West Temple

West Temple

West Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Xiangshan County.

This temple was originally built in the second year of the Yuanjia era of the Liu Song Dynasty during the Southern and Northern Dynasties period (425 AD), as one of the Zen monasteries in eastern Zhejiang. In the second year of the Zhiping era of the Song Dynasty (1065 AD), it was renamed “Dengci Chan Monastery.” In the 24th year of the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty (1391 AD), it was established as a “conglin” (major monastery). It was rebuilt in the 4th year of the Jiajing era (1525 AD). Later, the temple fell into disuse, but during the Qing Dynasty, monks such as Seng Huisi and Zhiyun led its reconstruction, and it became commonly known as West Temple. During the Republican era, monks such as Shi Mingyue and Chuan Chang successively carried out renovations, gradually forming a relatively complete Buddhist monastery.

Before and after the liberation, due to years of neglect and several fires, the temple suffered severe damage. However, structures such as the mountain gate (Vajra Hall), the main hall, the west wing, the scripture hall, and the abbot’s quarters have survived to this day and are largely intact. The main hall is 16.35 meters wide and 11 meters deep, consisting of five bays. The central bay features a post-and-lintel structure, while the side and end bays use through-tenon construction with ten roof beams, combining stone and wooden pillars. The pillars are round and square, some inscribed with couplets written by notable figures.