Jiangkou Xiangshan Temple

Jiangkou Xiangshan Temple

Xiangshan Temple, located on the west side of the county library in front of Hongmiaoyan on Sanxing Road, south of Jiangkou County town, faces west. Originally called Guanyin Temple, its construction date is unknown. In October of the 22nd year of the Daoguang reign during the Qing Dynasty (November 1883), it was renamed Xiangshan Temple.

Xiangshan Temple is divided into a front and rear hall, along with several wing rooms, including open areas, covering a total area of about 11,000 square meters, forming a temple complex. The first hall is the Great Buddha Hall, a three-bay large wooden structure measuring 15.3 meters in width (5.1 meters per bay) and 13 meters in depth. The central section features five columns and eleven brackets supporting the roof, while the side sections have eight columns and eight brackets. The central area enshrines a statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva and serves as a space for monks and nuns to conduct Buddhist rituals. The second hall and the surrounding wing rooms function as meditation quarters, where monks and nuns read scriptures and reside daily. The entire complex is enclosed by high walls over 6 meters tall, separating it from the outside world. Doors on both sides of the walls lead to the outer wing rooms. Several wing rooms adjacent to the main hall are mainly used to accommodate visiting monks and for dining and daily living.

Xiangshan Temple is not only one of the earlier established temples, but it was also a major temple in the region during the early introduction of Buddhism to Fanjing Mountain. According to inscriptions on burial stupas and steles at most temples in Fanjing Mountain, many eminent monks from the area once came to “Xiangshan to receive Dharma teachings” and were ordained as monks at Xiangshan Temple. Some inscriptions mention “successors of the Dharma at Xiangshan.” For example, the “Inscription on the Stupa of Monk Haikuo” states: “Dharma teachings received at Xiangshan, as enduring as the sun and moon.” Additionally, eminent monks such as Futuman from Tianting Temple (Tianqing Hall) and Huixing from Huguo Temple (Tianchi Courtyard) were all disciples of Saint Fuyue Daoyue, the abbot of Xiangshan Temple. The “Brief Records of Fanjing Mountain · A Study of Buddhism in Fanjing Mountain” provides further details: “During the Ming and Qing dynasties, among the temples in the Fanjing Mountain area, Jiangkou’s Xiangshan Temple was once authorized to conduct ordination ceremonies, with government-approved preceptors such as Saint Fuyue Daoyue. Other temples, such as Tianting Temple, Huguo Temple, and Bamei Temple, were smaller in scale with fewer than ten preceptors and lacked the qualification to confer ordination. Later, as Bamei Temple flourished, the authority to teach and confer ordination shifted from Xiangshan Temple to Bamei Temple.” A couplet on the stone gate beside the meditation quarters reads: “The origin of the Dharma realm begins here; this is the first gate of Zen.” This also illustrates the status of Xiangshan Temple among the temples of Fanjing Mountain. Historical records confirm that, for a certain period in the past, Xiangshan Temple served as the central temple in the Fanjing Mountain region for teaching Buddhism, ordaining monks, and transmitting the Linji School of Chan Buddhism. Local folklore also tells that Xiangshan Temple once enshrined statues of Guanyin Bodhisattva and the Eight Great Heavenly Generals, and was a place for transmitting scriptures and conferring ordination. Later, as Buddhism expanded deeper into Fanjing Mountain, the ordination site moved to Bamei Temple, and Xiangshan Temple became exclusively a practice site for nuns, hence its renaming. This legend may hold some truth. Xiangshan Temple has also been repurposed at various times due to wars and changing eras. In 1936, during the Long March, the Sixth Red Army Corps passed through Jiangkou and stationed in the temple. In August 1939, when the branch campus of the National Third Middle School was stationed in Jiangkou, the temple was used as its main classroom. At that time, progressive students painted fifteen bold traditional Chinese characters in vermilion on the right side of the whitewashed wall inside the entrance: “The whole nation must not become traitors or submissive citizens to the enemy” and “Strive forward.” (This wall and the writing are still preserved today). In 1947, the Jiangkou County Buddhist Association was housed in the temple. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the temple was used as a warehouse by the Shuangjiang Grain Station and for noodle production, remaining relatively well-preserved. In 2005, the construction of Xiangshan Garden Building led to the demolition of three wing rooms, leaving only the Buddha Hall and the meditation quarters.