Hualin Temple () is a

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhism, Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat, khurul and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in B ...

located in Gulou District,

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The oldest building in the temple is the Main Hall, which was built during the early

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

(960–1279).

History

Song dynasty

Hualin Temple was first built with the name of "Yueshan Jixiang Chan Temple" () in 964 by the then provincial governor of Fuzhou, Bao Xiurang (), under the kingdom of

Wuyue Wuyue (; ) was a Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic state of China and one of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period#Ten Kingdoms, Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of History of China, Chinese history. It wa ...

in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907–960). During the reign of Emperor Gaozong (1127–1162), he inscribed the name on a plaque. In the Song and Ming dynasties, the temple was renowned for its quiet and beautiful environment, which attracted many literati to come and compose poems to eulogize the temple, including Li Gang, Zhang Jun, Wang Yingshan, and Xie Zhaozhi.

Ming dynasty

In 1444, in the ruling of Emperor Yingzong in the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

(1368–1644), the emperor inscribed and honored the name "Hualin Temple" (), which is still in use now.

Qing dynasty

In 1644, the year of the founding of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

(1644–1911), Hualin Temple was renovated by monks. In 1668, in the ruling of

Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 165420 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, personal name Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign of 61 ...

(1662–1722), it was refurbished again. The temple became dilapidated due to neglect in the Yongzheng era (1723–1735). It was enlarged in the

Jiaqing The Jiaqing Emperor (13 November 1760 – 2 September 1820), also known by his temple name Emperor Renzong of Qing, personal name Yongyan, was the sixth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fifth Qing emperor to rule over Chin ...

(1796–1820) and Daoguang periods (1821–1850).

Lin Zexu Lin Zexu (30 August 1785 – 22 November 1850), courtesy name Yuanfu, was a Chinese political philosopher and politician. He was a head of state (Viceroy), Governor General, scholar-official, and under the Daoguang Emperor of the Qing dynasty ...

, a notable official in the Qing court, wrote an article about the reconstruction project.

People's Republic of China

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1953, Hualin Temple was designated as a provincial level cultural heritage site by the

Fujian Provincial Government The Fujian Provincial Government is the nominal government of the streamlined Fujian Province of the Republic of China. Founded in 1927 in the mainland portion of Fujian, it was evacuated to Kinmen in 1949. Since 2018, it has been supersede ...

. In 1966,

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

launched the ten-year

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

. The

shanmen The Gate of Shanmen or Hall of the Shanmen or simply Shanmen (), is the entrance gate of a Buddhist temple. In ancient times, nearly all Buddhist temples had a single Shanmen gate leading into a large hall for the temple. Today, it is observed t ...

Hall of Four Heavenly Kings The ''Tianwang Dian'' (; lit: ”Hall of the Heavenly Kings”) is the first important hall inside a shanmen (mount gate) in Chinese Buddhist temples and is named due to the Four Heavenly Kings statues enshrined in the hall. Maitreya Buddha i ...

, corridors, and walls were demolished by the

Red Guards The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

, with only the Main Hall remaining. On 23 February 1982, the Main Hall of Hualin Temple was listed among the second batch of "

Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Fujian Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in music ...

" by the

State Council of China The State Council of the People's Republic of China, also known as the Central People's Government, is the chief administrative authority and national cabinet. It is constitutionally the highest administrative organ of the country and the e ...

. Hualin Temple was officially reopened to the public in the Chinese New Year of 1990.

Architecture

Main Hall

The Main Hall in the temple has a single-eave gable and hip roof covered with black tiles, representing water, and which could extinguish fire. It still preserves the architectural style of the early Song dynasty. The Main Hall is high, three rooms wide, four rooms deep and covers an area of . It is rectangular in shape with eight purlins and four pillars. It is the earliest wooden architecture in

Jiangnan Jiangnan is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, including the southern part of its delta. The region encompasses the city of Shanghai, the southern part of Jiangsu ...

Gallery

References

Bibliography

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External links

Hualin Monastery, Architectura Sinica Site Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hualin Temple History of Fujian Buddhist temples in Fuzhou Buildings and structures in Fuzhou Tourist attractions in Fuzhou 10th-century establishments in China 10th-century Buddhist temples Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Fujian