Jingxing Xingguo Temple

Jingxing Xingguo Temple

Jingxing Xingguo Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Xingguo Temple is located in Xiwangshe, Jingxing Mining District, Shijiazhuang City. It was first built during the Taihe era (477–499 AD) of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty. During the Taihe period, Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang and passed through this area, where he spotted a peculiar rock. He ordered his entourage to set up camp here. Observing the landscape—rocky outcrops, clear springs, streams, willows and reeds in the front, and large banks with ancient peacock trees and cypresses in the back (and then the tablets appeared with inscribed texts), the place radiated a strong spiritual energy, truly becoming a sacred site. He then issued an imperial edict to build a temple here, initially named Dinghe Yuan (Temple), which was later renamed Xingguo Temple upon completion.

Xingguo Temple is a renowned Buddhist sanctuary in North China and also a major hub for cultural exchange in China. Throughout the dynasties, it has been presided over by eminent monks, such as Master Huineng of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Master Songyan Guangbian Puhui Yuwu of the Zhenguan era during the Tang Dynasty, Masters Duqing and his junior disciple Bai Tianshu of the Huangyou era during the Song Dynasty, Elder Baimei of the Dading era during the Jin Dynasty, Master Ziduan Faxin of the Chenghua era during the Ming Dynasty, and Master Kuang Gong Yuande Jueling of the 34th year of Qianlong during the Qing Dynasty.

Xingguo Temple has been expanded and renovated throughout the dynasties. During the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin, in the Zhenguan era, entrusted Yu Chengde with supervising the renovation of Xingguo Temple. At that time, the temple complex had orderly monastic quarters and solemn Buddha statues, truly a sacred place. After the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, during the war between the Song and Liao dynasties, Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Guangyi, and his nephew Zhao Defang personally led troops into battle. When Zhao Defang fell seriously ill, they set up camp at the Eastern and Western Platforms. Zhao Defang recovered from his illness while staying at Xingguo Temple. After the war, the royal family funded the renovation of the temple and gilded the Buddha statues, renaming the Western Platform Xiwangshe and the Eastern Platform Dongwangshe. The temple flourished again during the Dading era of Emperor Shizong of the Jin Dynasty. In the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty, the Temple of the King of Hell and the grand theater half a li south of the temple were rebuilt. During the Xuantong era of the Qing Dynasty, Xingguo Temple was renovated once more on a grand scale, featuring overlapping towers, towering ancient cypresses, numerous monks, and a constant stream of worshippers. It owned nearly 200 mu of arable land, 36.9 mu around the temple, 69 stone steles forming a veritable forest of stelae, 27 stupas in the Eastern Stupa Forest, the Western Stupa Forest covering 9 mu, and nearly 100 mu of monks' burial grounds, along with stone mills and rollers. Inside the meditation hall were enshrined two golden Buddhas and 72 bronze Buddhas. The Mahavira Hall was grand and majestic, with vivid and lifelike statues inside. The murals were especially unparalleled in their composition, lines, modeling, and color usage. Due to land subsidence from coal mining in Jingxing and damage during the Cultural Revolution, the temple was demolished. A seven-foot-tall bronze statue of Sakyamuni Buddha found inside the large Buddha statue was transported to and preserved at Longxing Temple in Zhengding.

To revive this historic site and restore the splendor of this thousand-year-old temple, Xingguo Temple has now been reopened. Thirty-five surviving fragmented steles, one fragmented Western stupa, one Usnisavijaya Dhāraṇī Pillar, one pre-Tang Dynasty stone Buddha, one thousand-hole peculiar rock, stone stele bases, as well as copper coins and porcelain from the Song Dynasty and earlier have been organized and displayed. Xingguo Temple is now a subordinate temple of the Western Platform of Mount Wutai in Shanxi Province, with resident monks from the Western Platform of Mount Wutai serving as its abbots.

Transportation Guide

Address: Xiwangshe Village, Jingxing Mining District, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province

Getting There: Take a bus from Jingxing Mining District, Shijiazhuang to Jiazhuang Town, and get off at the intersection of Pingshe Road and Jiafeng Road, then walk west to reach the temple.