China | Hangzhou Lingyin Temple

Ling Yin "Soul's Retreat" Monastery

The Lingyin Temple was constructed in 326 AD. It is one of the most beautiful and significant Buddhist monasteries within China, and the largest of several Buddhist temples in the Wulin Mountain Range. This area is designated as the "Lingyin-Feilai Feng Scenic Area," or "West Lake National Scenic Area."

Ling-yin, or "Soul's Retreat Temple" is situated at the base of Lingyin Mountain in south-western Hangzhou, west of West Lake in Zhejiang Province.

Lingyin Buddhist monastery was originally founded during the Eastern Jin Dynasty in 328 AD by an Indian Buddhist monk named Huili.

Feilai Feng Rock Carvings

The entrance to the Lingyin monastery is lined with hundreds of rock grottos that contain detailed religious rock carvings of the big-bellied "Laughing Buddha." One of the most famous carvings is the Feilai Feng, meaning "the peak that flew hither," or "flying peak." The term "peak" denotes the incongruous look of the weathered limestone in relation to the surrounding hills.

On the ceiling of the main grotto, which is dedicated to the bodhisattva Guanyin, is a crack in the rock that stretches up to its surface. If one stands in a single position, a tiny sliver of sunlight can bee seen. This phenomenon is described as seeing "one thread of heaven."

Hall of the Heavenly Kings

The main entrance to the temple complex is through the "Hall of the Heavenly Kings," which bears the plaque labeled "Chan Temple of the Clouds and Forests," written by the Kangxi Emperor.

Beyond a courtyard is the Mahavira Hall, or "Grand Hall of the Great Sage," with its triple-eaves roof. Along the western side of the courtyard to the main hall is the "Hall of Five Hundred Arhats," with its complex floor plan that is shaped like a Buddhist svasti.

In front of Lingyin's great hall are two massive stone pagodas that were built during the Song dynasty in 960. At the foot of Feilai Feng, one of the Pagodas contains Huili's ashes.

Ling Yin's Architecture

Lingyin Temple meanders up the side of Lingyin Hill in a secession of halls, courtyards, and stairways. The Lingyin Temple complex is constructed along a main central axis, with the first three halls being constructed during the Qing dynasty. During the Song dynasty the remaining two halls were constructed, completing the traditional "five-hall" Chan sect structure.

Lingyin Sakyamuni Buddha

The ceiling of Lingyin Temple's Mahavira Hall is approximately 110 feet high, and a statue of the gold-covered Sakyamuni Buddha is in the center of the room. The Buddha was carved in 1956, from twenty four pieces of camphor wood in the Tang Dynasty style.

As you pass around the Sakyamuni Buddha to the back of the hall, there is a statue of Guanyin, which is backed by a wooden screen containing 150 carved Buddhist "personalities."

Behind the main Mahavira Hall, and further up Lingyin hill, lies the "Hall of the Medicine Buddha," which contains the statue of Bhaisajyaguru Buddha, or the "Medicine Buddha." The second to last hall is the Sutra Library, which is closed to the public.

The uppermost hall is the Avatamsaka Hall, which houses statues of the three sages of the Avatamsaka Sutra: Manjusri, Samantabhadra, and Shakyamuni. The Avatamsaka Hall was built in 2002.