Qinglian Temple, Ancient temple in Zezhou County, China
Qinglian Temple is a Buddhist complex of two courtyards on the south slope of Xieshi Mountain in Jincun, Zezhou County, linked by a 500-metre mountain path. The upper courtyard, reached by stone steps, has a two-storey library with dark timber lattice panels, grey-tiled eaves and wooden brackets above grey brick walls carved with a hexagonal honeycomb panel; three blue plaques inscribed "圆覺" hang above the door, flanked by two stone lions. The lower courtyard, the older foundation, faces the Dan River.
Founded by the monk Huiyuan during the Tianbao era of the Northern Qi (550–559) as Xieshi Temple, it was renamed Qinglian Temple by imperial decree in 867 after the Tang monk Huiyin opened a Lotus Sutra chapel there in 827. A second, upper courtyard was added in 828 and received the name Fuyan Temple in 970. The complex was listed as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level in 1988.
The name Qinglian, "Green Lotus", was bestowed by the Tang court in 867, replacing the original Xieshi Temple; the upper compound received the name Fuyan Temple in 973. The lower temple is commonly called Gu Qinglian Si, the Old Qinglian Temple. The Ming relic pagoda east of the lower temple is known as the Shadowless Pagoda because at the summer solstice it casts no shadow.
The temple stands on the south slope of Xieshi Mountain in Jincun Town, Zezhou County, with the upper and lower courtyards linked by a roughly 500-metre mountain path. The site covers more than 19,000 square metres across three sides enclosed by hills, with the Dan River and Sinanzhuang village to the south. Allow time for the climb between the two courtyards.
The Ming reliquary pagoda east of the lower courtyard has thirteen rings and a dome-shaped body, the only Tibetan-style stupa in Jincheng. At the summer solstice, sunlight casts no shadow from it, so locals call it the shadowless pagoda.
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