Wuhu Guangji Temple 芜湖广济寺

About Wuhu Guangji Temple

Its Zhe Pagoda preserves a Northern Song landmark, with five storeys and a six-sided plan, while Dicui Pavilion represents an early twentieth-century layer of the complex. Many of the main halls are later rebuildings. This mixture gives the visit a useful architectural sequence: look at the older pagoda, the smaller pavilion and the way the modern temple halls adapt to the hillside.

The temple was said to have been founded in the Qianning era (乾宁, 894-897) of the Tang dynasty, traditionally to commemorate the monk Jin Qiaojue (金乔觉); renamed Yongqing Temple (永清寺) in the Guanghua era (光化, 898-901), it took its present name in the Northern Song. Pilgrims to Jiuhua Mountain traditionally stopped here first to burn incense, giving it the name 'Little Jiuhua' (小九华). A fire in the Qing dynasty's Xianfeng period destroyed the temple, which was later rebuilt in the Guangxu period.

The temple's halls were rebuilt in recent decades and are arranged along a central axis in four courtyards, in a layout said to imitate Jiuhua Mountain. Dicui Pavilion (滴翠轩), which was originally named Guixuan (桧轩) and served as the study of the Song calligrapher Huang Tingjian (黄庭坚), was rebuilt in 1919 and later used to honour the god Wenchang and local worthies.

The temple holds a gold seal cast in AD 757, the second year of the Zhide era, known as the Dizang Licheng seal (地藏利成金印). The view of Zhe Pagoda in clear weather, 'Zhe Pagoda in the morning mist' (赭塔晴岚), was counted among the historic Eight Scenes of Wuhu.

What to look for

• The five-storey, hexagonal Zhe Pagoda.
• Dicui Pavilion and the stepped hillside arrangement of the temple halls.

Location & getting there

Getting to Wuhu Guangji Temple

Use Guangji Temple on the southwestern lower slope of Zheshan in Wuhu’s Jinghu District. Approach from the temple-side entrance to the hill and allow for steps between the halls and pagoda.