Yuanying Zen Temple

Yuanying Zen Temple

Yuanying Zen Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Shandong’s Yuanying Zen Temple

It was expanded from the ancient Yicheng Temple, which was originally built during the Northern Wei Dynasty. During the Warring States period, Sun Bin, the military strategist of the Qi State, retired from office in his later years and returned to his hometown to study military strategy and write treatises on warfare. King Wei, recognizing his great contributions, frequently sent civil and military officials to visit him and specially built a courier station for his accommodation. After Sun Bin’s death, he was buried in front of the courier station. During the Taihe era of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Bodhidharma, the patriarch of Chan Buddhism, came to the Central Plains to spread Buddhist teachings. When he visited this historic site, he found the area picturesque, blessed with beautiful mountains and rivers, and full of outstanding people. He then instructed his disciples to transform the courier station into a Buddhist temple, naming it “Yicheng Temple” (with “yi” implying tranquility). At its peak, Yicheng Temple had “over a thousand monks and more than ten thousand Buddha statues,” making it a model among temples in northern China. The abbots of many temples at the time were selected from this monastery, making it truly one of the birthplaces of Chinese Buddhist culture. Yuanying Zen Temple recreates the grandeur of the ancient temple. The entire temple complex follows an axisymmetric layout centered around a pagoda, with five halls, one pagoda, one mountain, and one pond all situated along the central axis. From south to north, they are the Liberation Pond, the Heavenly King Hall, the Medicine Buddha Hall, the Buddhist Pagoda, the Mahavira Hall, the Amitabha Hall, the Manjushri Hall, and Mount Sumeru.