Jinghui Temple [Photo/IC]

This 1000-year-old temple sits on the north shore of Taihu Lake in the city of Wuxi, Jiangsu province, facing Lingyin Temple, in the city of Hangzhou across the water, giving it the nickname Small Lingyin Temple. It was built in the Sui Dynasty (581-605 AD) and has received countless worshipers.

The temple has seen a great number of eminent Rinzai Zen monks, such as Zhenglian, Deying, Leizhen, and Jieyan who carried forth the Buddhist teachings. It was said that Liu Bowen, a chief strategist of the Ming Dynasty once visited the temple and, inspired by an eminent monk, was moved to write, "Walking six steps on Fragrant Flower Bridge makes the river reverse its flow to the west". He also wrote a couplet in praise of the temple and its contribution to Buddhism, which goes, "Giving manna by holy-water vase to benefit the land, enlightening the universe by the light of wisdom to help the masses".

Jinghui is widely known as a place of enlightenment and the worship of Avalokitesvara in southern China The Qianlong emperor of the Qing Dynasty admired temple and praised it in a poem, which goes, "The bamboo grove at the bodhimanda of Avalokitesvara in the South Sea is evergreen, while lotus flowers in the west are always fragrant".

The temple also has many relics, with a stone flagpole base from the Sui and Tang dynasties as historical evidence, and a 1000-year-old stone doorsill, stone columns, a curled dragon stone, an osmanthus tree more than 400 years old, and gold bricks in the main temple hall. Jinghui It is a municipal-level historical and cultural site under government protection and, although it suffered a great number of disasters and ups and downs over the years, it is well-kept through the effort of its monks.

It used to be vast, with numerous monks and nuns, clusters of houses, and magnificent halls and pavilions and had a glorious history. According to Wuxi records, the temple had held six initiation ceremonies from the first year of the Guangxu emperor of the Qing to the 7th year of the Republic of China, reflecting its extraordinary scale.

Today, T-Park has come up with a plan to combine religion with tourism and recreation and the grandly elegant Jinghui Temple will surely be rejuvenated.

Address: Jinghui Road, Xinwu District, Wuxi