Qingyun Temple

CHINA, Guangdong, Zhaoqing

Located on Dinghushan (Cauldron Lake Mountain), it is one of the Four Major Temples in Lingnan (southern China). It was originally the Lotus Temple built by a distinguished local family but in 1633 during the Ming dynasty, it was expanded and given its current name. It was listed as a key Buddhist temple in the Han region of China in 1983.
Built to integrate with the terrain, the temple complex occupies 1.2 ha. The main buildings include the main temple gate, Skanda Hall, Great Hero Hall, Great Compassion Hall, Cundi Pavilion, Sangharama Hall, Virtuous Hall, sutra repository, ancestral hall, reception hall, and a pagoda hall with a seven-tier iron pagoda inside. There is also a memorial hall constructed in 1988 in memory of the Japanese monk Eiei, who came to China during the Tang dynasty (618–907).
The five-bay main temple gate stands on a high platform. With only one entrance in the central bay, the rest of the structure is a solid brick wall. A horizontal inscribed board with the name of the temple hangs above the entrance. The three-bay wide Great Hero Hall is built on a 12 m high base with two flights of stairs leading to the entrance. Apart from the stairs, the whole structure is surrounded by balustrades. Statues of the Three Buddhas are enshrined within the hall.
The temple houses a number of artifacts, including four relics of the Buddha, a giant bronze bell cast in 1860 during the Qing dynasty, a huge pot that can feed a thousand people, the Qing Tripitaka bestowed by the imperial court, and illustrations of the Life of the Buddha.