Youxi Bao’an Temple

Youxi Bao’an Temple

Youxi Bao’an Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Bao’an Temple

Bao’an Temple was originally located in Jishanfang, Chengguan, and was built in the third year of the Qianfu era of the Tang Dynasty (876 AD). Originally called an “an” (a type of small Buddhist nunnery), it was renamed a temple during the Qianning era of the Song Dynasty (894–897). In the 25th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1760), it was relocated outside the east gate. In 1951, the temple was taken over for other uses. In March 1998, Master Shi Zhongshou, Master Shi Zhiming, and others from the county Buddhist association raised funds to select a new site and relocated the temple to Longjing Mountain south of the city. Covering an area of over 4,500 square meters with a total investment of approximately 2 million yuan, the new site includes the Mahavira Hall, Yuantong Hall, and Heavenly King Hall, arranged in a vertical line from front to middle to back, flanked by side chambers on both sides.

The halls are tall, majestic, and grand in appearance, featuring double-eaved hip-and-gable roofs covered with golden glazed tiles, upturned eaves, red pillars, white walls, and stone pillars carved with dragons, all exuding an ancient and simple charm. On October 28, 2000, the Mahavira Hall was completed, enshrining the Three Jewels Buddha statues in the center (centered on Sakyamuni, with the Medicine Buddha of Longevity on the left and Amitabha Buddha on the right), with the Eighteen Arhats on the left and right sides. The hall is 10 meters high, and the Buddha statues are 6 meters high, the tallest in the county. To reach Bao’an Temple, there is a 1,260-meter mountain-side road as well as over 670 steps of stone-paved hiking paths. Along the way, there are also scenic spots such as the cliff inscriptions “Virtue Leads Upward” and “High Mountains and Flowing Waters,” making it a great destination for hiking, fitness, pilgrimage, and sightseeing.