Guangxiao Si

The Guangxiao Si (Guangxiao Temple) of Guangzhou was known first as Zhizhi Si and then as Faxing Si after it was built during the Three Kingdoms Period (220-265). After the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), this was where some Indian monks lived and translated Buddhist scriptures, including the eminent Gunabhadra (求那跋陀罗394-468) and Paramartha (真谛 499-569). It was in this temple that Huineng (499-569), the sixth-generation patriarch of Chan Buddhism, became a novice and received his ordination. After the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), the temple was renamed repeatedly, until it finally assumed the name that has remained to this day in 1151 (21st year of the Shaoxing reign, Southern Song Dynasty).

The Guangxiao Temple used to be a 30,000-square-meter complex with 12 major halls, six chambers as well as the bell and drum towers, and a Sleeping Buddha Pavilion. Some of these buildings, however, gradually crumbled and fell into disrepair. Only the Mahavira Hall, the Hall of the Sixth Patriarch, the Samgharama Hall, and the Hall of Deva-kings are still there today. These combine with a vast collection of cultural relics and quite a few sites of historical interest to justify the temple’s fame as the oldest Buddhist sanctuary in Guangzhou.