Mercy Nunnery

Mercy Nunnery

Located by the Zhen River in Wantou Village, Mercy Nunnery was first built during the Tang Dynasty and was originally named Xihua Nunnery. It is said to have been a nunnery that enshrined the true body of Nun Wujizang. Wujizang was the first female disciple of the Sixth Patriarch of Nan Hua Temple and the aunt of Liu Zhilüe, the benefactor who hosted the Sixth Patriarch at the time. Revered as a model of spiritual practice by generations of nuns, Nun Wujizang contributed to the long-standing reputation of Xihua Nunnery in Shaoguan. However, after more than a thousand years of social change, Xihua Nunnery had long fallen into disrepair. It wasn’t until 1994, with the relaxation of national religious policies, that Hong Kong Buddhist devotees vowed to raise funds to purchase land near Wantou Village and rebuild a nunnery spanning over 7,000 square meters, naming it Mercy Nunnery.