Chongqing Temple in Xinyu

Chongqing Temple in Xinyu

Chongqing Temple in Xinyu is a cultural tourism attraction.

Since ancient times, Xinyu in Jiangxi has been a land of natural bounty and exceptional people. It boasts a history of Buddhist propagation that predates the establishment of the county itself, and has cultivated a long-standing tradition of Buddhist culture. As Buddhism spread eastward, it flourished across the land of China, and the Xinyu region was also blessed by the Dharma’s fragrant rain, giving rise to eminent monks and eminent figures in the Buddhist community one after another. Renowned mountains, ancient temples, precious monasteries, and Zen forests emerged like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. Among them, the most famous is the time-honored, millennium-old Chongqing Temple.

Chongqing Temple was originally located about a hundred steps outside the west gate of Xinyu County (now within the nursery of Xinyu Iron and Steel Complex). During the Daye era (611 AD) of the Sui Dynasty, a local named Tang Xing donated his residence to be converted into a temple, which was then called Tangxing Temple. Between the years of Kai Bao (968–976 AD) in the Song Dynasty, it was renamed Anhe Temple, and in the fifth year of the Taiping Xingguo era (980 AD), it was bestowed the name “Chongqing Temple.” Because it was near Longquan (Dragon Spring), it was also referred to as Longquan Mountain. In the mid-to-late Yuan Dynasty, Chongqing Temple underwent renovations. The poet Fu Ruojin, in two of his travel poems, praised the newly renovated temple for its solemn and wondrous scenery: “Vermilion pillars gleam through spider webs, blue lotuses reflect on jade terraces” and “At dawn, monastic staffs fly halfway up the peak; celestial flowers bloom day and night.” In the 22nd year of the Yuan Dynasty (1352 AD), the temple was destroyed in war. In the third year of the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty (1370 AD), the front Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Mahavira Hall, the rear Vairocana Pavilion, the Flower Rain Terrace, and the bell and drum towers on both sides were rebuilt. To the east it connected with the Lantang Book Society, and to the west it leaned against the Muyu Mountain ridge, making it the most scenic spot in the region. A local resident, Liu Song, composed a coupled verse in praise: “The ancient Longquan Temple, mountain-linked to the town; the Flower Rain Hall, empty, moonlight reaches the bell.”