Fahai Temple

Fahai Temple

Name:Fahai Temple Class: Area:Nanyang Tel:Tel:0086-400-666-0166 Email：henantour@gmail.com Skype：karenzheng2004 Jingziguan Township of Xichuan County, an ancient commercial town appeared in late Tang Dynasty, ranks among the first group of historic towns of Henan Province. Situated at the bank of the Dan River, it enjoys a unique and favorable geographical position, which is a hot point contended by merchants. Originating from Shanluo Mountain, the Dan River joins the Han River and flows into the Changjiang River. As one of the three major channels the river boasts of abundant water resources and many business tycoons from Hubei, Hunan, Shanghai and Hangzhou, came to the place along the river. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the wharfs along the river were crowded with boats. Jingziguan had become the commodity distribution center in the surrounding areas. Merchants from seven provinces such as Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi and so on flocked here. The business were so thriving that there were once well- known three companies, eight associations, ten carriage centers and 24 firms. Fahai Temple is situated on the southwestern extensions of Monkey Mountain, northeast of Jingziguan Township. The name of the temple means limitlessness of Buddhism. According to the inscriptions on the temple tablets, it was built by Master Xifeng in 667 and rebuilt by Master Taixu in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, it had been wrecked twice. In 1659 and 1666, the temple had undergone renovations. The Grand Hall and the Eastern and Western Zen Meditation Halls were restored in the years of Emperor Qian Long and Emperor Jia Qing. The Baiyi Tower suffered two wrecks in 1859 and 1864 and later was repaired. The temple covers an area of 6,700m². There are 24 buildings among which are 3 gates, 5 grand halls and 5 inner halls. Mainly brick-wood structures, the architectures are laid out in a simple and graceful manner. With mountain cliffs on its back, there are two springs running from both sides to gather in front of the temple. Deep into the bamboo garden on one side, there is lively Baling Spring which makes a waterfall after running out of the garden. In the cave of the cliff before the Temple, a colorful variety of rocks are scattered everywhere. There used to be a lot of naturally formed Buddha statues in the cave, so it was called the Cave of thousands of Buddha. It is recorded on the remaining 8 tablets that the two historic sights, Fahai Temple and Xiangyan Temple (the other famous temple along the Dan River) are the two gems along the Dan River.