Xuchang White Rabbit Temple

Xuchang White Rabbit Temple

Xuchang White Rabbit Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Xuchang White Rabbit Temple, located in Hejie Township, Jian’an District, Xuchang City, Henan Province, is a thousand-year-old ancient temple with a history of over 1,800 years.

According to ancient relics preserved within the temple, this Buddhist monastery existed west of Xuchang City as early as the end of the Han and Wei dynasties. The Xuzhou Annals from the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty records: “In the third year of the Jingming era of the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 502), in April, Yingchuan Commandery presented a white rabbit.” Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Yuan Ke, regarded it as an auspicious omen from heaven and issued an imperial decree naming the sacred site White Rabbit Temple, a name that has been used ever since. For thousands of years, White Rabbit Temple has enjoyed continuous incense offerings and blessings, with local folk tales still circulating about the manifestation of the Medicine Buddha, who helped kind-hearted people, resolved disasters, and bestowed peace and safety.

According to the Xuchang County Place Names Annals, the original White Rabbit Temple covered an area of 7.5 mu, featuring a five-courtyard layout with majestic architecture, including 53 rooms and an additional 1.8 hectares of temple fields. The temple’s front gate had three rooms, flanked by the Two Vajra Generals; the second gate was flanked by the Four Heavenly Kings; the third gate consisted of a three-story hall; the fourth gate housed the Buddha Hall, where the statue of the Medicine Buddha stood over ten feet tall, surrounded by statues of the Eighteen Arhats.

In the early years of the Republic of China, during the warlord era, Feng Yuxiang, while overseeing Henan, promoted a policy of abolishing temples to build schools, destroying Buddha statues and dispersing monks, with most temples converted into school buildings. However, monks from White Rabbit Temple, Great Compassion Temple, and other temples strongly resisted, allowing the incense offerings to continue. The monks of White Rabbit Temple had a tradition of martial arts, and the warrior monks were all highly skilled. During the War of Resistance against Japan, the monastic group sheltered Communist guerrillas, leading to damage of the temple by Japanese forces.

Bathed in the winds of reform and opening up, the religious affairs of New China entered their best period in history. People’s lives improved significantly, cultural development advanced steadily, and citizens’ legal rights to freedom of religious belief were effectively guaranteed. The positive role of religious figures and believers in building a socialist society with Chinese characteristics was acknowledged, and their enthusiasm for contributing to the nation’s development reached unprecedented heights. The Buddhist principles of patriotism, unity, compassion, and benefiting all beings have become an important part of outstanding traditional culture.

In 2013, the Xuchang County Religious Affairs Bureau, in accordance with national regulations, coordinated with relevant units and departments to begin the restoration and reconstruction of White Rabbit Chan Temple on the original site. In 2015, Master Shi Yanji was invited to serve as the abbot of White Rabbit Chan Temple, bringing new vitality to this thousand-year-old temple.

The rebuilt White Rabbit Temple consists of four main halls. The first hall is the Heavenly King Hall, also known as the Maitreya Hall, featuring red walls and yellow glazed tiles, with a hip-and-gable roof style and carvings of dragons playing with pearls along the ridges. Three large doors stand in a row on the left, center, and right, flanked by stone lions, with a blue-framed black plaque above the central door bearing the gilded characters “White Rabbit Temple” shining brightly. Inside the hall, the Maitreya Buddha is enshrined at the center, flanked by the Four Heavenly Kings, with the Skanda Guardian Deity at the back. The Maitreya Buddha, always smiling, welcomes visitors from all directions; the Four Heavenly Kings trample on demons, helping sentient beings ward off evils, while Skanda Guardian Deity, with hands pressed together, embraces and retains worshippers.

The second hall is the Mahavira Hall, also called the Main Hall, enshrining Sakyamuni Buddha. “Da” (大) means “all-encompassing,” and “xiong” (雄) means “subduing demons.” Sakyamuni possesses vast wisdom and subdues the great thousand worlds; his disciples honor him as “Mahavira.” On both sides of the Mahavira Hall stand the Bell Tower and Drum Tower, with morning bells and evening drums symbolizing the monastic rules of day-and-night meditation.

Concurrent voice of Master Yanji: During the reconstruction of the Mahavira Hall, we reused some old bricks from the previous hall. According to experts, these are Han Dynasty portrait bricks, especially this one depicting a monk in meditation, which was likely made specifically for temple construction. If these bricks were indeed used in the original construction of White Rabbit Temple, then the temple may have been built even earlier, possibly in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.

The third hall is the Medicine Buddha Ancestral Hall, enshrining the Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Eyed Guanyin, whose thousand arms protect all beings and thousand eyes observe the world. On the east side of the main hall is the Yuantong Hall, and on the right is the Ksitigarbha Hall. In the courtyard of this hall, on the eastern side, stands an ancient jujube tree. According to villagers, the tree had withered several years ago, but in the second year after Master Yanji took charge of White Rabbit Temple, the dead tree sprouted new buds, later flourishing with branches and bearing abundant fruit, astonishing all devotees. Master Yanji mentioned that he once stood under a jujube tree while receiving precepts at Shaolin Temple. Could there truly be some karmic connection?

The last hall is the Eastern Pure Land of Lapis Lazuli Hall, enshrining the Medicine Buddha, also known as Bhaisajyaguru Tathagata. On the east side of the main hall is the Manjushri Hall, and on the west side is the Samantabhadra Hall. Additionally, on the western side of the temple grounds, a Merit Corridor has been constructed, with 27 merit steles embedded in the walls and 48 large prayer wheels inside the corridor. The golden prayer wheels are lined up in a row, tirelessly spinning as devotees turn them, symbolizing their wonderful communication with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.