Huisheng Temple in Huichang

Huisheng Temple in Huichang

Huisheng Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Huisheng Temple in Huichang, originally named Huisheng Nunnery, is located in the southeastern part of the county town, about five li from the urban area. The terrain is flat, and vehicles can drive right up to the front of the temple.

Huisheng Temple was first built during the Ming Dynasty (1368), and its founding monk was Master Chengyu. It is said that before becoming a monk, Master Chengyu was a timber merchant from Fujian. Once, his timber rafts were moored on the Xiang River at Linggang Dam, waiting for the water level to rise. At night, he heard sounds of chickens crowing and dogs barking on the shore, as if there were a village nearby, but during the day, he saw no houses—only barren land, sandy beaches, and thickets of thorny bushes. This happened for several nights in a row, which struck the merchant as very strange. So he went ashore to take a closer look and discovered that this was actually a feng shui treasure land. The mountain ridge behind extended continuously and came to an end by the water; on both sides of the riverbank, peaks rose abruptly, shaped like bells and drums, clearly serving as guardian formations on the left and right. The broad and clear Xiang River meandered by like a long dragon, while the hills in front clustered together, forming a central terrace that faced the temple in reverence. It is said that during spring and summer heavy rains, when the water rose and the sandbanks grew higher, the site was never flooded. He thought that building a temple or nunnery here to chant sutras would be a great blessing for himself and also bring merit and virtue to the local people. So the merchant prayed to the bodhisattva, vowing that if he could have a smooth and successful journey this time, he would donate funds to build the temple or nunnery and become a monk to serve the Buddha. A few days later, the timber rafts sailed smoothly downstream all the way to Nanchang, where they were sold at a high price. To his surprise, after selling one layer of the raft, another layer would float up from the water, earning him a huge profit. When he returned to Linggang Dam, he immediately began constructing the temple or nunnery, naming it Huisheng Nunnery, which means “to protect all living beings.”

During the Shunzhi era of the Qing Dynasty, Master Xiangu, a dharma heir of the eminent monk Yulin Guoshi, was invited by the then magistrate of Huichang to reside at the temple and oversee its renovation and expansion. The temple faces east and is built with brick and wood. It includes more than 80 halls and rooms of various sizes, such as the Mahavira Hall, Guanyin Hall, Heavenly King Hall, Patriarch Hall, Ksitigarbha Hall, bell and drum towers, and monks’ quarters. Covering an area of about eight mu, it also has over 20 mu of paddy fields, four fish ponds for releasing living creatures, and features exquisite architecture and a grand scale. Its abundant resources made it a truly rare sight in the county at the time.

During the Cultural Revolution, the ancient temple was not spared from disaster. The statues of the bodhisattvas were destroyed, incense offerings ceased, and the temple grounds became overgrown and deserted. It was later repurposed as land and housing for the county’s farm and seed farm. After surviving these upheavals, the ancient temple met its final destruction in 1988 when a certain organization demolished it completely to build an office block. Only scattered stone pillars, stone gates, and stone window frames remain, silently bearing witness to the temple’s former glory and decline.

In 1977, with approval from provincial and county authorities, the ancient temple was reinstated as a legitimate site for Buddhist activities. Since then, Venerable Shi Jifa has served as its abbot to this day.