Liangjiatan Baiyun Temple

Liangjiatan Baiyun Temple

Liangjiatan Baiyun Temple is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Baiyun Temple is located at the southern foot of Baofeng Mountain, west of Liangjiatan Village, 19 kilometers south of Pingyao County. Its full name is "Baiyun Chan Monastery," and it was once called "Xiyu Temple." The entire temple is built against the mountain slope facing south, with tiers ascending in a unique style. It consists of four courtyards, with pathways allowing access up and down and corridors for easy circulation.

Based on a surviving stele from November 1541 during the Ming Jiajing era, Baiyun Temple was initially built during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, a local gentry member named Hou Bowei, from Nanliangzhuang in Pingyao County, Fenzhou, enjoyed a good reputation locally — "with thriving livestock and grain stores worth millions." Hou owned a tax-paying estate called Chengliangshan in Xiyu, south of his village. To seek divine protection, he personally funded the construction of a "Baiyun Nunnery" here, which was later expanded into Baiyun Temple. He also donated this estate to the temple as its property for self-sustenance.

Initially, Baiyun Temple only had a main hall and two side halls. In 1537, during the Jiajing era, Hou Bowei’s direct great-grandson, Hou [name missing], renewed his devotion and resolved to renovate the temple, adding a southern hall. Due to the massive funding required, apart from exhausting his own resources, Hou also had to raise funds widely. At that time, there was a Guanyin Hall in Nanyu’s Pingou area, built during the Hongzhi era of the Ming Dynasty by a monk named Daqian. After Daqian passed away, his disciple Kecong refused to continue managing it, instead becoming abbot at Ganquan Temple in Wenshui County, leading to the Hall’s gradual decline — its roof leaking and the sacred statues unprotected. A monk from Gaolin Village, Xikai, attempted to dismantle it, but was stopped by Hou and others. Hou, together with Du Fang (the secular grandson of Daqian), devised a plan. Du went to Wenshui to find Kecong, persuading him to formally relinquish ownership of the Guanyin Hall. In October 1541, the group removed the sacred statues, demolished the hall, and used its timber to build three additional rooms for the southern hall of Baiyun Temple. Inside they enshrined statues of Maitreya and the Four Heavenly Kings, placing the transferred Guanyin statue behind Maitreya, facing opposite directions. They also renovated the main hall and bell tower. In the later stages of the project, when funds ran short for purchasing gold leaf and pigments, Hou “went door-to-door begging, even pricked his own flesh to write donor names,” finally completing the project. The contributions of the Hou family across generations were instrumental in establishing and developing Baiyun Temple.

When Baiyun Temple was completed and consecrated in November 1541, Pingyao County Magistrate Cao Feng (styled Baishi, who took office in 1538) along with Sun Tang, the magistrate of Pudong Patrol and Inspection Office, attended the ceremony and highly commended the initiators. Magistrate Cao also spontaneously composed a poem on the spot, expressing his willingness to support the temple, while Sun Tang generously donated silver.

Below Baiyun Temple, there was originally a “Xianshi Temple” dedicated to the Xianshi Bodhisattva. Legend says that when the Xianshi Bodhisattva traveled to Lingkong Mountain in Qinyuan during the Tang Dynasty, he rested here, prompting locals to build a temple in his honor. During the Jiajing era, the Taoist priest Gao Daoxuan, who was then in charge, unlawfully cut and sold the cypress trees on the temple grounds, bullying villagers. Hou reported him to the authorities, resulting in the confiscation of 70 taels from the tree sales. With this money, 42 acres of water fields were purchased and entrusted to the temple’s abbot, Zuyi, as permanent temple property. Zuyi later acquired over 40 more acres. From then on, Baiyun Temple relied on these extensive lands, either renting them out or cultivating them directly, ensuring sufficient resources not only for daily needs but also for maintenance. To protect the temple’s land assets, Sun Tang and Fan Wei, magistrates of Pudong Pass, issued public notices stating: “All local heads are hereby warned not to secretly sell temple lands. Violators will be reported, the proceeds confiscated, and the lands returned to permanent temple use.” With an economic foundation and official support, the temple thrived. It became a bustling place of worship, especially on the annual Buddhist festival on the 19th day of the sixth lunar month, commemorating Guanyin Bodhisattva’s enlightenment. Known as Baiyun Temple’s Ancient Temple Fair, it attracted over ten thousand visitors.

