husong Highway, and its remnants survived until 1958. The earliest published local chronicle in post-liberation Shanghai, the Sijing Town Annals, states: “Since the establishment of Dongtian Temple in the Zhenzong era of the Song Dynasty, Buddhism has been propagated in the Sijing area... The most prominent in scale and influence was Dongtian Temple (also known as Little Putuo).” In addition, historical records mention other temples in the Sijing area, such as Longxing Nunnery, Beitian Temple, Guyu Mountain Temple, and Zhuzhuang Temple, but all have since disappeared.

In 1994, the Yan Family Nunnery, a nunnery initially built in 1776 and continuously maintained, was approved as a temporary religious site in Sijing Town. At that time, it was overseen by Abbess Huiqing and located at No. 6 Beizhangjing in Sijing Town. In June 2000, proposed by Venerable Xingxiu, abbot of Xilin Chan Temple and then president of the Songjiang Buddhist Association, and approved by the Shanghai Municipal Ethnic and Religious Affairs Commission and the Songjiang District People's Government, it was converted into a monastery for bhikkhus. The land of eight small temples in Sijing Town was consolidated, and the temple was relocated to its current site (the former site of Chenghuang Temple) for reconstruction. In the same year, the Yuantong Treasure Hall was completed. In honor of the contributions of Venerable Yingrui and other eminent monks of Dongtian Temple to Sijing’s Buddhist legacy, and to inspire future generations, Venerable Xingxiu officially named the temple “Futian Jing Temple.”

Starting in April 2003, invited by the Songjiang Religious Affairs Office, Sijing Town Government, and Songjiang Buddhist Association, and dispatched by Venerable Juewu of Jade Buddha Temple, Master Mingfei, a graduate of the first class of Shanghai Buddhist College and former deputy abbot of the storeroom at Jade Buddha Temple, became the abbess of Futian Jing Temple in the ancient town of Sijing. Under her leadership, Futian Jing Temple restored monastic systems, improved temple infrastructure, and focused on planning a distinguished temple in a renowned town. By August 2006, the Buddha Recitation Building, Heavenly King Hall, Bell and Drum Tower, east wing rooms, Merit Hall, and Dining Hall were completed. By January 2008, the Dharma Milk Hall, west wing rooms, and living quarters were also finished, giving the temple the grandeur of an ancient sacred site. In April 2008, Futian Jing Temple held its consecration and completion ceremony, attended by thousands of devotees.

Futian Jing Temple has three courtyards. The mountain gate stands at the end of a stone path and memorial archway, with the left door inscribed “Non-Dual Gate” and the right “Samadhi Realm.” The mountain gate is a double-eaved structure. On either side behind the gate are the Bell Tower and Drum Tower. Directly ahead is the Heavenly King Hall, with the plaque “Majestic Compassionate Protection” above it. Behind it lies the temple’s main hall, the Yuantong Treasure Hall, housing the Goddess Guanyin, with the plaque “Seeking the Sound to Save the Suffering” above it. Behind the Yuantong Treasure Hall on the east side is the temple’s treasured 500-year-old ginkgo tree; on the west is a liberation pond, beside which stands an ornamental corridor with a square pavilion inside housing a statue of Guanyin, called the “Great Mercy Pavilion.” Behind the Yuantong Treasure Hall are wing-room-style buildings known as the “Thousand Buddha Hall,” flanked by round archways named “Prajna” and “Liberation,” each leading to serene garden areas at the back of the temple. On both sides of the Yuantong Treasure Hall are walking corridors adorned with painted stone carvings depicting stories such as the eighteen arhats and the young Shakyamuni teaching, each figure expressing unique spiritual powers in vivid detail.

On the east and west sides of the Heavenly King Hall are wing-room complexes. The east side includes the Guanyin Hall, which also houses the vegetarian restaurant and the Dharma item distribution area. The entire Futian Jing Temple is themed around the worship of Guanyin Bodhisattva, featuring yellow walls, red gates, gray tiles, and ginkgo trees, creating an elegant environment that offers a sharp contrast to the lively noise of the ancient Sijing town outside the temple gate.