Hongfu Temple, Buddhist temple in Dingxiang County, China
Hongfu Temple stands in Beishe Village, Hongdao Town, Dingxiang County, Xinzhou, Shanxi. It faces south on a raised platform covering 3,300 square metres, enclosed by a fortified wall whose gate serves as the temple entrance. The surviving Jin-dynasty Mahavira Hall (Vairocana Hall) is five bays wide and three deep with a single-eaved overhanging gable roof; a five-bay Qing east side hall also remains.
The founding date of Hongfu Temple is unknown. A stele dated to the 47th year of the Kangxi reign (1708) records that the compound was already called an ancient monastery during the Xuanhe and Tianhui eras of the Song and Jin, placing its origin far earlier. The main hall survives as a Jin dynasty structure, while the east side hall dates from the Qing. The temple was listed as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level (fifth batch) in 2001.
The temple's name, Hongfu, means "Great Fortune." The main hall's nine clay sculptures on the central altar are arranged as the Huayan Three Saints: Vairocana in the center with two disciples, with Samantabhadra and an attendant on his left and Manjushri and an attendant on his right, flanked by two guardian vajra warriors. The east hall holds Ming and Qing sculptures of Ksitigarbha and the Ten Kings of Hell.
The temple stands on a raised platform ringed by a fortified wall, and its gate doubles as the village fort's gate, so from outside you see only the wall. Pass through that gate to reach the courtyard and the Jin-dynasty main hall. The site covers 3,300 sq m and faces south.
The temple stands on a raised platform ringed by a fortified wall, and its gate doubles as the village fort's gate; from outside only the wall is visible. The 2001 inscription as a fifth-batch national key cultural relic protects the Jin-dynasty main hall and Qing east hall.
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