Buddha's Heart Square

Buddha's Heart Square

In front of the Great Buddha Temple's mountain gate lies a vast open area. In recent years, it has been leveled, landscaped with flowers and plants, and developed into the over 5,000-square-meter Buddha's Heart Square. The square mainly features an enlarged carved inscription of the character "佛" (Buddha) in the handwriting of Master Hongyi, chiseled into the cliff face, along with a massive "心" (Heart) character on the flat ground at the base of the rock wall.

The bright red "佛" character stands 20 meters tall, reaching toward the sky and creating a magnificent sight. At the front of the square is an oval-shaped large screen wall, adjacent to which lies a 10-meter-diameter lotus pond. Each petal of the lotus in the pond is carved from white marble, and springs of flowing water continuously gush from within the lotus pods, symbolizing the long-standing Buddhist culture of Xinchang.

The center of the square is artfully adorned with various features, including a large screen wall inscribed with the poem "Stone City Ode" by Meng Haoran, handwritten by the renowned calligrapher Zhu Guantian.

There is also an "Ancient Well Pavilion" in the square — a flat-roofed, four-eaved pavilion with an open skylight in its caisson ceiling, featuring an ingenious structure. Inside the pavilion is a square black stone well curb, originally from the Chen Family Well in the county town, relocated here after the urban redevelopment. A couplet in the pavilion, written by calligrapher Guo Zhongxuan, reads: "The grand presence of Maitreya revealed in Stone City’s sacred form; the auspicious statue of the Southern Dynasties springs forth from the ancient well."

Address: In front of the Great Buddha Temple's mountain gate, Xinchang County, Shaoxing City

Type: Temple

Phone: 0575-86230306

Opening Hours:

6:00-16:30