Outside Baiyun Temple’s mountain gate stand four towering ancient cypresses, symbolizing the Four Heavenly Kings of Buddhism. The gate itself is a triple-arched entrance. Above the arch, on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month in 1796 (the first year of the Jiaqing era), a “Chunqiu Tower” with three rooms was added, housing a golden statue of Guan Yu. It’s named after Guan Yu’s deep knowledge of the “Spring and Autumn Annals,” one of the Five Classics of Confucianism. Originally, there were bell and drum towers on either side of the gate, but they were destroyed during the “Cultural Revolution.”

The front courtyard of Baiyun Temple is narrow. Upon entering the gate and climbing the steps, you reach the southern hall, and passing through it leads to the spacious central courtyard. Fully enclosed, it features five arched cave-halls on both the east and west corridors, and seven cave-halls in the main hall, all cross-vaulted with bricks. Inside are enshrined the grand “Three Worlds Buddhas” — the Medicine Buddha of the Eastern Pure Lapis Lazuli World, Amitabha Buddha of the Western Pure Land, and Shakyamuni Buddha of the Saha World in the center. Flanking the Three Worlds Buddhas are Skanda (Wei Tuo) on the east and Sangharama Bodhisattva (Goddess of the Monastery) on the west. Behind the halo wall of Shakyamuni Buddha, one can enter the “Child-Praying Cave.” According to old customs, those who managed to touch a stone here could pray for a wise and noble son or a graceful, virtuous daughter. No wonder during the annual June 19 festival, numerous worshippers came to touch the stones. This is another example of how Buddhism leveraged Confucian ethics to expand its appeal.

Passing through the Child-Praying Cave and exiting through a small door to the rear courtyard, one can climb the steps on either side to the rooftop, where the “Guanyin Pavilion” with three rooms was added in 1764 (the 29th year of the Qianlong era). Inside, Guanyin sits cross-legged facing south, while Wei Tuo stands behind her, facing north with hands clasped in prayer.

From the sides of the Guanyin Pavilion, one can ascend north to the “Ancient Buddha Hall.” It is the tallest structure in the temple, flanked by east and west side chambers, with east and west auxiliary halls in front — all single-story buildings. The Ancient Buddha Hall is a five-room, cross-vaulted brick cave, soaring without a front eave. Its front wall is made of brick, designed in imitation of European classical fluted columns. However, the spacing between columns still follows traditional Chinese architectural principles, decreasing in size from central to side columns. The column capitals of the front wall feature many brick carvings, such as blue lions, white elephants, suns, moons, as well as relief inscriptions in clerical script like “Pure Land of the Mind,” “Amitabha of Self-Nature,” “Saint of Saints,” and “Heaven of Heavens.” Horizontal pillars bear a couplet: “Uphold all virtues, cleanse all karmic ties; Abstain from all evils, perfect one’s true nature.” This fusion of Chinese calligraphy, brick carving art, and Western classical architectural forms is a rare artistic treasure born from cultural collision — seldom seen in temples.

The Ancient Buddha Hall was initially built during the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty. Its founding abbot, Mingyuan, “devoted himself to fundraising, exhausting personal wealth, digging through mountains and filling valleys, carving stone into caves, extending them into brick tunnels, forming a new courtyard with a Buddha hall above and monks’ quarters below. East and west walls encircle meditation caves for Dharma study and practice. Truly, a magnificent sight was achieved.” (From the 1797 inscription “Record of Rebuilding the Mountain Gate and Constructing the Hall of Lord Guan Yu and the Bell Tower”) It underwent repairs in 1846 and was rebuilt in 1930. The hall enshrines the “Three Bodies of the Buddha” (Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, and Nirmanakaya), the “Four Great Bodhisattvas” (Manjushri, Samantabhadra, Guanyin, and Ksitigarbha), plus four attendant bodhisattvas. These eleven statues were reconstructed during renovations led by the abbot Yinchong and lay devotee Guo Shirong in the Republican era. Around this time, Baiyun Temple transitioned to being governed by the Pure Land sect.

