Fugging Temple

Fugging Temple

Fugging Temple is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Fugging Temple is located within the Nancangyan Mountain Scenic Area in Jingxing County, Hebei Province. It neighbors Luanjia Mountain to the east, connects to Zhuhui Ridge to the west, borders Tiantai Mountain to the south, and faces Luantai Slope across Sigou River to the north.

Fugging Temple was originally named Xingshan Temple and is said to be an ancient sacred site of Guanyin Bodhisattva. According to the earliest extant inscription from the first year of Qianning during the Song Dynasty (1022), titled *Inscription and Preface for the Reconstruction of Fugging Temple on Cangyan Mountain in Dahu Township, Jingxing County*, the origins of the temple—its founder and the dynasty in which it was first built—had already been lost to history by the Northern Song’s Xianping era (998–1003). At that time, local oral tradition only held that the temple was “formerly called Xingshan Temple” and that “a princess once became a nun here.” The inscription also records how, in the fifth year of Xianping (1002), Chan Master Quanyue of Huayan Sect from Mount Wutai came to renovate the temple. Most importantly, it details how Quanyue and another monk, Zhihuang, petitioned Emperor Zhenzong of Song in Shangjun, Qiao Commandery, to approve the reconstruction of Cangyan Mountain Temple, as well as how the emperor bestowed the name “Fugging Temple” in the seventh year of Daguan (1014). From then on, the Buddhist temple on Cangyan Mountain was officially named Fugging Temple.

Covering an area of 2.46 million square meters and situated at an altitude of 983 meters, Fugging Temple’s architectural complex can be broadly divided into three levels—lower, middle, and upper—based on spatial layout. The main structures are located among the cliffs and precipices of the middle level. The lower level consists of, in sequence, the mountain gate archway, mountain gate bell tower, Cangshan Academy, stele courtyard theater, Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall, Thousand-Hand Guanyin Hall (now ruined), temporary imperial palace (now ruined), Tiger-Leaping Cliff Path, and over 300 stone steps. In front of the temple’s mountain gate, the White Crane Spring gushes from crevices in the rocks and flows into Sigou River. Above the temple’s Dragon-Bathing Pool, the Dripping Water Cliff and Echo Valley Waterfall feature towering cliffs and are especially spectacular. The middle-level structures include, in order, the Spirit Palace, Dragon King Temple, Heavenly King Hall, Bridge Tower Hall, Grand Stone Bridge, Mighty Buddha Hall, plank walkways, Dressing Tower, Guan Yu Temple, Scripture Depository, Yanxia Mountain House, Descendants’ Hall, Sages’ Shrine, Lotus Sutra Pagoda, Princess Shrine, Monkey King Temple, Southern Heavenly Gate, and Eastern Heavenly Gate. The design and construction of the temple’s main structure, the Bridge Tower Hall, hold significant artistic and aesthetic value. Built atop cliffs over 20 zhang (approximately 66 meters) high and facing each other from north to south, the site features three single-arch stone bridges. Two of these bridges support two similarly designed but differently sized structures—the Heavenly King Hall and the Bridge Tower Hall. The Bridge Tower Hall stands tall and precipitous, with exquisitely crafted architecture. It is a two-story hall, five bays wide and three bays deep, with a double-eave hip-and-gable roof. The roof is covered with glazed tiles, and the central ridge is adorned with a floral-patterned glazed tile design. The interior features murals, and the beams and brackets are painted in vibrant colors, creating a resplendent effect. Below the bridge lies a long ravine with over 360 stone steps. At the end of the steps stands the graceful Heavenly King Hall. A pair of cursive gold-character couplets hangs high above the hall’s entrance: “No lamps before the hall, only moonlight to shine; No locks on the gate, waiting for clouds to drift.” These elegant and classic inscriptions add to the hall’s charm.

Proceeding north from the Bridge Tower Hall, one encounters a continuous stretch of meditation rooms, stone tablets, Peak-Viewing Pavilion, and ancient pagodas, all leading to the Princess Shrine. Nestled against a sheer cliff and overlooking a precipice, the shrine houses a statue of Yangguang Princess, the eldest daughter of Emperor Yang of Sui, while the surrounding walls feature large murals. The upper level includes the Princess Tomb, Jade Emperor Temple, Queen Mother Hall, and a pagoda forest.

The Precious Pagoda of the Lotus Sutra was built in the late Jin and early Yuan dynasties and still stands within the monks’ pagoda forest. The temple preserves a total of 165 stone tablets, including 2 from the Song Dynasty, 7 from the Jin Dynasty, 1 from the Yuan Dynasty, 10 from the Ming Dynasty, 107 from the Qing Dynasty, and 12 from the Republican era. Notable ones include the Fugging Stele and the Piercing Dragon Stele. Among them, the “Ministerial Stele,” recognized as one of the Sixteen Scenic Spots of Cangyan Mountain, was both authored and inscribed by Qiao Yu, Minister of Personnel during the Ming Dynasty. It holds considerable value in terms of calligraphy and historical documentation, with both its carving and ornamentation being masterpieces of craftsmanship.

Fugging Temple boasts numerous plaques and poetic inscriptions from ancient times to the present—over fifty in total—ranging from lyrical expressions to scenic descriptions, all infused with refined elegance, pictorial beauty, and poetic sentiment.

In 2006, Fugging Temple was listed by the State Council as part of the sixth group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units, recognized as an ancient architectural site from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units