Changle Yunmen Temple

Changle Yunmen Temple

Changle Yunmen Temple is a cultural heritage site protected by Changle District.

Yunmen Temple is situated on Yunmen Mountain behind Yangyu Village in Hangcheng Town, Changle City (formerly part of Min County). Locals call Yunmen Mountain Hegerg. Hegerg rises over a hundred meters high, with rugged terrain and sheer cliffs. After Buddhism was introduced to China, it divided into the Northern and Southern schools by the early Tang Dynasty. The Yunmen School is one of the five major Southern Zen sects. The founding patriarch of Yunmen Temple was Master Dahui Zonggao. During the Shaoxing era of Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, he built a hermitage and practiced on Hegerg. The temple’s construction began during the Jiading era of Emperor Ningzong. At that time, Yunmen Temple was a grand and sizable monastery. The entire complex was built atop “the crane’s back” (symbolizing riding a crane to the Western Paradise), featuring pavilions every ten steps and towers every hundred, with upturned eaves crisscrossing in layers. It included the Guanyin Hall, Amitabha Rock, Sizhou Rock, Lion Rock, Meditation Rock, Stone Gate Fan, Five-Colored Spring, Worship Stone, Immortal Palm Rock, Qin Islet, Twin Fish Islet, Lankavatara Chamber, River-Drinking Pavilion, Riverside Terrace, and Miaoxi Hermitage—fifteen wonders in total. In addition, it was bestowed an imperial plaque by Emperor Xiaozong of the Song Dynasty, earning the title of “Foremost in the Jiangzuo Region.”

Originally built in the first year of the Jiading era of the Song Dynasty (1208). In the tenth year of the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty (1412), when Zheng He anchored in Changle during his voyages to the Western Seas, he visited Yunmen Temple to renovate its monastic structures and sculpt Buddhist statues. The extant architecture retains Ming Dynasty characteristics. The main hall features a single-eave, hanging-hip roof, wooden structure, with a width of five bays and a depth of two. The front includes a courtyard, flanked by bell and drum towers, both topped with spire roofs. On April 29, 1986, it was designated as a county-level cultural heritage protection unit.