The courtyard behind the Ancient Buddha Hall is where monks live, eat, and meditate, known as the Monks’ Quarters Courtyard. Exiting via a side gate to the north leads to the Stupa Courtyard, where five stupas remain. In Buddhism, a stupa holds the relics of a deceased eminent monk, so these five towers are burial monuments for past abbots.

Starting from 1759 (the 24th year of Qianlong), Baiyun Temple came under the governance of the Linji School of Chinese Buddhism, a sect derived from Zen Buddhism. This is evidenced by the “Baiyun Chan Monastery” inscription on the mountain gate plaque during the 1797 renovation.

Zen Buddhism originated during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, founded by the Indian monk Bodhidharma. It flourished in the Tang Dynasty. The fifth patriarch, Hongren, had two disciples — Shenxiu and Huineng — who preached separately in northern and southern China, later known as the “Northern School” and “Southern School.” Their differing approaches to cultivation — gradual (Northern) and sudden (Southern) enlightenment — led to their nicknames. After the Tang Dynasty, the Southern (sudden) school dominated, splitting into five branches: Linji, Caodong, Yunmen, Fayan, and Huanglong & Yangqi (together known as the “Five Houses and Seven Schools”). After the Song Dynasty, Chinese Buddhism became almost synonymous with Zen, especially the Linji and Caodong schools. Zen philosophy also influenced Confucianism, giving rise to Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming dynasties. By the early Qing Dynasty, Zen Buddhism declined, though the Linji and Caodong schools spread to Japan — for instance, the monk Dao Long (1213–1278) introduced Linji teachings there in 1246, founding its Kenchoji lineage, making it one of Japan’s dominant sects, still thriving today.

In April 1759, Zen Master Mingyuan took residence at Baiyun Temple, becoming its first abbot of the Linji School. A native of Pingding County, Shanxi, Mingyuan was gifted and wise, the 37th-generation successor of the orthodox Linji lineage. Before his arrival, Baiyun Temple was desolate, lacking resident monks for years. Owing to Mingyuan’s profound Buddhist knowledge, he earned the respect of locals and gentry. During the temple’s renovation, even then-Pingyao Magistrate Li Zaitian (a provincial scholar-official from Henan, serving 1757–1763) donated from his salary and encouraged other elites to contribute, enabling a complete refurbishment and successful launch of the monastery.

To ensure the long-term flourishing of the Linji School at Baiyun Temple, Mingyuan prioritized strict discipline. With the help of his fellow monk and assistant supervisor Hongdao, he established monastic rules and adopted the “Ten Directions Monastery” management model — a system used by major temples since the Tang and Song eras, also called “Ten Directions” or “Monastery.” It stipulated that all temple property was collectively owned by resident monks, forbidding private sale even by the abbot. While ordination ceremonies could be held onsite, the temple could not downgrade to a “Lineage Monastery” (where succession is hereditary, and property is controlled by the abbot). The “Ten Directions” model has two types: “Dharma Transmission Monastery” (where the next abbot is chosen among disciples) and “Merit Selection Monastery” (where the abbot is elected democratically by monks, typically for six-year terms). The latter promotes fairness and encourages excellence. The 1764 inscription “Record of Baiyun Temple’s Expansion and Monastery Establishment” explicitly states “monks shall never establish hereditary lineages,” reflecting Mingyuan’s commitment.

Mingyuan implemented a “Merit Selection Monastery” system and led by example. In 1766, upon completing his term as abbot, despite pleas to stay, he refused reappointment and left for Hongtugou Temple in Jinyang. Consequently, the monks elected his fellow disciple Hongdao as the next abbot. The lineage continued through several generations, including Liang [name missing] (38th), Yingming (37th), Qiande (38th), Yian (38th), Hanzhen (39th), Daoqing (40th), and Zongwei (41st).

Mingyuan’s pioneering spirit and integrity were highly revered by successive generations of monks. Though he had left the temple by the time of his passing and thus couldn’t be buried there, the monks commissioned a portrait of him, displayed in the meditation hall for daily reverence. Many literati who visited wrote poems in his honor. A collection of five seven-character quatrains composed in the autumn of 1796 by five poets — Liu Zeyuan of Mianshan, Du Tengjiao of Sanqin, Meng Dayu of Dingyang, and two others — includes verses in matching rhyme, showcasing literary admiration.

