Buddhist Temples in Ningbo

There are several Buddhist temples in Ningbo I would recommend to visit. Some of my favorites and most famous ones in Ningbo are King Ashoka Temple, Tiantong Temple, Baoguo Temple and Xuedou Temple. All of them play a significant role in Buddhism.

King Ashoka Temple

King Ashoka Temple 阿育王寺 or Ayuwangsi which has a history of more than 1700 years, is located on King Ashoka Mountain in Zhejiang Province浙江省, Ningbo city 宁波市Yinzhou district鄞州区, around 20km from the city center. It is listed as one of “Five Chan Buddhism Mountains”. The temple is famous not only because it is the only existing temple in China named after king Ashoka, but also because of the important Buddhist relics placed in the Buddha’s Relics Hall.

Originally King Ashoka Temple 阿育王寺 was built in 282 during the Western Jin Dynasty. It was named after Indian king Ashoka, who became a Buddhist and spread the doctrines. Now existing buildings in the complex were rebuilt after Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). In 1980 it was completely renovated. There are more than 600 rooms, halls and pavilions, covering an area of 14,000 square meters. The main parts of temple include the Buddha’s Relics Hall 舍利殿, Hall of Buddhist Sutra 藏经楼, the Grand Hall 大雄宝殿 and Heavenly King Hall天王殿. Besides those there are many other interesting spots to see such as Fodao Stone Pavilion 佛到亭, Seven Buddha Pool 七佛潭, beautiful gardens and so on.

Tiantong Temple

Tiantong Temple天童寺 also known as one of the “Five Chan Buddhism Temples”, is located in the foothills of Taibai mountain太白山, Ningbo, Yinzhou 鄞州 around 25km from the city center. It was built in the first year of the age of Yongkang of Emperor Hui of Jin (in 300AD). The total area covers 76,400 square meters with building area of 38,800 square meters. There are more than 30 buildings with 730 rooms (it used to be 999). The main parts include the Grand Hall, the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Thousand-Buddha Pavilion, the Sutra Depository, the Arhat Hall, the Imperial Library, the Hall of Enlightenment, the Bell Tower and others.

Tiantong temple

You can also hike up the mountain and see the complex from the top. There is a beautiful forest park (Tiantong National Forest Park 天童森林公园) in the area of Tiantong Temple, which is big enough to spend the whole day in there.

Tiantong Temple is also an important pilgrimage site (especially for Japanese), since Caotong school of Buddhism (Soto in Japan) originated there. The temple is famous in Southeast Asia, and plays a big role in the cultural exchange between China and Japan.

In 2006 Tiantong Temple was listed as China’s National Key Cultural Relic Preservation unit by the State Council of China.

Xuedou Temple

Xuedou Temple雪窦寺, also known as Xuedou Zen Buddhist Temple 雪窦资圣禅寺 is located in the heart of Xuedou Mountain, Xikou town溪口镇, Fenghua district奉化区, Ningbo. It is one of the five most famous Buddhist Mountains, and one of the ten best-known Zen Temples in China. Xuedou temple was founded in Jin dynasty. It flourished during Tang and Song dynasties. It’s been in existence for more than 1700 years already. Xuedou temple has been destructed many times, and experienced many renovations and reconstructions.

Buddha Maitreya statue at Xuedou Temple

The temple was known before also as “Pubu Guanyin Temple” 瀑布观音寺. During Song Dynasty there were issued around 40 imperial edicts to the temple to its honor. Area covers around 6000 square meters. The most famous part of temple is 56.74 meter copper statue of sitting Maitreya Buddha, which is largest of its kind in the world. The round-faced smiling Buddha is known also as “laughing Buddha”, and is believed to bring harmony and prosperity.

Baoguo Temple

Baoguo Temple 保国寺 is a Mahayana Buddhist Temple which is located in Ningbo, Jiangbei district 江北区, only around 15km from the city center and is easily accessible by public bus. It was one of the first cultural relic sites to be conserved in China. Originally it was called Lingshan Temple灵山寺, till it was renamed as Baoguo Temple in 880AD. The temple area covers 13,280 square meters with a building area of 7000 square meters.

Main buildings (Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Great Buddha’s Hall, Kwan-yin Temple and Depositary of Buddhist Texts) of Baoguo Temple are now turned into a museum introducing to a lot of information on the temple’s history. Many halls are used for various exhibitions.

The main hall of the Baoguo Temple dates back to 1013AD, making this temple second oldest surviving wooden structure in Southern China. There are preserved halls built during Ming and Qing Dynasties, as well as columns dating back to Tang Dynasty, making Baoguo temple a real cultural treasure.