Guangjiao Temple, Buddhist temple at Mount Lang, Nantong, China
Guangjiao Temple is a Buddhist temple complex on Mount Lang in Nantong featuring multiple structures including the Yuantong Hall, Grand Buddha Hall, and Buddhist Texts Library. The buildings spread across a large area forming a cohesive religious center for worship and study.
Guangjiao Temple was founded in 669 under the Tang dynasty by the monk Sengjia, originally named Cihang Temple. It was renamed Guangjiao Temple in 958 during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. In the Taiping Xingguo period (976–983) of the Song dynasty, the monk Zhihuan settled there and built the Great Sage Hall and the Zhiyun Pagoda. The temple was restored after 1980 and designated a National Key Buddhist Temple in 1983.
The Yuantong Hall displays statues of the Three Sages of the West, including representations of Guanyin, Amitabha, and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva. These figures hold deep meaning for Buddhist practitioners who come to pay respects.
Guangjiao Temple covers the whole of Mount Lang: the summit holds the gate, Cuijing Tower, Yuantong Hall, Dasheng Hall and the Zhiyun Pagoda, while the foot of the hill has the Great Buddha Hall, Dabei Hall and the abbot's room. Allow time to climb between the two groups of buildings. The hilltop also holds the tomb of Luo Binwang and the Pingwo stele pavilion.
The pagoda is called Zhiyun, not Zhiyuan as some English texts render it. Built between 976 and 984 under the Song, it rises 35 metres in brick and wood, with five storeys on a square four-sided plan, each level set back from the one below and topped by curved brackets and cornices.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,108 contributors worldwide.