Guiyuan Temple, situated
on Cuiwei Street, is one
of the four biggest
temples for Buddhist
meditation in Hubei as
well as an important
Buddhist temple in
China.
First built in the early
Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
by two monks named
Baiguang and Zhufeng on
the base of Sunflower
Garden owned by a poet,
the temple got its name
form Buddhist chants:
"With purity kept in
mind, one has the
thoroughfare
everywhere." Guiyuan
Temple has survived
through more than 300
hundred years of
repeated cycles of
prosperity and decline,
above all else, it is
always leading the other
temple in Wuhan with
prosperous public
worship, flourishing
Buddhist ceremony and
many pilgrims.
The temple was destroyed
and rebuilt for several
times in its history and
the present temple dates
from the early Republic
of China (1912-1949).
Covering an area of
46,900 square meters
with a floor space of
20,000 square meters,
the temple mainly
consists of
Daxiongbaodian Hall,
Arhat Hall, Sutra
Collection Pavilion,
etc.
Daxiongbaodian Hall
It is the main hall of
the temple. Statue of
Sakyamuni, who preached
Buddhism for 45 years as
the founder of Buddhism,
is enshrined in this
hall. On his right is a
statue of Mahakasyapa,
one of the ten disciples
of Sakyamuni. It is said
that he was of eminent
virtue and was reckoned
to be the first
patriarch. After
Sakyamuni died he
continued his career. On
the left is a statue of
Ananda. Also one of the
ten disciples of
Sakyamuni, Ananda was
the master of hearing
and memory and was
reckoned to be the
second patriarch. He
followed Sakyamuni for
more than 20 years and
is said to have compiled
the Buddhist sutras.
Arhat Hall
First built in 1850AD
during the reign of
Emperor Daoguang of the
Qing dynasty, the hall
is the most
characteristic building
of the Temple with its
constructional layout
being in the
four-in-one-square
shape. In the Arhat Hall
are five hundred statues
of the disciples Buddha
sculpted by two artists
between 1822 and 1831.
Sitting, standing or
reclining, in anger,
sadness or delight, they
stimulate people’s
imagination. The 500
arhats are now the
best-preserved and very
high artistic-valued
group carvings in China.
Sutra Collection
Pavilion
Built in 1696AD during
the reign of Emperor
Kangxi in the Qing
dynasty, this structure
is an indicative
building in the temple
for collecting Buddhist
scriptures and art
treasure. In this hall,
a statue of Sakyamuni
carved from a single
block of white jade is
most attractive. The
statue, harmonizing well
with the tranquility of
the chambers and
pavilions, companying
with the incense smoke
filtering through the
sky, gives the temple a
majestic magic. Besides,
over 7000 Buddhist
sutras and sutras from
Japan, India, Burma,
Thailand, etc are all
stored in this hall.
Guiyuan Temple was in
fashion for a time
although its history was
shorter than White Horse
Temple, the best
Buddhist Temple in
China. It is famous not
only for spreading
Buddhism throughout the
whole country, but also
for perfect
architecture, excellent
sculpture and rich
collection of Buddhist
doctrine among Buddhist
temples. In 1956 Guiyuan
Temple was listed as
preserved antiques unit
of Hubei province and in
1983, it was appointed
as one of the key
Buddhist temple of Han
nationality district in
China by the State
Council.
The temple has been a
popular interesting
place for tourists to
visit, especially in
recent ten years. |