Kuaiji Mountain Longhua Temple

Kuaiji Mountain Longhua Temple

Kuaiji Mountain Longhua Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Located on Kuaiji Mountain in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, Kuaiji Mountain is a renowned historical and cultural mountain in China and also the birthplace of the Chinese Maitreya belief. Here, the eminent Jin Dynasty monk Zhi Dun translated a large number of Maitreya scriptures and wrote the famous "Ode to Maitreya"; here, the first Maitreya statue in China was created, and the earliest Longhua Temple—Kuaiji Mountain Longhua Temple—was built. It was granted an imperial plaque during the Tang Dynasty and became a royal temple; here, it is the origin of the ancient Tang Poetry Road, where over 470 Tang Dynasty poets left more than 3,000 widely loved poems praising the beauty of Kuaiji Mountain.

The Longhua Temple scenic area consists of the Maitreya Nunnery originally established by the eminent Eastern Jin Dynasty monk Zhi Dun and Baolin Peak, located at the summit of Baolin Mountain (formerly known as Ke Mountain) within the Daxianglin Scenic Area of Kuaiji Mountain in Shaoxing County; it borders the Calligraphy Holy Land of Lanting to the south, echoes the Sea and Sky Buddhist Kingdom of Mount Putuo to the east, and faces the urban area of Hangzhou to the west.

Built on the southern side of the Fragrant Sea, Kuaiji Mountain Longhua Temple is constructed along the mountain, connecting two peaks from north to south. With its carved beams and painted rafters, layered architecture, serene solemnity, and grand momentum, it covers a construction area of over 40,000 square meters, making it currently the largest single royal-style Buddhist temple in China. Its architectural style blends the grandeur of royal temples with the elegance and fluidity of Jiangnan gardens. The group of prayer halls with red walls and golden tiles complements the residential building complex featuring white walls, wooden pillars, and dark tiles in the style of Jiangnan folk houses. The ever-changing scenery and stunning beauty showcase the architectural paradigm of a 21st-century royal temple.

Inside Longhua Temple, there is a meditation hall and dining hall that can accommodate 500 people simultaneously, as well as monastic quarters, layperson dormitories, and a VIP guest hall. The central axis of Longhua Temple runs from north to south, successively featuring the Longhua Pavilion (housing the scripture depository and Dharma hall), an outdoor statue depicting the Maitreya Buddha under the Longhua Tree (osmanthus tree) and the scene of the Three Longhua Assemblies, with the Medicine Buddha Hall and Amitabha Buddha Hall on either side, forming a new horizontal triad of Buddhas; the Reclining Buddha Hall (housing a white marble reclining Buddha and statues of sixteen great arhats); the Mahavira Hall (housing the Sakyamuni Buddha, ten disciples, and a sea island Guanyin group sculpture, with side halls dedicated to the four great bodhisattvas and ancestral temple guardians); the Heavenly King Hall (housing the welcoming statue of the Cloth-Bag Monk and seated statues of Skanda and the four heavenly kings); the Mountain Gate (flanked by six-meter-tall stone statues of the two Nio Guardians); the Prayer Plaza (56 meters wide and 130 meters long); and the waterscape mountain backdrop. From the backdrop mountain to the northern side of Tusita Heaven Palace, where the Northern Guardian King Vaishravana resides, a central axis stretching 2,500 meters has been formed, claimed to be the longest in China and even the world.

The exquisite Buddhist statues at Kuaiji Mountain Longhua Temple represent the highest level of contemporary Buddhist statuary art in China. The statues of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats enshrined in the halls are all crafted by national-level master artisans of arts and crafts, exuding serenity and solemnity that inspire worshippers with a sense of reverence, joy, and faith. In the design of the Buddha statues, the guiding principles of the Confucian master Nan Huai-Chin are upheld—dignified, orthodox, and innovative—breaking free from traditional constraints (removing folk superstitions) and following the path of humanistic Buddhism to align with modern aesthetic values and the symbolic meanings carried by the statues. For example, the welcoming statue of the Cloth-Bag Monk in the Heavenly King Hall, with arms outstretched to greet all beings, symbolizes Buddhism’s shift from a passive, secluded mountain-dwelling and spontaneous salvation approach to an active engagement with the secular world—leading all beings to actively participate in social development and jointly build a prosperous homeland and a pure land on earth.