Jingguo Temple

Jingguo Temple

Jingguo Temple is a Chongqing Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Jingguo Temple is located in Jingguo Village, Gulu Town, Hechuan City, dating back to the Ming Dynasty.

Jingguo Temple is located in Jingguo Village, Gulu Town, Hechuan District, Chongqing, and is known as one of the Four Famous Temples of Hezhou, along with Huguo Temple, Longyou Temple, and Fangxi Temple.

Originally built in the second year of the Yongxi era of the Northern Song Dynasty (985 AD), the temple underwent partial renovations and expansions in the fifth year of the Qiandao era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1169 AD), the second year of the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty (1404 AD), the fifty-third year of the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty (1783 AD), and the twenty-third year of the Guangxu era of the Qing Dynasty (1897 AD). The existing structures date back to the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The temple complex follows a traditional quadrangle layout, with its main buildings facing south. It originally covered an area of 4,000 square meters, though now it spans over 3,000 square meters. The structure features post-and-lintel or pierced bracket wooden architecture. Along the central axis are, in sequence, the Heavenly King Hall, the Mahavira Hall, and the Jade Emperor Hall; on the left and right sides are the Scripture Wheel Repository Hall, the Great Mercy Pavilion (Guanyin Hall), and corridors. Due to construction in different eras, the arrangement of the halls is not entirely uniform.

The Mahavira Hall is three bays wide and 14.5 meters deep, with a double-eave hip-and-gable roof. It was first built in the second year of the Yongxi era of the Northern Song Dynasty (985 AD) and was reconstructed in the second year of the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty (1404 AD) by the monk Daoguo. The central beam bears an ink inscription reading: “In the second year of the Yongxi era of the Song Dynasty, in the cyclical year of Jia Shen, on the seventh day of the first month, at the auspicious hour of gui you, this hall was built under the direction of the mountain’s abbot, the monk Daoguo, who raised funds for its renovation.” Partial repairs were also carried out during the Daoguang and Xianfeng eras of the Qing Dynasty.

The Scripture Wheel Repository Hall has a hip-and-gable roof. Its central beam bears an ink inscription that reads: “Re-erected with reverence in the eighth year of the Zhengtong era of the Great Ming (1443 AD).” The hall originally housed an octagonal, tower-like wooden and iron rotating scripture wheel, constructed in the fifth year of the Qingyuan era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1169 AD). It had seven levels, including the base, stood 5.1 meters tall, and could accommodate multiple people turning it. However, it was destroyed in the early 1960s when the temple was converted into a school. The iron shaft base was preserved at the district cultural relics management office, bearing inscriptions such as “Established on the second day of the tenth month in the fifth year of the Qiandao era of the Great Song, cyclical year of Ji Chou (1169 AD).”

In 2000, Jingguo Temple was designated as part of the first batch of Chongqing Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Units by the Chongqing Municipal People’s Government.

Jingguo Village: Jingguo Village…… More details about Jingguo Village++