Fengxue Temple 风穴寺

About Fengxue Temple

The Tang-period Qizu Pagoda stands among buildings from several later dynasties, while the central Buddha hall and bell tower add contrasting forms. Memorial towers on the surrounding slopes extend the architectural sequence beyond the main compound. The variety of surviving periods is the main reason to slow down here.

The temple was founded in the Northern Wei period as Xiangji Temple (香积寺); it was renamed Qianfeng Temple (千峰寺) in the Sui dynasty and expanded and renamed Baiyun Temple (白云寺) in the Tang. It stands on the south slope of Shaoshi Mountain (少室山), a spur of Mount Song; a cave on the mountain's southeast side emits wind when the weather changes, giving the mountain the name Fengxue Mountain (风穴山) and the temple its common name. In 1988 the temple and its pagoda forest were listed among the third batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level (全国重点文物保护单位).

The Qizu Pagoda (七祖塔), the temple's oldest surviving structure, was built in 738 and named by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang; it is a nine-story, square, multi-eaved brick pagoda 24.17 meters tall, its outline curving like a shuttle, with wind bells hung from each story. The bell tower, first built in the Northern Song and repaired in 1584 and 1741, is a triple-eaved pavilion on a 6-meter stone platform holding a Northern Song iron bell cast in 1125 that weighs about 800 kilograms. On the surrounding slopes, two groups of pagodas that once numbered 115 now preserve 83 examples from the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, the third-largest such collection in China.

What to look for

• Qizu Pagoda, a square brick tower with closely stacked eaves dating to the Tang period.
• The central Buddha hall and hillside Pagoda Forest, showing different forms of religious architecture.

Location & getting there

Getting to Fengxue Temple

Approach from Fengxue Road northeast of Ruzhou; the listed temple address is 985 Fengxue Road. Arrange the final road transfer to the temple entrance below the hills, then follow the designated paths through the compound.