Linzhou Xingguo Temple

　　Xingguo Temple is situated to the east of the legendary Summer Palace of Emperor Yao. Three existing dragon-carved stone steles, each about ten feet tall, are county-level protected cultural relics. The inscriptions record the following: “Although there are many famous temples in Linru, the foremost among them are only four, and Xingguo of Yao She is one of them.” “To the south of Yao, there is a temple called Xingguo, with a Mountain God Temple to its east. Below the temple, a spring emerges. To its west lies the Summer Palace, surrounded by more than ten stone pagodas, standing scattered like jade shoots. There is also the Dongyue Shrine, the Seven Buddha Pagoda, and various other courtyards...”

　　　　During the Ming Dynasty, Xingguo Temple had one bell tower, 58 Buddhist halls and other rooms, divided between upper and lower courtyards, with 129 mu of temple land. It also housed a unique bronze Buddha statue about 1.5 zhang tall in Linzhou.

　　　　The founding date of Xingguo Temple is no longer traceable. Currently, there is one extant stele known as the “Xingguo Yuan Die” stele, erected during the Dading era of the Jin Dynasty. It reads: “The temple in Dongyao Village, Linru County, Xiangzhou, has its head monk reporting that the currently managed Buddhist hall in the village consists of forty-four rooms, which have never had an official name before. Now, together with junior monk Dingyuan, they have paid two hundred guan of cash to acquire the title ‘Xingguo Yuan,’ one official name, and request that it be officially granted. The decree states: By imperial order, specially decree ‘Xingguo Yuan.’ The decree is hereby approved. Thus, the decree. Great Jin, fourth year, sixth month...” It also bears the seal of the Ministry of Rites of the Imperial Secretariat. Therefore, the current research on the founding date of Xingguo Temple generally takes this as the basis, with theories suggesting either the 4th or 23rd year of the Dading era. Dading was the reign title of Emperor Shizong of Jin, who ruled for 29 years without changing his reign title. However, the existence of this stele does not necessarily mean that Xingguo Temple was founded during the Dading era. Just as oracle bones from the Yinxu site represent China’s earliest writing, it doesn’t mean Chinese history began 3,000 years ago. Oracle bone script didn’t appear out of nowhere—how long had writing existed before that?

　　　　Xingguo Temple was completely demolished in 1944. The current Xingguo Temple is a recent reconstruction and lacks the aura of the ancient temple from those thousand-year-old times. Fortunately, those stone steles lend considerable prestige to this new structure. To recall its former prosperity, we must rely on indirect evidence. In Guxian Village, Lulou Township, Shancheng District, Hebi City, there is a thousand-year-old temple — Shengye Temple. Inscriptions in the temple record that when it was first established, there was more land than monks. Meanwhile, nearby Xingguo Temple in Dongyao Town, Lin County (now Linzhou), had more monks than resources. As a result, Shengye Temple once brought in 30 monks from Xingguo Temple in one go, and gradually flourished because of this. Ha, who would have thought that back then, Linzhou was even involved in exporting monks? One can also imagine that Xingguo Temple must have had more than just 30 monks—60 would be a conservative guess, right? A temple wouldn’t just “wholesale” half its monks at once. Imagine nearly a hundred monks chanting sutras together — what a magnificent scene that must have been. And think about the food, shelter, and daily needs of nearly a hundred monks — how prosperous must Xingguo Temple have been back then?

　　　　History is like this — it cannot remain frozen on a single page. Today, there are no teachers giving lectures in the temple, only devout disciples still studying their scriptures. Upon leaving the temple, one can go to the front to view the ancient steles.

　　　　In front of the temple is a stone stele titled “Record of the Reconstruction of the Shuiliu Hall and Foshun Bridge of Xingguo Temple.” The Shuiliu Hall was a major hall in Xingguo Temple — but where exactly was the Foshun Bridge? This inevitably raises questions.

　　　　It turns out that a seasonal river flowed past the southern side of the temple, and over this river stood a double-decked, three-arch stone bridge called “Foshun Bridge.” It was about five zhang long and two zhang high, towering high above, serving as a vital passageway connecting Xingguo Temple with Baiyun Mountain. In the old days, this river flowed year-round. The stele text records: “Sweet springs emerge below the temple,” with the spring water crystal clear and visible to the bottom, where goldfish swam undisturbed by people. But now, the fields are parched, the small river is gone, and one can only imagine through these texts how beautiful the environment used to be.