Qixia Temple

History

The temple was built in AD 489, the 7th year of the Yongming era of the Southern Qi dynasty. Over the centuries it bore several names: Gongde Temple (Tang dynasty), Miaoyin Temple (Southern Tang), Puyun Temple (Song), Yanyin Chongbao Chan Temple (Song), Jingde Qixia Temple (Song), and Huxue Temple (Song). In 1372, at the beginning of the Ming dynasty, it was renamed Qixia Temple, a name still in use. During the late Qing dynasty the Taiping Rebellion completely destroyed the temple.

Restoration of the entire complex was carried out in 1919, after the establishment of the Republic of China. In December 1937, when Japanese forces invaded Nanjing, monk Ji Ran, with assistance from monks Da Ben and Zhi Kai, opened the temple gates to civilians and soldiers seeking refuge. Ji Ran concealed Nationalist officer Liao Yaoxiang in the sutra repository and later facilitated his escape. Despite limited resources, Ji Ran allocated 1 million jin (600 metric tons) of temple grain, limiting monks to one bowl of porridge daily to support refugees.

He chronicled Japanese crimes in petitions, including the Appeal to All Humanity on January 25, 1938, which was forwarded to John Rabe and preserved in the Rabe Diaries. During the Nanjing Massacre the temple served as a temporary refuge for four months for more than 24,000 civilians. This incident was reenacted in the movie Qixia Temple 1937. Near the temple on the slopes of Qixia Hill are the Thousand Buddha Caves, a grotto with many Buddhist sculptural works.

Description

The Qixia Stupa, also called the Buddha's Relics Pagoda, stands in the southeast of the temple. Originally built in 601, it was destroyed in the Tang dynasty and rebuilt in 945 by Southern Tang emperor Li Jing. The pagoda is five stories tall, octagonal, 18 m high, and rests on a two-story stylobate carved with waves, fish, and Chinese flowering crab apples. Behind the Mahavira Hall is the Pilu Hall, which enshrines statues of Piluzhena Fo (Vairocana), Fanten (Brahma), and Dishitian (Śakra); behind Piluzhena's statue are statues of Guanyin, Longnü, and Shancai (Sudhana), while the Twenty Devas stand on both sides.

The Dafo Pavilion, built in the 5th century during the Southern Qi dynasty, houses a sitting statue of Amituofo (Amitābha) 10.8 m high (13.3 m including the throne), flanked by Guanyin (Avalokiteśvara) and Dashizhi (Mahāsthāmaprāpta). In front of the pavilion are two statues of Guiding Buddha of the Qixia Stupa, each over 3 m high. To the east of the Qixia Stupa is the Thousand Buddha Rock, the only Buddhist grottoes of the Southern dynasties in China, with 297 niches and 515 statues; later dynasties added more, bringing the total to over 700 statues.