Changzhou Qingliang Temple

Changzhou Qingliang Temple

Changzhou Qingliang Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangsu Province.

　 Qingliang Temple is situated at No. 22 Qingliang Road in downtown Changzhou. The temple was first built in the first year of the Jiaping era of the Northern Song Dynasty (1064), originally named Bao'en Ganci Chan Monastery, and was destroyed in the late Yuan Dynasty. In the first year of the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty (1403), it was moved to its current location and named Qingliang Temple, later renamed Duanming Temple, and then destroyed again during the Taiping Rebellion. Between the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty and the Republican era, Master Jingbo and former abbots successively rebuilt over 300 structures including the Mahavira Hall, the Heavenly King Hall, the Scripture Depository, the Dharma Hall, and the Meditation Hall. The main buildings are aligned along the central axis, among which the Scripture Depository is a three-story wooden post-and-lintel structure with a flush gable roof, built with high-quality materials and noted for its grandeur and height. The temple still houses a broken stele inscribed with the “Record of the Buddha Hall of Bao'en Ganci Temple,” erected in the eighth year of the Zhengtong era (1443) by Hu Ying, Minister of Rites. After 1958, Qingliang Temple was successively occupied by five factories and schools, and the Buddhist statues were gradually damaged. Starting in 1982, significant funds were invested to relocate the factories and schools within the temple grounds. After restoration, it was opened to the public as the Changzhou Museum in 1984. It is now a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units