Haihui Temple

Haihui Temple

Haihui Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Haihui Temple, located about 50 li east of Yanggu County, has a history of nearly 300 years. According to the temple stele, it was built during the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty and remains as solid as when it was first constructed. The temple complex covers nearly 100 acres and consists of three parts: the Liu Ancestral Hall, Haihui Temple, and the Transport Commissioner’s Guildhall. Originally, there were over 200 halls, monks’ quarters, and pavilions; 81 still remain.

As a temple structure, Haihui Temple is complete and rigorously organized. Along its central axis from south to north are, in sequence, the Mountain Gate and Front Hall, Middle Hall, Main Hall, the Three Great Halls, and three successive courtyards. The Mountain Gate has three bays, with a plaque inscribed with the characters “Haihui Temple.” Originally, there were two large stone lions outside the Mountain Gate, above which stood a pavilion called the Lion Pavilion. Inside the gate were clay statues of the two guardian deities Heng and Ha, each about 15 feet tall. Entering the Mountain Gate leads into the front courtyard, with bell and drum towers on the east and west sides. The Front Hall has three bays and contains two niches; the deities Guan Yu and Skanda stand back-to-back, one facing south and the other north, while the Four Heavenly Kings are enshrined on the east and west walls. The middle courtyard houses the Middle Hall, also with three bays, designed as a pass-through structure. In the hall, Maitreya Buddha is enshrined facing south, while Guanyin Bodhisattva faces north. Each side of the courtyard has five flat-roofed auxiliary rooms. The rear hall is the Main Hall, also known as the Mahavira Hall, spanning five bays in width and three in depth. It features a wooden structure with a brick roof and is the principal building of the temple, larger and more spacious than the Front and Middle Halls. At the center are three wooden seated Buddha statues, the middle one being Sakyamuni, commonly known as the Tathagata Buddha of the Western Paradise. On both sides of the rear courtyard of Haihui Temple are small courtyards, symmetrically arranged along the central axis. The west courtyard houses the Great Compassion Pavilion, while the main structure of the east courtyard is the Abbot’s Pavilion. Haihui Temple is a precious ancient cultural heritage site preserved in Yanggu.