Jinshiyan Temple

Jinshiyan Temple

Jinshiyan Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

I have visited Danxia Mountain in Shaoguan, Guangdong three times. Perhaps the timing wasn’t right, but on all three occasions I only passed through briefly, admiring the mountains and rocks without ever realizing that this mountain also hides an ancient thousand-year-old temple. It wasn’t until a few years ago that a friend told me many white-collar workers in Shaoguan spend their weekends living in temples to experience a different way of life, and that Danxia Mountain is home to such a hidden gem—Jinshiyan Temple. So one weekend, I went there to stay for two days, listening to the morning bells and evening drums, eating simple congee and vegetarian meals, letting this tranquil place “relieve the pressure on my soul.”

The path twists and turns as if there’s no way through; then suddenly, amidst willows and bright flowers, you find yourself in a whole new world.

The Danxia Mountain Scenic Area is divided into upper, middle, and lower sections, as well as the Jinjiang Scenic Area. Jinshiyan Temple is located in the lower section of Danxia Mountain. Shortly after driving through the first mountain gate, my friend pointed to a cliff halfway up the mountain and said, “Look, that narrow crevice in the middle is Jinshiyan Temple!” Looking up from below, perched midway up the sheer cliffs, were the upturned eaves of an ancient stone cave temple, jutting out boldly against the “vermilion-hued, sunset-glowing” cliff face—a row of dwellings that seem to grow right out of the rock.

The car continued for a few hundred meters before stopping at the second mountain gate. We turned left and climbed the stone steps. The path was fairly steep, and with the rain making the ground slippery, it was quite a challenge. After climbing for half an hour, we reached the Midway Pavilion. At the pavilion, a stone path branched off to the left. Following this path led to the lower section of Danxia Mountain.

On the left side of the gatehouse of Jinshiyan Temple, in front of the Midway Pavilion, there is a couplet on the plaque: “Amidst emerald bamboos and winding paths, you doubt there’s any way through; behind verdant cliffs and hidden willows, a whole new world appears.” This couplet truly captures the essence of the scenery here. Upon closer inspection, you’ll find that it was inscribed by Mr. Zhao Puchu.

Stone dragons coil within the cave; hanging springs cascade from the cliffs.

A few steps beyond the Jinshiyan Temple gatehouse, a large platform suddenly opens up before you, bringing a sense of spaciousness—you’ve finally arrived at Jinshiyan Temple, nestled within the cliffs halfway up the mountain. Jinshiyan Temple is a historic Buddhist nunnery with a thousand-year history, having experienced several periods of rise and decline. The entire temple complex is built within a series of natural caves and crevices halfway up the cliffs, forming a natural cave temple. The nunnery is very peaceful, lacking the bustling crowds of famous mountains and grand temples. The nuns sit in the sunshine outside the temple gates, sorting vegetables, washing greens, sewing, chatting… They smile kindly upon seeing us, put their palms together, and say, “Amitabha.”

Covering an area of more than 2,000 square meters, the temple currently houses over 20 bhikkhunis. Although this cave temple is not large in scale, it is the oldest Buddhist temple on Danxia Mountain. As far back as the Sui and Tang dynasties, monks and nuns were already practicing Buddhism here. By the Ming Dynasty’s Chenghua era (1465–1488), monks and nuns planted pines and firs here and constructed monastery halls and cloisters. Because the temple is built on thousand-foot-high cliffs, it resembles a long corridor along the rock face. The caves are arranged in an S-shape, and walking along the path, you’ll find seven Buddhist halls in succession: the Seven Buddhas Hall, Maitreya Hall, Guanyin Hall, and the Mahavira Hall. The stone path runs along the rock wall, stretching about a hundred meters. Each hall is built against the rock, with the rock itself serving as the natural roof. The depths vary, with the Guanyin Hall being the largest, able to accommodate a thousand people.

Next to the temple is the famous scenic spot known as the Jinshiyan Rock Dragon—a small honeycomb-like cave belt about one meter wide that stretches across the entire rear cave wall, in shades of green mixed with some yellow, looking very much like a green dragon coiled through the cave. According to the nearby description, the green covering the “dragon” is a type of blue-green algae. This alga changes color with temperature and humidity: light green in spring, dark green in summer, yellowish-green in autumn, and yellowish-brown in winter—the “dragon” changes colors with the seasons. Outside the Mahavira Hall, there is a cascading spring known as the Horse-Tail Spring. The spring water sprays down from the hundred-foot cliffs, scattering like jade beads in the sunlight.

In the evening, the nuns perform evening prayers inside the halls. The sounds of nature—the wind, the water—and the chanting of the nuns blend together, resembling heavenly music, casting a sacred atmosphere over Jinshiyan Temple. Each hall and corridor is lined with stone railings. Leaning on them, you can gaze at the clear waters of the Jinjiang River winding like a jade dragon through the mountains. Boats on the river leave long trails, and in the distance, the unique landscape of the Danxia landform unfolds before your eyes.

Jinshiyan Temple has an ancient legend. During the Song Dynasty, a lay practitioner named Fayun meditated cross-legged in the rugged valley of Danxia Mountain. Three days and nights of mountain winds and rains washed away the worldly troubles. As if awakening from a dream, Fayun’s heart became clear, as though he had glimpsed his past and future lives while standing before the cliffs by the river. Venturing further, through the One-Line Sky and around layers of rock, Fayun sensed where his destiny lay in this life. From then on, meditation huts and monastic buildings began to emerge little by little here, giving rise to the world’s most unique “cave-court” style Mahavira Hall. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, successive abbesses rebuilt and expanded the temple, adorning Buddha statues and creating five hundred arhats. By the late Qing Dynasty, due to social unrest and political instability, the nuns gradually left, and the temple fell into disrepair and collapsed. By the early days of the People’s Republic of China, only a few nuns remained, tending to a crumbling nunnery. During the Cultural Revolution, the last remaining nuns also left, and Jinshiyan Temple existed merely as a tourist site. In the early 1980s, as China’s policy of religious freedom was implemented, Jinshiyan Temple reopened as a place for Buddhist activities.