Guangfu Temple

Guangfu Temple

Guangfu Temple is a national AAA-level tourist attraction and a cultural tourism site.

Guangfu Temple, anciently known as Guangfu Monastery, and commonly called the East Temple, is located in Mingdao Village, northeast of Hai’an Town, Hai’an County, Jiangsu Province. The temple faces the Xin Tongyang Canal to the south, borders Fengshan Mountain and the tomb area of Mr. Han Guojun to the southwest, adjoins the planned Fengshan Park covering dozens of acres to the west, lies near the beautiful Zishi Middle School to the northeast, and is fronted by the broad Fengshan Avenue to the east. Coupled with one of the renowned “Ten Scenic Spots of Hai’an,” “Early Morning at Fengshan,” the solemn morning and evening bells of the temple, and the elegant surrounding environment, make Guangfu Temple an exceptional feng shui site in Hai’an.

In the 35th year of the Republic of China (1946), part of the temple buildings were dismantled due to wartime, but the Mahavira Hall remained. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, it was once used as the library of Hai’an County Middle School. In the 1980s, the People’s Government of Hai’an County, in order to strengthen the protection of ancient architecture, designated the Mahavira Hall as a county-level cultural relics protection unit. In 1992, a new site for Guangfu Temple was planned, and substantial funds were allocated. The reconstruction was undertaken by Wuxi Ancient Architecture Company, which dismantled and rebuilt the Mahavira Hall on the current site as per the original structure. Following the principles of unified planning, design, and phased implementation, this historic temple, having endured much over the years, has been restored into a notable temple still of considerable scale in central Jiangsu. This has ensured the implementation of the national religious policy and guaranteed the freedom of religious belief for the broader religious community and Buddhist devotees.