Bao Yu Cave

Bao Yu Cave

Bao Yu Cave is a cultural relic protection unit of Suzhou City.

Bao Yu Cave is located at the foot of Furong Peak on the summit of Yufeng Mountain in Yushan Town, Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province. It was initially built during the Song Dynasty (960–1280). The cave entrance is shaped like an inverted V, facing the sun. The cave is over two meters high, with a flat bottom inside measuring about eight meters. It was constructed to enshrine the monk Huixiang from the Liang Dynasty.

It is said that at the time, when Huixiang first came to Kunshan to build a temple, he was already advanced in age and lived under extremely harsh conditions. He stayed in a cave on Ma'anshan Mountain, which was dark and damp. He endured wind, rain, cold, and heat without complaint, overcoming difficulties that most people could not. With the approval of Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty, Master Huixiang carefully selected the site, gathered construction materials, and personally supervised the project. Finally, in the 10th year of the Tianjian era of the Liang Dynasty (511 AD), he completed the construction of “Huizhou Temple” at the foot of Ma’anshan Mountain. Over time, Huizhou Temple evolved into what is now known as Huazang Temple. In his later years, Master Huixiang resided on Hamashan Island in the middle of the Yangtze River, where he eventually passed away. During the Song Dynasty, the cave enshrined a stone statue of Master Huixiang, the founding abbot of Huazang Temple (formerly Huizhou Temple). Both the statue and its lotus-shaped base were carved from bluestone. The statue remained there until it was destroyed in 1958 during lime production. The lotus base still survives. The cave was listed as part of the second batch of cultural relic protection units in Kunshan City in 1997.