Wushan Charity Hall

Wushan Charity Hall

Wushan Charity Hall is a cultural heritage site protected by the Gulou District.

The Charity Hall is located at the foot of the first hill on the eastern side of Wushan Mountain in Fuzhou, to the west of the Wutai Pagoda.

The main gate of the Charity Hall is a two-story modern Western-style building with three bays. The central bay features an arched doorway, topped with a fan-shaped plaque, while the rectangular windows on either side have wooden lintels. The ground floor is coated in yellow plaster. The second floor is constructed of red bricks, with stepped brick moldings along the eaves and a double-sloped roof covered with small blue tiles.

Behind the gate is a courtyard with two side wings. Beyond the courtyard lies the main hall, which has five bays facing forward, featuring a post-and-lintel wooden structure and a flush gable roof with a "Guanyin hood"-style fireproof wall. The central three bays house the main hall, the western bay serves as the "Western Return Hall," and the eastern bay functions as a passageway leading to the rear section. According to the inscription on the back of the municipal cultural heritage protection stele (the stele itself is now missing), “In front of the hall there is an ancient well, marked by a stone tablet from the Dingmao year of the Tongzhi reign during the Qing Dynasty inscribed with ‘Dongjing’ (Eastern Well).” Currently, only half of the stone tablet remains, lying horizontally in front of the Western Return Hall. According to a report in the *Fuzhou Evening News* in 2003: “...During the construction of the Wushan Square in front of the hall, an ancient stele was discovered, inscribed with the ancient seal script ‘Dongjing’ and clerical script ‘Tongzhi Dingmao July,’ erected during the Qing Dynasty’s Tongzhi era when the ancient wells ‘Dongjing’ and ‘Xijing’ inside the Nanchan Temple were dredged.” (The current “Xijing” stele is placed in the Bai Zhenren Temple on the roadside.)

Exiting the passageway leads to a rear entrance hall, directly facing a single-room small building; to its east is a small courtyard, with a two-bay, two-story wooden residential structure at the front of the courtyard; further east lies another single-bay, deep-plan two-story residence, beneath which is the kitchen.

The *Records of the Three Mountains* states: “In the sixth year of the Datong era of the Liang Dynasty (532 AD), the layman Su Qing donated his residence for its establishment. In the second year of the Qianning era of the Tang Dynasty (895 AD), the King of Min built the Heavenly King Hall. In the third year, it was named the Southern Ravine Guardian King, merging twelve hermitages into a temple, thus becoming the Nanchan Temple.”

The *Record of Min Capital* states: “Built in the second year of the Qianning era of the Tang Dynasty, the King of Min constructed the Heavenly King Hall, named it the Southern Ravine Guardian King, and merged twelve hermitages (i.e., Charity Hall) into a temple.”

The *Rough Archaeology of Rongcheng* from the Qing Dynasty states: “During the Jin Dynasty, the Lin family crossed the river into Fujian. A Huayang Taoist priest dug a well at the foot of Nanshan Mountain, which never dried up even in severe drought.” The water was clear and sweet, and during the Tang Dynasty, it could supply hundreds of monks and nuns.

The *Wushan Mountain Records* state: “The Nanchan Reporting Kingdom Temple, now called Nanchan Temple, is located on the eastern side of the mountain. In the sixth year of the Datong era of the Liang Dynasty, the layman Su Qing donated his residence for its establishment. In the second year of the Qianning era of the Tang Dynasty, King Min Wenzhong added the Heavenly King Hall. Later generations, because of the presence of the Heavenly King Hall, also called it the Heavenly King Temple. In the third year, it was named the Southern Ravine Guardian King, merging twelve hermitages into a temple, situated by the ravine, hence the name.”

The *Comprehensive Gazetteer of Eight Min* states: “During the pseudo-Min period, the temple was relocated to the northern side of the mountain.”

In the third year of the Qianhua era of the Five Dynasties' Liang Dynasty (915 AD), it was renamed Qianfu Monastery, and the construction of the Changle Platform began. In the second year of the Xining era of the Northern Song Dynasty (year missing), Prefect Cheng Shimeng once inscribed the name “Changle Platform” in seal script. During the Yuan Dynasty, Huang Ji redesigned the Changle Platform, renaming it “Linci Platform.” In the first year of the Jianwen era of the Ming Dynasty (1399 AD), Shen Yi inscribed and carved the name “Linci Platform.”

According to old inscriptions, during the Daoguang, Guangxu eras, and early Republican period, various degrees of renovation and expansion were carried out, eventually forming a complex of over 20 halls, chambers, and rooms. By 1933, the hall complex still covered an area of 1,300 square meters. In addition to the Great Bodhisattva Hall, the Buddha-Chanting Hall, the Bell and Drum Tower, the Sangharama Hall, the Western Return Shrine, the Dining Hall, and dormitories, the garden also featured pavilions, rockeries, a liberation pond, and was planted with valuable flowers such as osmanthus, belly bamboo, Cymbidium ensifolium, and water lilies. Not only were the halls bright and elegant, but the environment was also serene. High-ranking officials, literati, and scholars from the Fuzhou Governor's Office and local yamen, often accompanied by their families after visiting Wushan Mountain, would stop by the hall for tea.

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Yang Xianwang from Gaolan, Fuzhou, led the reconstruction efforts. However, during the Cultural Revolution in 1966, the site suffered from the “Smash the Four Olds” campaign—due to natural disasters and years of neglect, the hall compound collapsed and became dilapidated. Three-quarters of the halls were converted into residential houses. By the 1980s, only one hall, a few old buildings, several banyan trees, and a well remained.

In the 1990s, the Fuzhou Municipal People's Government (then Party Secretary Zhao Xuemin) initiated the “Wushan Cultural Square” project, instructing the Fuzhou Real Estate Development Corporation (then General Manager Weng Jinrong) to carry out demolition in the area for land transfer to foreign investors. The demolition process triggered collective resistance among displaced residents, resulting in several casualties. The main gatehouse of the Charity Hall was demolished.

After the “Wushan Square” demolition, the site remained vacant for a long time. It was said that many developers were interested in the land, with some even reaching preliminary agreements, but for unknown reasons, all backed out before signing contracts. It wasn’t until 2002 that the then Party Secretary He Lifeng introduced a developer from Quanzhou to develop the “Guanya Plaza.”

The Charity Hall was originally managed by lay Buddhist women (youpo yi), but around the late 1990s, officially ordained nuns were dispatched by the Buddhist Association to take over.

In 2003, the Charity Hall Management Committee raised over 400,000 yuan to renovate the Charity Hall and erected a commemorative stele.

In 2007, the Gulou District People's Government of Fuzhou announced the Charity Hall as a fifth batch cultural heritage protection unit.