Guizong Temple

Guizong Temple

Guizong Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Guizong Temple

Nestled against the peaks of Jinqian and Zixiao, the ruins of this ancient temple can be reached by walking 1.5 kilometers west from Yulian Spring. As the foremost among the Five Great Monasteries of Mount Lu, Guizong Temple is located 12 kilometers from the county town at the junction of Xingde Highway and Xingjiao Highway, with a murmuring stream flowing around it. The terrain in front of the temple is flat and expansive, while the mountains behind rise gracefully like a soaring phoenix, shaded by ancient camphor trees and dense bamboo groves. In the history of Chinese Zen Buddhism, Guizong Temple occupies an important position.

There is a legend about the origins of Guizong Temple. During the Jin Dynasty, when Wang Xizhi served as the governor of Xunyang, he once visited the area below Golden Wheel Peak. After retiring from office, he settled down at the foot of the peak. In the sixth year of the Xianning era of the Jin Dynasty (340 AD), the eminent monk Damoduoluo (some say it was Fotuoyeshe, though this is not certain) came to see him. Impressed by his character, Wang Xizhi donated his residence to establish the temple. Historical records state that Guizong Temple “was more magnificent than any other temple south of the mountain.” The famous Song Dynasty literary figure Su Zhe wrote in a poem about Guizong Temple: “I come to hear the morning and evening bells of Guizong, too weary to climb Zixiao Peak; inkstone pools are piled with stones in the stream, white pagodas faintly dot the pines on the ridge. Buddhist temples vie for supremacy atop the mountain, monks await offerings from all directions; wishing to visit the temples north and east of the mountain, the valleys are connected, yet how many layers lie beyond.”

From the Tang and Song Dynasties through the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, Guizong Temple was destroyed and rebuilt several times. During the Qing Dynasty's Kangxi era, Master Jialing came to Mount Lu from Shenyang, where he constructed three Buddhist halls, along with dozens of meditation rooms, reception halls, and dining halls. He also expanded the temple’s holdings. In the Yongzheng and Qianlong eras, the imperial court bestowed plaques and Buddhist scriptures, and allocated state funds to build a palace and the Master’s Pagoda. Guizong Temple flourished, even briefly being renamed Qiaoyun Temple. During the Xianfeng era, the temple suffered some damage due to the Taiping Rebellion. However, an even greater catastrophe occurred during the Anti-Japanese War. Behind the temple, at the stupa hill where the relics were kept, there stood an iron pagoda — a relic from the Three Kingdoms period. Standing six zhang tall, hexagonal, and cast from iron plates, it was the only ancient golden-script monument on Mount Lu. Together with the bronze pagoda of Donglin Temple, it was known as the “Twin Beauties of Mount Lu.” Tragically, it was destroyed by Japanese artillery fire. Additionally, the scripture depository housed exquisitely carved stone inscriptions of calligraphy by renowned figures from the late Ming Dynasty, including 28 works by masters such as Huang Tingjian. All of these, along with Buddha statues and scriptures, were looted by the Japanese. The Japanese also shelled Golden Wheel Peak and engaged in fierce battles with Chinese troops in the Guizong Temple area. Nearly all the temple’s halls and buildings were burned down. None of the nearby temples — Golden Bamboo Nunnery, Dali Nunnery, Xiangquan Temple, Third Ancestor Nunnery, or Red Flower Nunnery — survived. Today, only a thousand-jin bronze cauldron cast during the Ming Dynasty’s Yongle era and a ten-thousand-jin iron bell cast in the ninth year of the Qing Dynasty’s Tongzhi era (1870) remain, preserved at the Xingzi Cultural Relics Management Office.