Xueyin Zen Temple

Xueyin Zen Temple

Xueyin Zen Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiaxing City.

Xueyin Zen Temple is located at No. 547 Santashi Road, Mingyue Community, Xinxing Subdistrict, Nanhu District, Jiaxing City, and is commonly known as the Temple of Monk Xueyin. In front of the temple stands the Sijian Memorial Archway, a relic from the Ming Dynasty. Beneath the western pillar of the stone archway, there is an iron-rust-colored imprint that strikingly resembles the profile of a monk. The local people refer to this pillar as the "Xueyin Pillar." According to the "Jiaxing Prefecture Anecdotes Compilation and Continuation" from the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty and the "Jiaxing Annals" compiled in 1996, there are two legends about the "Xueyin" imprint: One says that during the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty, when Japanese pirates invaded, they imprisoned a large number of women in the temple and assigned a monk to guard them. While the pirates went out to plunder, the monk released the women. Upon their return, the enraged pirates tied the monk to the stone pillar and shot him with arrows, leaving his bloodstains in the shape of a human figure. The other legend says that in the second year of the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1645), when Qing troops occupied Jiaxing, they looted many women and imprisoned them in the Yuewang Shrine, assigning a monk from the temple to watch over them. This monk took the opportunity when the Qing soldiers were away to release the women. When the soldiers returned and discovered this, they were furious and tied the monk to the pillar beneath the Sijian Memorial Archway, shooting him with arrows until his bloodstains formed a human shape. The imprint has endured wind and rain yet remains clearly visible. Since the monk’s surname was unknown, people called him "Monk Xueyin." To commend his spirit of self-sacrifice for others, later generations built the Xueyin Zen Monastery in the 14th year of the Republic of China (1925). In the 18th year of the Republic of China (1929), Wei Daofeng, the then-county magistrate of Jiaxing under the Republican government, redesignated the site as the "Xueyin Zen Shrine," which was later renamed the "Xueyin Zen Temple." The temple covers an area of 1,110 square meters, consisting of two main halls, three side rooms, and one kitchen. Except for the main hall, the Mahavira Hall, which was built during the Republican era, the rest of the structures were added in the 1980s. Over the centuries, the story of Monk Xueyin has been widely spread among the people of Jiaxing, and Xueyin Zen Temple has become a well-known local temple of significant historical value. It was designated as a municipal-level cultural relic protection unit of Jiaxing in 1981.

Source: Jiaxing Cultural Relics Protection Office

Mingyue Community: Mingyue Community is located between Jishui Road and Yuexiu Road. It stretches from Jishui Road in the east to Yuexiu Road in the west, and from Santashi Road along the canal in the south to the boundary with Zhujiao River and Xinjia Subdistrict in the north. It covers an area of 0.6 square kilometers and includes 110 residential buildings with 3,231 households, housing a population of 5,800 residents and approximately 2,500 migrant workers. The community is divided into 32 resident groups. Mingyue Community was formed through the merger of Ji’an Neighborhood Committee, Ji’yang Neighborhood Committee, and Ji’ming Neighborhood Committee. The jurisdiction includes 11 jointly built units, over 300 leased storefronts, and more than 200 industrial activity enterprises. Mingyue Community operates under the Party General Branch system... For more detailed information about Mingyue Community++