Yunjushan Zhenru Temple

CHINA, Jiangxi, Jiujiang

The temple is located on Yunjushan (Cloud Dwelling Mountain). It was established by Master Daorong in 813 during the Tang dynasty. In 883, Chan Master Daoying stayed at the temple and advocated the Caodong school of Chan Buddhism. It has been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times. The temple was reconstructed under the supervision of Master Xuyun between 1953 and 1957. Twenty-four new buildings were added, as well as 246 new Buddha and Bodhisattva statues. It was listed as a key Buddhist temple in the Han region of China in 1983.
Facing east, the existing buildings of the temple include the main temple gate, Heavenly King Hall, Great Hero Hall, sutra repository, Zhaozhou Gate, and the Xuyun Memorial Hall. A forest of stupas is situated near the temple, with almost a hundred stupas belonging to eminent monks. This forest was listed as a National Cultural Heritage Site in 2006. There are funerary stupas belonging to Chan masters such as Daorong and Daoying from the Tang dynasty (618–907), Xinyin and Xinkong from the Song dynasty (960–1279), Xuyun from the modern era, as well as Tibetan stupas belonging to lamas from the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). The stupas are all constructed from stone but are different in size, shape, and design.