The organizational system of Zen (including Linji) temples is unique, modeled after the imperial “civil and military ranks,” dividing monastic officers into “Eastern” and “Western” orders.

The “Eastern Order” selects monks skilled in worldly affairs, comprising six administrative roles: “Duzhi” (general manager), “Jianzhi” (assistant manager), “Fusi” (finance officer), “Weina” (monastic affairs coordinator), “Dianzuo” (dining and lodging officer), and “Zhongsui” (field and maintenance officer).

The “Western Order” appoints monks with both scholarship and etiquette expertise, consisting of six leadership roles: “Shouzuo” (head of all monks), “Shujia” (secretarial officer), “Zhizang” (scriptures custodian), “Zhike” (guest relations), “Zhuyu” (bathhouse manager), and “Zhandian” (temple cleanliness and incense). This clear division of labor and accountability was advanced. Officers served fixed terms and were often rotated. Senior abbots like Hongdao, Yingming, and others had served in these roles, gaining practical management experience before being elected. Even former abbots could resume staff positions — for example, Liang [name missing] served as “Duzhi” after retiring. This meritocratic, humble approach embodies Buddhist detachment, contrasting with worldly officials clinging to power.

Despite the nationwide decline of the Linji School, Baiyun Temple preserved and continued its traditions until 1895, as recorded in the “Biography of Yushan Zen Master” stele. The temple’s abundant inscriptions provide valuable material for studying Chinese Buddhist history, especially the Linji lineage. Collaborative research with Japanese Buddhist scholars could further uncover Baiyun Temple’s cultural depth and boost tourism.

Biography of Yushan Zen Master

The master, styled Zongwei, was a native of Huojun (modern-day Linfen) surnamed Wang, also known as Yushan. Born in 1820, he was ordained in 1830 under Master Chuanjie at Yunfeng Temple in Qibi Village. Deeply drawn to Zen, he rejected superficial practice. In 1840, he traveled to Taiyuan’s Qianshou Temple to receive the Vajra Bright Treasury Precepts from Elder Mingyu. He then wandered across famous mountains, extensively studying scriptures. In 1869, he took residence at Baiyun Temple in Liangjiatan. He loved nature, planting numerous trees — including 150 cypresses and 300 other species — transforming the area into a lush forest. His life was pure and disciplined. On February 19, 1892, he hosted a willow ceremony and resigned. Though he left no direct disciples, his legacy endured. He passed away peacefully on January 6, 1894, aged 75. Seven days later, scriptures were recited and a stupa erected. His successor, Chuanjing (styled Wen Shan), from Xiaoyi County, also served at Baiyun Temple, maintaining its lands and planting fruit trees for future income.

Composed by Guo Weicheng, Candidate Instructor and Local Tribute Scholar of the Wuyin Year

Calligraphy by Liang Tingbi, a local scholar

Successors of the 41st-generation Great Master Yushan: Disciples Yanwen, Guangzhi; and further heirs Wen Shan, Zhitong, Lishou, and Xinjing

The first day of the GuiXian month in the year Yimai of Emperor Guangxu’s reign

(This stele is now embedded in the eastern corridor wall of the middle courtyard of Baiyun Temple)

[Note]

Tonsure: A Buddhist term referring to shaving the head to become a monk, achieving spiritual liberation.

Yuan Shu: Originally a synonym for the Privy Councilor in the Song Dynasty, now refers to fundamental theory.

In May 2013, Baiyun Temple in Liangjiatan was announced as part of the seventh batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level.

Liangjiatan Village: Located about 15 kilometers south of Pingyao County, with the Fen-Tun River passing through, the village has a total of 260 households, a population of 700, 390 rural employees, 504 mu of arable land, 160 mu of orchard land, 720 mu of forest land, 691 participants in the new rural cooperative medical system, 23 people receiving minimum living allowances, 504 mu of crop sowing area, 450 mu of grain crop sowing area, a total grain output of 123 tons, 150 mu of corn planting area, a corn yield of 60 tons, poultry egg production of 200 tons, 70 pigs at the end of the year, sheep year… Detailed information on Liangjiatan Village++

Further Reading:

·Fourth Batch of Shanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

·Seventh Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level