Leizhou Gaoshan Temple

　　Gaoshan Temple is a renowned ancient temple in the southern region, nestled against majestic high mountains, facing vast fertile fields, and overlooking the vast South China Sea. With its grand scale, extraordinary momentum, serene scenery, it attracts pilgrims and tourists from home and abroad who flock here to worship and sightsee, always crowding the paths in an endless stream.

　　Located outside the north gate of Leizhou City—a famous historical and cultural city in China—Gaoshan Temple covers an area of over 30 acres with a built-up area of 6,056.7 square meters. It was first built in the late Song Dynasty and renovated in the Shunzhi Jiashen year (1644) of the Qing Dynasty. During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, the temple was relocated to the mountainside following a five-courtyard hall structure, covering an area of more than 200 square meters, and was renamed “Huayan Temple.” During the “0” period, the temple suffered destruction by the “-,” resulting in the loss of Buddha statues and cultural relics. The once-famous Northern Gate Stone Dog, originally located at the temple’s entrance, was also tragically lost. However, the spring breeze of the Third Plenary Session of the 10th CPC Central Committee brought renewal to Leizhou. From 1989 to the summer of 2000, the temple invested over 8 million yuan to rebuild and expand at its original mountain-top site. The new construction features a five-courtyard main structure with double-eaved Xieshan roofs and a hybrid beam-frame system of Taiwan beams and Chuandou columns—including the Mountain Gate, Vajra Hall, Heavenly King Hall, Mahavira Hall, and Guanyin Hall. The temple has been revitalized and restored to its original name, “Gaoshan Temple.”

　　At the temple’s entrance, two massive stone-carved lions stand guard, majestic and imposing. The temple name “Gaoshan Temple,” inscribed in bold characters by Zhao Puchu, President of the Buddhist Association of China, is embedded above. The gate couplet was composed by Chen Qiaosen, a local scholar of Leizhou during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, which reads:

　　North-backed by high mountains, witnessing the Wisdom Dharma Master revealing the Dharma gate that moves even stubborn stones;

　　East-facing the vast sea, praying the Compassionate Bodhisattva to unfurl the precious raft to ferry all beings.

　　The beauty of the Zen temple is encapsulated within this single couplet. Marvelous indeed, marvelous indeed.

　　Entering the Mountain Gate, you are greeted by a lotus pond, commonly known as the Life Release Pond. Covering an area of 828 square meters, the pond bears inscriptions by two masters, Wang Xuezhong and Guo Zixu. Two ancient banyan trees in front of the pond, with twisted roots and gnarled branches, are estimated to be 500 years old. The pond is edged with finely crafted stone railings featuring bas-reliefs such as monkeys offering peaches, qilin auspiciousness, deer playing with swallows, phoenixes facing the sun, swans gathering, cranes standing alone, eagles soaring, and swallows flying low—all vividly lifelike. The water is crystal clear, dotted with red lotuses, while turtles, soft-shelled turtles, and fish can be clearly seen.

　　The first floor of the Heavenly King Hall serves as a Buddhist Art Gallery. Abbot Shi Yousui said that to pray for world peace, national prosperity, and people’s well-being, inspire patriotism and love for Buddhism, promote harmony and unity, enhance exchanges between the Buddhist community and people from all walks of life, advance the flourishing development of Buddhist calligraphy and painting art, and improve the spiritual and cultural qualities of the public, Gaoshan Temple has successfully hosted three “Chinese Celebrity Calligraphy and Painting Exhibitions.” This is a pioneering initiative in both domestic and even global Buddhist history. The gallery currently houses 50 traditional Chinese paintings and 130 calligraphy works by renowned artists including Wang Xuezhong, Vice Chairman of the China Calligraphers Association; Professor Lou Shibai of Beijing Painting Academy; Professor Liu Xiaocen of the Central Academy of Fine Arts; Professor Guo Shaogang of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts; Mr. Xie Ge of the Macau Calligraphy and Painting Institute, as well as Guo Zixu and Zhou Zhihao. Additionally, there are 120 artworks by artists from the Leizhou calligraphy and painting community.

　　On the second floor of the Heavenly King Hall, the Four Heavenly Kings, clad in golden boots and silver armor with fierce eyes, stand on the left and right sides. In the center sits the laughing Maitreya Buddha, who “can embrace all worldly affairs in his big belly and smile at all people under heaven.” Behind him stands the General Wei Tuo, clad in armor, holding a demon-subduing weapon, with keen eyes, guarding the Mahavira Hall opposite. The Mahavira Hall has a built-up area of over 600 square meters, majestic and resplendent in gold and color. Two towering pagoda pines in front of the hall stand like solemn and mighty celestial guardians. Inside the hall, the statues of the Three Great Buddhas, Ananda, Kassapa, the Eighteen Arhats, and the Bodhisattvas of Heaven and Earth Treasury are exquisitely crafted and strikingly lifelike.

　　Gaoshan Temple is home to over 30 monks who follow a rigorous daily schedule—waking up at 3 a.m. and retiring at 9 p.m. year-round. Aside from three meals and two hours of free time in the evening, they spend the rest of their time chanting scriptures, performing Buddhist rituals, sewing clothes, cleaning, and tending to vegetables, flowers, and fruits. Chanting scriptures, also known as performing religious duties, involves sitting cross-legged with hands folded on the “dantian” (lower abdomen), maintaining a peaceful mind and eliminating distractions to enter meditation. Those proficient in seated meditation can go without food, sleep, or movement for two full days.

　　Whenever there are Buddhist activities, the temple resonates with bells, illuminated by red candles, incense burning in the censers, and tables laden with offerings. The 30-plus monks chant prayers, clasping their hands together and slowly moving in a serpentine fashion within the Mahavira Hall—the scene is spectacular.

　　On both sides of the Heavenly King Hall and the Mahavira Hall are three-story auxiliary buildings totaling 2,306 square meters, including wing rooms, bell and drum towers, dining halls, reception halls, Buddhist scripture distribution centers, libraries, and the Leizhou Buddhist Training Class for Monks and Nuns. To the left of the dining hall entrance stands the “Gaoshan Ancient Spring,” dug during the Shunzhi Jiashen year (1644) of the Qing Dynasty. Its water level remains flush with the ground year-round, cool and sweet, and remains fresh even when stored for long periods. On the walls of the reception hall—where “High chants of Buddhist hymns welcome enlightened guests, and mountain springs nourish the fate hall”—photos of celebrities from across the country who visited the temple are neatly displayed, along with honors and certificates awarded by provincial, municipal, and county Buddhist associations and religious bureaus. Since its establishment in 1994, the Buddhist Scripture Distribution Center has freely exchanged over 50,000 volumes of Buddhist scriptures. The library currently holds over 3,900 volumes of classic texts, including the Buddhist “Mahā-śāstra.” The training class offers foundational subjects such as Chinese, English, history, and geography, as well as specialized courses in Buddhism, nurturing a large number of virtuous and talented Buddhist professionals. Abbot Shi Yousui said the temple plans to build a nursing home to provide for elderly people without families, truly practicing generosity and helping all beings.

　　The Guanyin Hall is situated at the peak of Gaoshan Temple. On either side are the Bodhisattva Manjushri, with five topknots, holding a lotus and seated atop a lion, and the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, wearing a Buddha crown, holding a vajra bell, and riding a six-tusked white elephant. In the center of the hall is a camphorwood-carved Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Eyed Guanyin Bodhisattva, standing majestically at 5.5 meters tall and 3.3 meters wide—it is currently the largest wooden carving of its kind in the province.