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Guiyuan Buddhist Temple in Hubei

Guiyuan(归元寺) Temple (Temple of Original Purity), which is located on Cuiwei Street, boasts of the perfect architectures, excellent sculptures and rich collections of Buddhist sutras and treasures. It is one of the four biggest temples for Buddhist meditation in Hubei as well as an important Buddhist temple in China.The temple was originally built in Hanyang(汉阳), Wuhan(武汉) City in 1658 for two monks named Baiguang and Zhufeng. These two monks doctored locals for many years, and people collected money and built the Guiyuan Temple to thank them. It is made of five courtyards and twenty-eight temple halls on an area of 20,000 square meters and it took over 100 years to complete all the Ming(明朝) and Qing(清朝) Dynasty style buildings.Now the temple can be divided into five courtyards, covering an area of more than 20,000 sq meters (4.94 acres). The main structures are Mahavira Hall, Arhat Hall and Sutra Collecting Pavilion.

Mahavira Hall (Daxiongbaodian大雄宝殿) is the main hall of the temple. The sculptures of Sakyamuni and his disciples are enshrined in this hall; situated behind Sakyamuni is a group of sculptures of Kwan-yin and other Buddhas. These sculptures have been well preserved for more than three hundreds years. Arhat Hall is even more amazing because of the 500 sculptures of Arhats it houses. Some of the sculptures are sitting, some standing; some reading, some contemplating; some are happy, some are sad; some are pure and some are knowing. All the 500 sculptures in different poses and appearances make the hall a mine of art. Sutra Collecting Pavilion was originally built in 1669 and was later destroyed by war. In 1997, a new pavilion was built on the site, preserving the original style and dimensions. Most of the precious sutras and culture relics are preserved here.

The temple got its name form Buddhist chants: "With purity kept in mind, one has the thoroughfare everywhere." Guiyuan Temple has survived through more than 300 hundred years of repeated cycles of prosperity and decline, above all else, it is always leading the other temple in Wuhan with prosperous public worship, flourishing Buddhist ceremony and many pilgrims.
Although the temple doesn't hold a long history, it attracts more and more pilgrims and visitors every year.

Admission Fee: RMB 10

Opening Hours: 08:00-16:30

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