Guilin Qixia Temple

Guilin Qixia Temple

Guilin Qixia Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Qixia Temple is located at the north gate of Guilin's Seven Star Park. It is currently the largest and best-preserved Tang-style temple in China, with a history of over a thousand years. The Guanyin statue enshrined in the Guanyin Hall is the temple’s most treasured relic. Carved in 2002 from white marble sourced from Ya'an, Sichuan, the statue stands 6.8 meters tall and weighs 18 tons. It is the heaviest and tallest Guanyin statue in the regions of Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong, and Guangxi.

The eminent monk Tan Qian traveled to Guilin in the tenth year of the Sui Kaihuang era (587 AD). He inscribed the three characters “Qixia Cave” (an alternative name for Seven Star Cave) on the cliff of Seven Star Rock in Putuo Mountain, referring to the colorful stalactites inside the cave that resembled brocaded clouds. Since then, the Qixia Temple was first built at the foot of the mountain during the Tang Dynasty.

During the Tang Dazhong and Kaicheng eras (828–840 AD), the monk Quanzhen traveled to Guilin’s Qixia Temple. While meditating and chanting scriptures in a cave behind the temple, he suddenly vanished into the cave and disappeared without a trace, demonstrating his profound level of enlightenment. It is said that he passed away at the age of 133. In the first year of the Jianzhong Jingguo era of the Northern Song Dynasty (1101 AD), Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Ji, conferred upon him the posthumous title of “Master Ciyu Jizhao Ying Pu’hui” and honored him as the “Buddha of Infinite Life,” in recognition of his extraordinary transcendence. As a result of this honor, the cave behind Guilin Qixia Temple became known as the “Longevity Buddha Cave.” Deeply moved by Quanzhen’s enlightenment, the abbot also had an image of the Buddha of Infinite Life engraved on the cave wall. During the Ming Dynasty’s Wanli era (1573–1620 AD), monks built the “Longevity Buddha Nunnery” in front of the cave to worship the Buddha of Infinite Life. Due to the karmic ties formed by the two eminent monks of the Sui and Tang dynasties, from the Sui to the Qing Dynasty, Buddhist disciples successively built over 30 temples, pavilions, and structures on and around Putuo Mountain. The most famous among them remains the Qixia Temple at the foot of the mountain.

The main gate of a Buddhist temple is called the “Mountain Gate.” The saying “the most famous mountains are often home to monks” reflects why temples are usually situated in mountainous or forested areas. Upon entering the temple’s Mountain Gate, you will find the Heavenly King Hall. At the center of the hall is the Maitreya Buddha with a big belly and a smiling face, flanked by the Four Heavenly Kings, the most renowned guardian deities in Buddhism. Behind Maitreya is a large shrine housing a statue of General Wei Tuo, who holds a vajra (a ritual weapon).