Hongfa Temple, Buddhist temple in Luohu District, Shenzhen, China.
Hongfa Temple is a Buddhist temple complex built on the slopes of Wutong Mountain in Shenzhen, southern China. Several halls for worship and meditation are arranged across the hillside, connected by stone paths and courtyards.
The temple was built in the 1980s, making it one of the first major Buddhist building projects in the region after a long pause in religious construction. Its completion coincided with the early years of Shenzhen's economic development, when the city was just beginning to take shape.
The temple's name was written in 1986 by Zhao Puchu, then president of the Buddhist Association of China. On the first and fifteenth days of each lunar month, crowds are so large that police are deployed to keep order. The temple also produced the 2009 television drama A Hundred Years of Xuyun, marking the 50th anniversary of the monk Xuyun's death.
The temple can be reached on foot from the entrance of the nearby botanical garden and opens early each morning. Weekdays tend to be quieter, which makes it easier to move around the different halls.
Hongfa Temple was the first Buddhist temple built in mainland China after the founding of the People's Republic in 1949. Construction began on 1 July 1985, when Chan master Benhuan came from Danxia Mountain with ten disciples to perform the groundbreaking and purification rites. The temple name was inscribed in July 1986 by Zhao Puchu, then president of the Buddhist Association of China.
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