Ersheng Hall

Ersheng Hall

Ersheng Hall is a cultural tourism attraction.

Also known as Ershen Hall or Jiuhua Temple, it is a provincial-level key temple. Located in Ersheng Village on the eastern bank of Jiudu River, the Longtan Stream flows from the southeast to the north, winding around the temple. In ancient times, this area was part of the northern foothills path leading up to Jiuhua Mountain. Today, the newly built Foguang Avenue passes through here. Ersheng Hall was first built during the Tang Dynasty and has been renovated in subsequent dynasties. The existing hall is a late Qing-era building in the style of southern Anhui civilian architecture, housing statues of the Two Sages inside — one scholarly and one martial. Both wear black gauze hats, official robes, jade belts around their waists, and official boots on their feet. Each stands seven feet tall, with plump faces and jet-black three-section beards reaching down to their chests. Their eyes shine with vitality. Why do the Two Sages look like this? Because they are not bodhisattvas, but the two maternal uncles of Jin Qiaojue (Golden Kṣitigarbha). Legend has it that Jin Qiaojue crossed the sea from Silla (an ancient Korean kingdom) to Tang China, where he engaged in ascetic practice on Jiuhua Mountain. He founded temples here, and his fame spread far and wide. Soon, monks from Silla also came to become his disciples. Jin Qiaojue led his followers to reclaim land and grow crops, but they could barely feed themselves, so they resorted to eating “white clay,” also known as “Guanyin soil” (a kind of edible clay), to stave off hunger. The emaciated appearance of the monks led people at the time to call them the “withered multitude of the south.” When news of this reached Silla, Jin Qiaojue’s mother was heartbroken and extremely anxious, so she sent her two younger brothers — both high-ranking Silla officials — to make the arduous journey to the mountain to see him. Overjoyed and moved to tears at seeing his uncles, Jin Qiaojue bowed in greeting and expressed his determination to spend his life in spiritual practice on Jiuhua Mountain. Deeply moved, the two uncles decided to stay on the mountain as well. However, they could not abide by the “Five Precepts” of monastic discipline and often drank alcohol and ate meat. After repeated failed attempts to persuade them otherwise, Jin Qiaojue eventually sent them down the mountain. They ended up spending the rest of their lives at the foot of Jiuhua Mountain. To commemorate them, local villagers built a temple and erected statues of them here. In the past, on the 30th day of the seventh lunar month, the “Kṣitigarbha Dharma Assembly” was held on the mountain to commemorate the enlightenment day of Jin Qiaojue. The following day, the first day of the eighth lunar month, the “Two Sages Assembly” was held here in honor of Jin Qiaojue’s two uncles. The offerings included both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, and participants were even allowed to drink alcohol. It is said that some monks who couldn’t resist meat and wine would take the opportunity to attend the “Two Sages Assembly.” This can be considered a unique religious custom of Jiuhua Mountain. Nowadays, Ersheng Hall enjoys increasing popularity. Korean visitors and pilgrims who come to Jiuhua Mountain often include this temple as one of their essential sacred sites to worship at.