Guiyuan Temple 归元寺

About Guiyuan Temple

Their varied poses, expressions and gestures reward a slower look than a quick count. The principal worship halls and courtyards put the sculptures within a living religious setting, rather than a detached museum display. The temple dates to the seventeenth century, but its buildings have undergone repair and rebuilding; follow the current visitor route and keep worship spaces clear.

Guiyuan Temple was founded by the monks Baiguang (白光) and Zhufeng (主峰) on the former grounds of Wang Zhangfu's (王章甫) Kuiyuan garden (葵园), dating to the preceding Ming dynasty. Its main hall, the Mahavira Hall (大雄宝殿), was first built in 1661 and repaired several times before being rebuilt in 1908. In 1935 the monk Taixu (太虚法师) visited Myanmar, and Yangon Buddhists presented a jade statue of Sakyamuni weighing more than a tonne, one of only three such statues in China, now housed in the north courtyard's Zangjingge (藏经阁).

Guiyuan Temple belongs to the Caodong (曹洞宗) school of Chan Buddhism and is one of Wuhan's four major Buddhist monasteries, alongside Baotong Temple (宝通寺), Lianxi Temple (莲溪寺) and Zhengjue Temple (正觉寺). It is the seat of the Hubei and Wuhan Buddhist associations, a Hubei provincial cultural heritage site, and one of the first temples the State Council designated as a key site for religious activity. The complex is arranged in three groups, the central, south and north courtyards, holding the Zangjingge, the Mahavira Hall and the Hall of Five Hundred Arhats (五百罗汉堂) among more than 200 rooms. In modern times it served as an ordination center for Buddhism across Hubei, Henan and Hunan, with regular annual ordinations continuing until 1948.

What to look for

• The five hundred individually posed figures in Luohan Hall.
• The principal Buddhist halls and linked courtyard setting.

Location & getting there

Getting to Guiyuan Temple

Go to the Guiyuan Temple entrance on Cuiwei Road in Hanyang; the temple gives No 20 as its address. Approach the signed worship-and-visitor entrance rather than neighbouring commercial buildings bearing the Guiyuan name.