Mingjiao Temple in Hefei, Anhui is built on a platform which, it is said, was once used by the 2nd-3rd century general Cao Cao (who much later became famous as a major character in the book The Romance of the Three Kingdoms) for reviewing his troops. It now stands on a pedestrian street in a busy shopping area.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 31, 2025
The Ascetic Shakyamuni at Baoguang Temple, Chengdu, Sichuan, is a carved panel showing the Buddha-to-be when he mistakenly thought that mortifying the body would lead to enlightenment. He later realized that the truth lay in "the Middle Way" between asceticism and luxury. ("hand" colored in PhotoShop)
Posted to Reddit et al, May 30, 2025
This kitschy statue of Maitreya Bodhisattva--the so-called "Laughing Buddha"--is seated in front of the base of the huge pagoda at Tianning Temple in Changzhou, Jiangsu. Opened in 2007, the pagoda stands at 505 feet (153.79 meters), and is claimed to be the tallest pagoda in the world.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 29, 2025
The newish halls at Qita ("Seven Pagoda") Temple in Ningbo, Zhejiang, are a pleasing combination of gray brick and light wood. Destroyed and rebuilt many times in its nearly 1200-year history, its current halls were built or restored in the 1990s, after being badly damaged during the Cultural Revolution.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 28, 2025
The unusually-shaped Haibaota Temple is in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, located on the edge of one of China's great deserts. The name, then, meaning "Sea Treasure Pagoda," may be ironic. The eleven-story pagoda stands 177 feet (54 meters) tall; the date of its construction is uncertain.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 27, 2025
Kunming, Yunnan, features two sets of Twin Pagodas that have "lost" their temples. One pair was at Dade Temple. The one shown here was at "East Temple" (its twin was at "West Temple"; the two are separated by some distance), here graced by a riot of purple flowers. Dongsi Ta and Xisi Ta were built in the late 8th or early 9th century.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 26, 2025
Hall roof at the former Sheng'an Temple, Beijing. Only the temple gate, the Heavenly Kings Hall, and an "ancillary" hall remain; the main and rear halls are gone. After liberation it became a primary school, and suffered serious damage during the Cultural Revolution. A pavilion was moved to a nearby park.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 25, 2025
The roof ridge figures at Guanyin Gucha in Jilin City, Jilin, are more uniform than the ones at most other temples. The cha in this temple's name (yet another word for "temple") is a shortened form of chaduoluo (剎多羅), transliterated from the Sanskrit word kshetra, meaning "a field."
Posted to Reddit et al, May 24, 2025
The Liuhe Pagoda (so-called for its prototype in Hangzhou) is all that remains from the time of the Qianlong Emperor at Yongyou Temple, Chengde, Hebei. It stands on what was once the grounds of the Qing emperors' summer retreat; I photographed it from outside of the walls.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 23, 2025
Zhizhe Tayuan is a small hall on Tiantai Shan housing a pagoda with the remains of Zhiyi, founder of Tiantai Buddhism. It lies in the mountains about five miles (8 km) north of Gaoming Temple, which was founded by Zhiyi (also called Tiantai Dashi and Zhizhe, "Wise One"), in the 6th century.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 22, 2025
When I visited Yuquan Temple in Dangyang, Hubei, in August of 2012, they were replacing the Arhats in the 500 Arhats Hall. The discarded statues were placed in hallways; this group looks for all the word like they're riding in a big bobsled!
Posted to Reddit et al, May 21, 2025
The Jade Buddha in a spectacular setting on the main altar at Tiantang Temple on Tianma Mountain, Fu'an, Fujian. I was told by the monk who brought me there that the characters on the wall behind are "a sutra," but he didn't say which one.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 20, 2025
Bronze Shakyamuni Buddha at Xiangshan Temple, Luoyang, Henan, near the Longmen Grottoes. This is a reconstruction of a famous ancient temple--but the reconstruction dates to the Qing dynasty! (Most of it is much newer, however). It's across the river from the majority of the grottoes at Longmen.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 19, 2025
Two of the 500 arhats after which Luohan (Arhat) Temple in Chongqing was named. They are all exquisite. The first time I visited, in 2007, the hall was closed for refurbishment. I visited again in 2012, when these guys were about five years old.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 18, 2025
The doorway was all I saw of the "ancient cave" called Changsheng Gudong (长生古洞) as I trudged down from Tiantai Temple on Jiuhuashan, Anhui. I passed (but did not enter) around a half-dozen establishments, many of them nunneries, on the four to five kilometer trek.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 17, 2025
Two monks chat in the second-floor window of the 500 Arhats' Hall at Baisuigong Temple on Jiuhuashan, Anhui. The temple is said to have been home to a monk that lived to be 126! Hence the name, which means "100 Year Palace."
