Nanhua Temple
Nanhua Temple (Chinese: 南華寺; pinyin: Nánhuá Sì; Jyutping: Naam4wa4zi6) is a Buddhist monastery of the Chan School, one of Five Great Schools of Buddhism where Hui Neng, the Sixth Patriarch of the Chan School of Buddhism, once lived and taught. It is located 25 km southeast of Shaoguan, China in the town of Caoxi (漕溪), within Qujiang District. The location is in the northern part of Guangdong province, within a few kilometers from Bei River, formerly an important trade route from Central China to Guangzhou.
The temple was founded during the time of the North-South Dynasties in 502 AD by an Indian monk named Zhiyao Sanzang (智樂三藏) who originally named the site Baolin Temple (寶林寺). It received its present name in 968 during the reign of the Song Dynasty Emperor Taizong. Ancestor Han Shan taught there and reformed the monastery in the 16th century. The site was later renovated in 1934 under the leadership of Hsu Yun whose body is housed in the central forest sanctuary. Recent changes to the site include the building of extensive monastic accommodations.
The temple covers an area of more than 42.5 hectares (105 acres). It consists of a set of magnificent Buddhist buildings, including the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Grand Hall, Sutra Depository, Sixth Ancestor Hall, Lingzhao Pagoda and 690 Buddhist statues.
There are 9 Chinese swamp cypresses (Glyptostrobus pensilis) believed to be 400 to 500 years old in the temple.
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