Hanshan Temple - Famous Ancient Temple in Chinese Poetry

Hanshan Temple (寒山寺), literally meaning Cold Mountain Temple, is located in Gusu District of Suzhou city. It was built in the reign of the Liang Dynasty of the Southern Dynastis from A.D 502-519, and was originally named "Miaoli Puming Temple". Hanshan Temple covers an area of about 13000 square meters, with a construction area of more than 3400 square meters.

In Zhenguan period (A.D. 627-649) of the Tang Dynasty, Hanshan and Xiqian, two famous monks at that time, founded Hanshan Temple. In more than 1300 years, Hanshan Temple was destroyed by fire five times (seven times in another version), and the last reconstruction was in Guangxu period (A.D. 1875-1908) of the Qing Dynasty. In history, Suzhou Hanshan Temple was one of the top ten famous temples in China. It now enjoys popularity among Chinese people to a large extent because of a poem written by Zhang Ji (a poet in the Tang Dynasty) which is taught in the primary school. The poem is also taught in the schools in Japan, so Hanshan Temple is also famous in Japan and many Japanese come here to pay respect to the Buddha.

Besides, Hanshan Temple is a renowned place praying for blessings. There is a giant bell in the temple. Every day, numerous believers come to the temple, ring the bell and pray for peace.

A Night Mooring By Maple Bridge 《枫桥叶泊》 written by Zhang Ji more than 1200 years ago is the poem that makes Hanshan Temple so famous. You can see stone stele there writing the poem. This 3.5 meters high and 1 meter wide stele written by Yu Yue, a famous scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, has become a classic in Hanshan Temple.

Chinese version:

月落乌啼霜满天，江枫渔火对愁眠。
姑苏城外寒山寺，夜半钟声到客船。

English translation:

Moon's down, crows cry and frost fills all the sky;
By maples and boat lights, I sleepless lie.
Outside Suzhou Hanshan Temple is in sight;
Its ringing bells reach my boat at midnight.

Appreciate Ancient Halls and Buildings in Hanshan Temple

Hanshan Temple is mainly composed of The Great Buddha’s Hall, Buddhist Sutra Mansion and other buildings. There is no strict central axis in Hanshan Temple and it does not pursue a balanced layout like most temples.

The Great Buddha’s Hall (大雄宝殿) is also the main hall of Hanshan Temple. It is five rooms wide and four rooms deep, with a height of 12.5 meters. In the center of the terrace is a copper tripod with a hearth. On the front of the tripod casts characters “一本正经 (solemn)" and on the back is "百炼成钢 (be toughened and hardened into steel)" about a religious legend. Once there was a dispute between Chinese monks and Taoists to see whose classics could stand the fire. The Buddhists put the Vajra Sutra into the fire of the bronze tripod, and the sutra was intact. Therefore, the eight characters are engraved on the tripod to commemorate the story.

In the main hall, the tall Xumizuo (Sumeru seat) is carved with white marble. On the seat is a golden Buddha statue of Sakyamuni. On both sides of the wall are eighteen fine iron gilded arhat statues cast in the Ming Dynasty (A.D 1368-1644). They were moved here from Mount Wutai, the holy land of Buddhism.

Different from other temples, behind the Buddha statues is not Avalokitesvara, but are stone carvings of Hanshan and Shide (Hanshan is one of the founders of Hanshan Temple and Shide is his best friend). It was created by Luo Pin in the Qing Dynasty with bold brushwork and smooth lines. In the carving, Hanshan's right hand points to the ground and he talks lively and jovially while Shide listens happily.

Buddhist Sutra Mansion (藏经楼) is the place where the original Sutras were collected. It is 9.8 meters wide and 9.2 meters deep. In Hanshi Hall (寒拾殿), there are sculptures of Tang Sanzang, Sun Wukong (Monkey King), Zhu Wuneng and Sha Wujing in Journey to the West, depicting the scene they return from the West after getting the Buddhist scriptures. On the wall of the first floor are embedded 27 stones of the scripture of Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra written by Zhang Jizhi, a calligrapher in the Southern Song Dynasty (A.D. 1127-1279).

In the Stele Corridor (碑廊) of Hanshan Temple, as mentioned above, there is a stele engraved with the well-known poem "A Night Mooring By Maple Bridge 枫桥夜泊". Actually, since the creation of the poem, there have been many scholars carving stone steles for Hanshan Temple. The first stele was written by Wang Gui in the Song Dynasty (A.D. 960-1279) but it was destroyed in wars. In the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644), the painter Wen Zhengming rewrote the poem and engraved it on the stone, which was the second stele. But Hanshan Temple went through several fires and only some characters of the stele such as 霜, 啼, 姑, 苏 survived. Then it was the third one written by Yu Yue in 1906. The fourth one was written in 1947 by a calligrapher also named Zhang Ji. He passed away the second day he finished the work and the stele still stands in Hanshan Temple.

Apart from the steles about the poem, many famous figures in history also left their works in Hanshan Temple. There are fragments of inscriptions written by Tang Yin (famous painter, calligrapher and poet in the Ming Dynasty) as well as the poem steles of Yue Fei (general and national hero in the Song Dynasty) and Kang Youwei (important philosopher and educator in the late Qing Dynasty).

Many tourists come to Hanshan Temple for the giant bell because people believe that it can bring good fortune. On ordinary days, tourists can pay to strike the bell (about CNY 10 for 3 strikes) by themselves. But the biggest event is on New Year’s Eve which has been held over 40 years. On that night, Chinese and foreign tourists gather in Hanshan Temple to listen to the monks strike the bell 108 times from the Bell Tower. Why it should be 108 times? There are two explanations. One is that there are 12 months, 24 solar terms and 72 periods (five days as a period) every year. 108 is the sum total of these numbers. Ringing 108 times means the end of the year. It means getting rid of the old and ushering in the new. The other is that in Buddhist legend, human beings have 108 kinds of troubles in a year. If the bell rings 108 times, all the troubles can be eliminated.

Now the ancient bell in Hanshan Temple is not the one mentioned in Zhang Ji's poem. It is made in 1906 by Chen Kuilong, governor of Jiangsu Province. The giant bell weighs two tons and is taller than a person, and it still gives out loud and deep sound.

In front of the Bell Tower stands the magnificent Huaxia Poem Monument (华夏诗碑), which is built in 2007 with a main body height of 16.9 m. The front of the monument is engraved with the famous poem A Night Mooring By Maple Bridge and the back are 289 Chinese characters from Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra written by Emperor Qianlong. Nine dragons are carved carefully on the periphery. It is the largest and highest poem monument in China, also known as the "No. 1 Poem Monument in China".

Hanshan Temple is located in No. 24 Hanshansi Nong, Gusu District, Suzhou City 苏州市姑苏区寒山寺弄24号, about 9 km (30 minutes’ drive, 1 hour by bus) to Administrator’s Garden in Suzhou downtown, 6 km (15 minutes’ drive, 45 minutes by bus) to Suzhou Railway Station. So generally speaking, it is convenient to get to Hanshan Temple no matter you go by bus or taxi.

Note: Suzhou can be reached easily by high speed train from Shanghai (about 0.5h), Hangzhou (1.5~2.5h), Nanjing (1~1.5h), Wuxi (20min), Changzhou (25~50min), Wuhan (4~4.5h), Huangshan (about 3.5h), Yangzhou (about 1.5h), etc.

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Location: No. 338 Liuyuan Road, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, about 2.5 km, 10 minutes’ drive from Hanshan Temple

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