Posted to Reddit et al, May 16, 2025
These stairs lead up to Zhaoyin Temple in Shaoguan, Guangdong, located in an open-faced cave at the top. It lies in a cliff on the side of Lion's Crag, where the Maba Man Site (300,000 to 130,000 bp) was found. It is speculated that Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch of Chan, may have meditated here.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 15, 2025
Instead of being portrayed as statuary, the 500 arhats at Zhusheng Temple, Nanyue, Hunan, are displayed on 250 plaques, two to a plaque. Not unique, but unusual. (The first images of the 16 arhats, "Luohans in a dream," were also created in 2D by the Chengdu-based monk Guanxiu in 891 CE.)
Posted to Reddit et al, May 14, 2025
The front gate of Shifang Tang on Wutai Shan, Shanxi, a temple in the Tibetan tradition. The two deer facing the dharma wheel above the gate represent the Buddha's first sermon, called "The Turning of the Wheel of Dharma," given at the Deer Park in Sarnath.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 13, 2025
The Twin Pagodas ("Shuang Ta") are at now-secularized Yongzuo ("Eternal Blessing") Temple, Taiyuan, Shanxi. Built in 1599 and 1609, each exceeds 54 meters in height. They are named Xuanwen ("declaring culture") and Wenfeng ("culture peak"), and are constructed of brick carved to appear like wood.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 12, 2025
Ji Gong is seen here standing behind the Vairochana Buddha in the Main Hall at Jingci Temple in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. He managed to get kicked out of nearby Lingyin Temple (for his unruly behavior) and ended up spending time here.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 11, 2025
Daguanpeng ("Grand View Pavilion") is inside the Nantian Men ("South Heaven Gate") on Putuoshan in Zhejiang. It's an interesting example of how a temple can be fitted into the natural landscape of the rocky seacoast, with its courtyard squeezed between boulders (and a "grand view" indeed out the gate).
Posted to Reddit et al, May 10, 2025
When we went to Wolong Temple in Xi'an, Shaanxi (in August, 2009), the figures in the main hall, including the 24 Deva Kings, were new and still being finished. I used to complain about finding temples under repair; I learned to see them as examples of impermanence. Plus, we saw "history in the making"!
Posted to Reddit et al, May 9, 2025
Kshitigarbha (CH. Dizang, Jp. Jizo) is the Bodhisattva who promises to save all beings from the six Hells. In 2010 when this photo was taken, this was one of the few properly Buddhist statues at Dongshan Temple, in Shenzhen, Guangdong, which was being converted from a Taoist temple into a major Buddhist one.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 8, 2025
The main compound seen from the top of the pagoda at Gaomin Temple, Yangzhou, Jiangsu. A young Canadian-Chinese monk I met on the bus lived there, and obtained permission for us to climb. (After such a kindness, how could I tell him: I hate stairs! But the views were spectacular.)
Posted to Reddit et al, May 7, 2025
Interior of a then-new hall dedicated to Xuanzang at Xingjiao Temple, Xi'an, Shaanxi. The hall includes jade panels depicting his life; his statue is life-sized and flanked by his chief disciples Kuiji and Yuance (the Korean monk Woncheuk). The temple also has pagodas holding most of the remains of the three monks.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 6, 2025
Visitors relax under the remaining ancient banyan trees in a side courtyard at Liurong ("Six Banyan Tree") Temple in Guangzhou, Guangdong. Historically, the temple had many names; the current one was bestowed by the great poet and statesman Su Dongpo on a visit during the Northern Song Dynasty.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 5, 2025
This quaint wooden gate presages the simplicity of Sanshan An (Three Mountain Nunnery) in Badachu Park, Beijing. Badachu ("Eight Great Sites") is a national park located on a string of hills on the western edge of Beijing, featuring eight temples and nunneries and numerous other sacred sites.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 4, 2025
This bowl of lotuses stands in a courtyard at Fayuan Temple, Beijing. Fayuan ("Source of the Dharma"), said to be Beijing's oldest temple, is the site of the Chinese Buddhist Academy.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 3, 2025
Worshippers in front of the Main Hall at Bo're (or Banruo) Temple, Shenyang, Liaoning. The name means prajna (wisdom) and is variously pronounced. This small nunnery is unusual in having vegetables growing in a side courtyard and in most of the temples garden beds.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 2, 2025
Some of the many fine statues in the main hall at Jiangxin Temple, Wenzhou, Zhejiang. The temple's name means "River Heart," and it is indeed located on a beautiful island in the center of the Oujiang River at Wenzhou. The island also features gardens, ancient towers, and an amusement park.
Posted to Reddit et al, May 1, 2025
