Fuzhou Hualin Temple

Fuzhou City, Fujian

        2 yuan

8:30-17:30

        Take bus 802, 905, 729, 19 and wait until Pingshan Station.

    Hualin Temple is a national key cultural relic protection unit, located in the northern corner of Gulou District and the southern foot of Pingshan. In the second year of Qiande in the Northern Song Dynasty (964 AD), during the reign of King Qian of Wu and Yue, the governor of Fuzhou built the "Yueshan Jixiang Zen Temple" to pray for peace in the border. Emperor Gaozong of Song, Zhao Gou, bestowed the imperial letter with the name "Yue Shan Ji Xiang Chan Yuan". Emperor Gaozong of Song, Zhao Gou, bestowed the imperial letter "Yue Shan Huan Feng", and in the ninth year of Ming Zhengtong (1444), he bestowed the title of "Hualin Temple". Famous officials such as Li Gang and Zhang Jun once resided here. Hualin Temple has gone through many spring and autumn periods, with only the main hall remaining. Later, mountain gates, left and right side halls, and corridors were added. The main hall is a raised beam structure with a single eave and nine ridges, a height of 15.5 meters, and an area of 574 square meters. There are 18 wooden columns in the main hall. Above the columns, they are all supported by arch of wooden architecture without a nail. Its construction techniques are unique among the wooden architecture of the Tang and Song dynasties in China, and have had a significant impact on the architectural styles of the "Great Buddha Style" and "Heavenly Silk Style" during the Kamakura period in Japan (late 12th century). Although the main hall has undergone multiple renovations during the Ming and Qing dynasties, with the addition of eaves under the surrounding corridors, its main components are still millennium old artifacts, making it the oldest wooden building south of the Yangtze River in China.