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Quanzhou Kaiyuan Temple And Twin Pagodas

Southeastern Architectural Marvel

Kaiyuan Temple covers an area of 78,000 square meters, and the twin pagodas in the east and west of the temple are the symbols of Quanzhou. The Mahavira Hall was built in the Tang Dynasty in high rank and huge scale, with a total of one hundred stone pillars and exquisite carvings of celestial beings.

Kaiyuan Temple 开元寺 is a large-scale Buddhist temple in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China, covering an area of 78,000 square meters, with twin pagodas in the east and west as symbols of Quanzhou City. It was originally named Xingjiao Temple in 686, and renamed after the “Kaiyuan Period” in 738 by the order of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.

Quanzhou Kaiyuan Temple has a very high status among all the Chinese Buddhist temples in China. The temple has a complete architectural layout, with Purple Cloud Screen 紫云屏, Hall of Four Heavenly Kings, Offering Pavilion, Mahavira Hall 大雄宝殿, Sweet Dew Altar of Precepts 甘露戒台, Sutra Repository and Ancestral Hall on the central axis, and two rare stone pagodas, Zhenguo Pagoda 镇国塔 and Renshou Pagod 仁寿塔, erected in the squares on both sides. There are also other buildings such as shrines, Screen of Kylin、Venerable Hong Yi Memorial Hall and Quanzhou Bay Ancient Ships Exhibit.

Manywhere Tips:
The 26th day of every lunar month is the “Buddha Day” for people in Quanzhou to pray for blessings and peace.

The main hall, Mahavira Hall was built in the Tang Dynasty, nine rooms wide and six rooms deep, and covering a very large area. The hall has a total of 100 stone pillars, so it is also called Hall of Hundred Pillars. The Mahavira Hall is dedicated to Five Buddha statues, and 24 flying celestial beings holding musical instruments are carved between the arches, which is very rare in ancient Chinese architecture for their beautiful postures and exquisite carving techniques.

The East and West Twin Pagodas in Kaiyuan Temple are named Zhenguo Pagoda and Renshou Pagoda, built in the late Tang and Five Dynasties periods. Zhenguo Pagoda is 48.24 meters high and Renshou Pagoda is 44.06 meters high. Both were originally wooden pagodas, but later changed to brick pagodas, and were transformed into the current stone pagodas during the Southern Song Dynasty.

Manywhere Trivia:
The east and west pagodas have survived a thousand years of vicissitudes, and the 1604 earthquake of magnitude 8 could not shake them. It is said the earthquake had lowered the west pagoda a little compared to the east.