Luoyuan Sacred Water Temple

Luoyuan Sacred Water Temple

The Luoyuan Sacred Water Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Luoyuan County.

The Sacred Water Temple is located on the mountainside of Lotus Mountain in the southern suburbs of Luoyuan County. It extends three bays deep, built along the mountain slope and gradually ascending. Along its central axis are the Mountain Gate, Heavenly King Hall, Lotus Pond, Bell and Drum Tower, Mahavira Hall, and Dharma Hall. To the left of the main hall is the Qiyun Cave, and to the right are the gatehouse and the kitchen.

The first hall, the Heavenly King Hall, has three bays with a flush-gable roof, flanked by fireproof walls. Behind the hall lies the “Dripping Dew Pond,” also known as the Lotus Pond, where spring water gushes from the stone wall. The pond is planted with lotus flowers, and there is an inscription nearby that reads “Clear Pond and Bright Moon.” The “Moonlight over Lotus Peak” is considered the foremost of Luoyuan’s Eight Scenic Spots.

The second hall is the Mahavira Hall, featuring a single-eave, hanging-roof design with five bays in width. The central three bays are recessed to form a front porch. On either side of the hall are the Bell and Drum Towers, and next to the hall is the Guest Hall, which was once the residence of Zhu Xi during his teaching stay. His handwritten inscription “Nan Shi Ancient Path” remains to this day. Also called the “Wengong Academy,” the “Secluded Study Room” is another of Luoyuan’s Eight Scenic Spots.

Next to the Guest Hall, across a small arched stone bridge, lies the Qiyun Cave. This natural cave is about three meters high, narrow at the entrance but spacious inside, with inscriptions from various dynasties. Inside the cave are statues of Guanyin and the Eighteen Arhats. A stone inscription on the Buddhist altar reads: “Resident Monk Zhengxin humbly raised funds from nineteen donors, each contributing seven strings of cash, to commission one statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva and eighteen arhat pedestals for worship. Made on the twelfth day of the ninth month in the eighth year of the Chunyou era (1248). Stone carver: Chen Zengyuan.” Inside the cave is the ancient “Chengxin Well,” whose water is particularly sweet and refreshing. The cave ceiling features a flat, large rock known as the “Recent Spirit Terrace,” and beside it lies a rock resembling a crane with its neck tucked in, called the “Sleeping Crane Stone.” A few dozen steps further are rocks shaped like a green dragon and a white tiger, hence named the “Dragon and Tiger Rocks.”

The third hall is the Dharma Hall, with five bays and a double-eave, hip-and-gable roof.

The temple also houses four stupas for monks’ relics, including the ancestral stupa of the founding monk Jian Er Toutu.

The Sacred Water Temple was first built in the third year of the Shaosheng era of the Song Dynasty (1096 AD). The temple follows the Linji school of Buddhism, and its founding monk was Jian Er Toutu. It is named the Sacred Water Temple because of the clear spring known as “Sacred Water” found in the Longquan Rock behind the temple.

In the eighth year of the Chunyou era (1248 AD), the abbot monk Zhengxin raised over 130 strings of cash and commissioned stone carver Chen Huiyuan to create a statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva and sixteen arhats, which were enshrined in the Qiyun Cave.

During the Qingyuan era, Zhu Xi, who was banned from teaching due to accusations of heterodox learning, returned to Changle with his disciples Liu Di and Liu Li, where he lectured in a study he built at Huicong Rock. During this time, he was invited by the Luoyuan scholar Huang Lin to compose a preface for the family genealogy “Three Huangs’ Genealogical Record” and inscribe a plaque for the ancestral hall. He stayed at the private school “Lianru Studio” next to the temple, owned by the Huang family. The descendants of the Huang family later renamed “Lianru Studio” to “Wengong Academy.”

In the Ming Dynasty, when the nationwide practice of displaying the Eighteen Arhats in temples began, the Sacred Water Temple also commissioned two additional statues.

During the Wanli era, the Mahavira Hall of the Sacred Water Temple was rebuilt.

III. Architectural Evolution:

During the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty, the descendants of the Huang family donated the Wengong Academy to the Sacred Water Temple, converting it into a Guest Hall and meditation rooms.

During the Cultural Revolution, the Dragon and Tiger Rocks behind the temple, which bore numerous stone inscriptions from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, were destroyed.

In October 1980, the county government designated the Sacred Water Temple as one of the first batch of county-level cultural relic protection units.

In March 1991, the Qiyun Cave statues of the Sacred Water Temple were listed as key cultural relic protection units of Fujian Province.

On June 18, 1993, four stone arhat statues were stolen. The case was solved promptly, and the stolen items were recovered from Chaozhou, Guangdong on July 2.

On March 10, 1994, the Guanyin statue in the Qiyun Cave was stolen and has not been found to this day.

On September 12, 1994, a group of thieves attempted to steal the arhat stone statues from the Qiyun Cave. They had already moved the statues off their pedestals and were about to transport them when they were discovered by temple staff, foiling the theft.

On January 30, 1995, another group of thieves broke into the Qiyun Cave to steal the arhat statues. They chopped off the heads of seven arhat statues but were spotted by temple staff during their escape, failing to get away. This theft caused significant damage to the statues and led to the failure of the first attempt to have the site listed as a national-level protected cultural relic.

On February 27, 1995, a robbery gang from Zhangzhou’s Longhai City broke into the temple and stole all eighteen arhat statues. Though the police eventually recovered the statues after much effort, most were badly damaged, some severely.

On May 30, 2005, the statue of the arhat Danapatis was stolen by criminals and transported to Ningde. After the case was reported, the police recovered the stolen statue. Due to repeated thefts, the entrance to the Qiyun Cave has since been locked and is no longer open to worshippers or tourists.

In 2006, the Qiyun Cave statues of the Sacred Water Temple were listed as National Key Cultural Relic Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relic Protection Units