Suining Dosu Temple

Suining Dosu Temple

Suining Dosu Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Sichuan Province.

Dosu Temple is located on Shuidong Street in Jinhua Town, a millennia-old ancient town in Shehong County, Suining City, Sichuan Province, within a planned tourism scenic area. The temple was first built during the Tianjian era of Emperor Wu of the Southern Liang Dynasty, boasting a history of more than 1,500 years. It was renovated in the 16th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1677), covering an area of 2,000 square meters. The temple faces east and is symmetrically laid out along a central axis, consisting of a complex quadrangle courtyard that includes the temple gate, Maitreya Hall, Skanda Hall, Mahavira Hall, Thousand-Hand Guanyin Hall, Medicine Buddha Hall, and side rooms. It is one of the best-preserved "Nine Palaces and Eighteen Temples" in Jinhua Ancient Town. Adjacent to it are four ancient streets: Shuidong Street (over 350 meters long), Baoweidong Street (over 300 meters long), Hebian Street (over 800 meters long), and Nan Street (over 1,200 meters long), forming an area rich in antique charm and distinctive features. It is also connected to nearby tourist attractions such as Jinhua Mountain, Chen Zi'ang’s Study Platform, the millennia-old ancient town, ancient Taoist temples, Jinhu Lake, and fruit bases, attracting visitors from far and wide.

For over a thousand years, the temple has been a renowned Buddhist site. Esteemed poets of the Tang Dynasty such as Du Fu and Wang Bo, along with Yang Cheng, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the County Surveillance Bureau in the Ming Dynasty, have written poems praising Dosu Temple for its ancient architecture and thriving incense offerings. The hall enshrines numerous Buddha statues, including wooden sculptures of the Maitreya Bodhisattva and the Three Saints of the West, carved from camphor wood. Some of the wooden sculptures were brought from Guoqing Temple in Zhejiang in earlier years. The temple also houses three sutra collections from the Guangxu era, displayed in the scripture depository. Most of the monks and nuns in the temple are graduates of advanced Buddhist institutes.

Protected Area: East to 1 meter outside the drip line of the temple gate, west to 1 meter outside the temple wall, south to 1 meter outside the temple wall, and north to 1 meter outside the drip line of the side rooms.

Construction Control Zone: East to 8 meters outside the drip line of the temple gate, west to 3 meters outside the temple wall, south to 3 meters outside the temple wall, and north to 3 meters outside the drip line of the side rooms.

Jinhua Town: Located on the northern edge of the central Sichuan hilly region and on the middle and western banks of the Fu River, Jinhua Town in Shehong County borders Santai County to the west. It covers an area of 99.7 square kilometers with a total population of 60,462.

Jinhua Town primarily features low hills, along with some flatland. Its highest elevation is 674.4 meters (Tianbaizhai of Longdongping), and the Fu River runs through the town. The area has a subtropical humid climate, with an average annual temperature of 20°C, annual precipitation of about 950 mm, and approximately 250 frost-free days per year.

Population Data

(Data from the Fifth National Population Census)

Total Population: 58,316

Male…… Jinhua Town Detailed Information++

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units