The Second Patriarch Chan Hall

The Second Patriarch Chan Hall

The Second Patriarch Chan Hall is located on Lion Mountain in Xueyih River, Niuzhen Town, 80 kilometers northwest of Taihu County.

The Second Patriarch Chan Hall boasts a long history. Historical records state that during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, to avoid the Buddhist persecution under Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Second Patriarch of the Zen sect, Huikai, led his disciples southward and took refuge in the remote Dabie Mountains. He resided on Lion Mountain in the northwest of Taihu County, meditating in the large gourd-shaped stone cave on the mountain and constructing a Chan hall on the Fragrant Pouch Stone. There, he accepted disciples, preached the Dharma, and established a practice center. Huikai's Chan philosophy was inherited from Bodhidharma, particularly the emphasis on the “Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra,” a four-volume scripture Bodhidharma passed on to him, which valued meditative wisdom over verbal teaching. Its core principle centered on “forgetting words and thoughts, achieving correct insight without attainment.” This philosophy, refined and promoted by Huikai, had a profound impact on Chan practitioners. Later, he transmitted the Dharma to the Third Patriarch, Sengcan, who then passed it on to the Fourth Patriarch, Daoxin, and the Fifth Patriarch, Hongren. This helped spread the Zen sect widely across western Anhui and the Chu region. Its influence has endured for a thousand years and reached overseas. The people of the Taihu Mountain area deeply revered and protected the Second Patriarch Huikai and his disciples. Their meritorious efforts in donating mountain lands and fields to build the Second Patriarch Chan Hall are indelible. During the Cultural Revolution, local residents bravely preserved the wooden statue of the Second Patriarch, stone couplets inscribed with “May the Buddha Hall stand eternal over a thousand years, may this immortal mountain remain evergreen,” plaques, one hundred bronze divination sticks from the Second Patriarch Temple, the divination board from the Second Patriarch’s Immortal Mountain, inscriptions, incense burners, and more, eventually returning them to the temple. Natural rock formations on Lion Mountain such as the Chess Stone, the Second Patriarch Cave, the Everflowing Spring, and the Washing锡 Pond remain unchanged. Lion Mountain has long been revered as the Immortal Mountain of the Second Patriarch. “Leaping across three lakes and four marshes, carrying the moon on one shoulder toward the Nine Dragons; gaining a gourd in the niche allows for meditation, resting against the rock enables emptiness and understanding. Sewing Chan robes by cutting clouds to mend, drinking dew when hungry to fill the cold belly; sharing warmth and cold with all things and people, harmonizing winds and rains to unite all nations.” This poem was composed by the Second Patriarch Huikai during his ascent of Jiulong Mountain, and to this day, people can still recite it word for word.

In May 1985, the late Zhao Puchu, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and President of the Buddhist Association of China, personally inscribed the plaque for the “Second Patriarch Chan Hall.” In 1991, Mr. Zhao, serving as honorary director for the restoration of the Second Patriarch’s practice site, visited Lion Mountain to inspect the project and showed great concern for the “Second Patriarch Chan Hall” construction. It has now been completed, bringing this ancient temple back to its former glory.

The restoration of the Second Patriarch Chan Hall has connected the practice sites of the Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Patriarchs, making it a globally renowned Zen Buddhist destination.

Address: Taihu County, Anqing City