Hejiang Fawang Temple

Hejiang Fawang Temple

Hejiang Fawang Temple is a cultural relics protection unit of Sichuan Province.

Fawang Temple is located in the Phoenix Mountain Scenic Area of Erlizhen, Hejiang County, 40 kilometers from the county seat and 12 kilometers from Chishui City in Guizhou Province, at an altitude of 820 meters.

Fawang Temple was decreed as a Ten Directions Monastery during the Tongzhi era of the Qing Dynasty and is a renowned ancient temple in southern Sichuan and northern Guizhou. It was initially built around the Song and Yuan dynasties, flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the early Qing Dynasty, Master Zangxue, a distinguished disciple of the eminent Chan Buddhist master Poshan from the Linji lineage, selected Fawang Temple as the site to propagate Buddhist teachings in southern Sichuan and northern Guizhou. In the Gengshen year of the Qianlong reign during the Qing Dynasty, Master Wenqu, a high monk from the Sansheng Temple in Chengdu, came to serve as the abbot of Fawang Temple, continuing the Linji lineage. Successive generations of eminent monks, including Huan Yu, Huiyuan, Wulian, Defeng, and Guoshan, worked diligently to establish the temple, request the Tripitaka scriptures, construct the Scripture Depository, build the Longevity Pavilion, and establish a Buddhist academy. Fawang Temple flourished in teaching and spread its fame far and wide. The ancient temple covers an area of 8,400 square meters, with a construction area of 4,800 square meters. It is ingeniously composed of the mountain gate, Guan Sheng Hall, Longevity Pavilion, Heavenly King Hall, Mahavira Hall, Scripture Depository, Buddhist Academy, meditation hall, Guanyin Hall, and east and west wing rooms. All the structures of the temple are supported by 228 red stone pillars carved from whole stone, and the entire temple is constructed from red stone materials. Its grand scale, majestic architecture, and exquisite carvings make it a marvel of ancient temple architecture, earning it the reputation of “the foremost stonework under heaven.” Visitors are invariably awestruck, leading to the decree that it be “preserved forever to glorify the Dharma.” The temple was also granted the status of a Ten Directions Monastery and authorized to hold ordination ceremonies. Empress Dowager Cixi personally bestowed a plaque inscribed with “Fawang Chan Temple” and sent half of the imperial procession to escort the scriptures back to the temple. To repay the emperor’s great grace, it took over ten years to build the Wanxing Pavilion to enshrine the imperial edict and the imperial procession. Fawang Temple became known for having “the most flourishing incense offerings in southern Sichuan.”

In 1941, Fawang Temple established a Buddhist academy, marking a major event in the Buddhist community of southern Sichuan and northern Guizhou. Master Taixu, the honorary dean of the Han-Tibetan Buddhist Studies Institute on Jinyun Mountain in Chongqing, served as the honorary head of the academy. Renowned monks from across the country came to give lectures. The academy had research and general classes, teaching profound Buddhist theories and basic doctrines, with over a hundred monks studying at its peak. The academy was dissolved in 1949. The first abbot of the temple management committee after the reopening of Fawang Temple, Monk Mingshen, along with deputy directors Monk Hongneng and Monk Yandi, were all students from the first class of the Buddhist academy.

Fawang Temple is also a famous scenic and tourist destination. In the past, it boasted ten natural wonders: the Soaring Stone Swallows, the Hall Well Tides, the Exposed Mystic Pearl, the Azure Waters of Heaven and Earth, the Spiraling Dragon Waves, the Ever-Bright Moon, the Lotus Auspicious Signs, the Encircling Great Buddha, the Often-Seen White Horse, and the Guanyin Dragon Pearl. The area surrounding the temple is lush with trees, bamboo forests, winding streams, birdsong, and floral fragrance, making it one of the well-known protected forest areas. The temple is surrounded by nationally protected trees such as red beans, ginkgoes, yanhong, Fujian cypresses, nanmu, as well as ancient camphor, cypress, and pine trees. These trees, with their dense foliage, block out the sun, and amidst the sea of green, the blue tiles and red walls are set off by the upturned eaves and painted pavilions. The morning and evening bells echo softly, creating an enchanting atmosphere.

In 1958, the Sichuan Provincial Committee designated Fawang Temple as one of the first batch of key protected temples in the province. Later, the Yibin Prefecture Administrative Office, Luzhou City, and Hejiang County successively listed Fawang Temple as a key cultural relics protection unit. In 1991, with government approval, Fawang Temple was reopened as a Buddhist activity site. Devotees from home and abroad flocked to the temple to fulfill their long-held wish of pilgrimage, while tourists visited in an endless stream. All who came were left in awe, praising Fawang Temple as a grand wonder of nature and a sacred site of Buddhism.

Protected area: 200 meters east of the mountain gate, 50 meters west and north beyond the building boundary, and 200 meters south beyond the building boundary.

Construction control zone: 200 meters beyond the protected area.

Admission: Free

Inquiry phone: 0830-5980001

Opening hours: All day

Getting there

By car: Starting from Luzhou city center, take the Chengdu-Luzhou-Chishui Expressway from the southern part of the city, exit at Yaoba, and drive through Xindian, Xianshi, and Shifo to reach Fawang Temple. The whole journey takes about 1.5 hours.

By bus: Take the Luzhou–Jiuzhi bus from Luzhou Passenger Transport Center, get off at Shifo, then transfer to the Jiuzhi–Fawang Temple bus. The whole journey takes about 2 hours.

Further reading:

· Eighth Batch of Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units