Xinggu Temple

Xinggu Temple

Xinggu Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Hebei Province.

Xinggu Temple is located in Doufengma Village, four kilometers due east of Pingxiang County. It lies to the east of the Zhang River and one kilometer south of the Xingqing Highway, and is a long-established Buddhist sacred site. The temple complex covers an area of 108 mu, and includes the Mahavira Hall, Second Hall, Third Hall, Great Compassion Hall, Relic Hall, as well as east and west wing rooms, the abbot’s quarters, ordination hall, lecture hall, and more, all built on a grand scale that is truly magnificent. According to inscriptions on ancient restoration steles, including phrases such as “from Tianzhu White Horse and the Golden Mountain Stone Yong Ci’en,” it is recorded that Xinggu Temple was originally built in the late Western Han Dynasty by Indian monks. Buddhism originated in ancient India and was first introduced to China in the late Western Han period, gradually becoming one of the major faiths of the Chinese nation. During the Later Zhao period, the most influential monk in the north was Fotudeng, who came to China from India via the Western Regions. Trusted and favored by Emperor Shi Le of Later Zhao, Fotudeng widely established temples around Xiangguo (in present-day Xingtai), spreading Buddhist teachings. The construction of temples with large amounts of gold and silver could not have been funded without imperial support, so based on the surviving broken stele inscriptions, it is speculated that Xinggu Temple may have been perfected on the foundation of an earlier temple by the Indian monk Fotudeng, who resided in Xiangguo for many years. It gradually became a renowned temple in the north.

Historical records indicate that during the Northern Song Dynasty, Xinggu Temple served as the upper temple to the An Guo Temple in Bianjing (Kaifeng), with An Guo Temple acting as the subordinate lower temple directly governed by Xinggu Temple. Folklore tells that every time initiations were held, there was a huge cauldron in the temple where a dan (approximately 50 kilograms) of millet was cooked, yet the resulting porridge remained thin and watery—illustrating the vast number of monks and the thriving incense offerings, which pushed Buddhist activities to a peak.

In the first year of the Yuán era, Xinggu Temple underwent large-scale renovation and was described as “resplendent in gold and jade, breathtaking to behold, with majestic palaces, densely arrayed Buddha statues, and extraordinary grandeur.” Folklore also claims that the layout of the imperial capital was designed based on the structure of Xinggu Temple, and that the architectural blueprints were taken from Xinggu Temple itself—giving rise to the saying passed down through generations that “Xinggu Temple came before Beijing.” Liu Bingzhong, a founding hero of the Yuan Dynasty, once lived as a monk at the Tianning Temple in Xingtai and had longstanding connections with Xinggu Temple. He later assisted Kublai Khan in establishing the capital in Beijing (then known as Dadu) and was appointed to plan the imperial city. It is quite possible that Liu Bingzhong used Xinggu Temple as a reference when designing the imperial city. This large-scale renovation of Xinggu Temple was directly connected to Liu Bingzhong, a key minister of the Yuan Dynasty.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Xinggu Temple enjoyed the reputation of being the “First Temple Outside the Capital.” A restoration stele inscription from the 15th year of the Jiajing reign in the Ming Dynasty reads: “Xinggu Temple is a major monastic complex in the southern part of the capital region,” demonstrating the temple’s enduring legacy and its consistently significant and prestigious status in Buddhist history. During the Republican era, amid warlord conflicts, Xinggu Temple suffered repeated disasters and gradually fell into decline.

Xinggu Temple once had 330 mu of temple fields, and within its grounds were stables, carriage sheds, kitchens, mills, grinding rooms, accounting offices, storage rooms, farming tool sheds, and more. After the liberation of Pingxiang, the monks were disbanded, and the temple was successively occupied and divided among various entities including the Fourth District Office of Pingxiang County, the Fengma Township Government, a grain station, supply and marketing cooperative, health clinic, and Fengma Middle School. Multiple renovations, additions, and demolitions transformed it beyond recognition. The destruction was especially severe during the “Cultural Revolution,” with numerous historical relics stolen, burned, or smashed, reducing the thousand-year-old sacred temple to ruins.

The ruins of Xinggu Temple still preserve the Mahavira Hall, Third Hall, Relic Hall, and several stupas and stupa bases. It has now been listed as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit.

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Hebei Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units