Guangxiao Temple
"Before there was Yangcheng (Guangzhou), there was Guangxiao" — during the Three Kingdoms Wu period the scholar Yu Fan lived here in exile and lectured on the classics (Yu Fan Garden), and his residence was later donated as a temple, more than 1,700 years ago: the Sixth Patriarch Huineng was ordained here, and the "wind-and-banner debate" ("It is not the wind or banner that moves, but your mind") became a famous episode in Chinese Chan (Zen) history…
Visitor info
- Opening hours
- 07:00-17:00
- Ticket
- CNY 5
Price is indicative — final quote on inquiry.
"Before there was Yangcheng (Guangzhou), there was Guangxiao" — during the Three Kingdoms Wu period the scholar Yu Fan lived here in exile and lectured on the classics (Yu Fan Garden), and his residence was later donated as a temple, more than 1,700 years ago. The Sixth Patriarch Huineng took monastic vows here, and the "wind-and-banner debate" ("It is not the wind or the banner that moves; it is your mind") became a famous koan in the history of Chinese Chan (Zen) Buddhism. The Mahavira Hall is grand in scale, and the Eastern Iron Pagoda of the Southern Han is among the earliest surviving large iron pagodas in China. At CNY 5, admission is a rarity in this city; ancient bodhi and chebulic myrobalan trees bear witness to the temple's long history — the ancestral temple of Lingnan Buddhism.
Getting there: Metro Line 1, Ximenkou Station
Photos
More in Guangzhou
- Canton Tower
The 'slim waist' twisting tower with a ferris wheel on top.
- Shamian Island
European trading concession with neoclassical facades along the Pearl River.
- Chen Clan Ancestral Hall
Lingnan architecture masterpiece with brick, wood and lime carvings.
- Baiyun Mountain
The city's green lung; cable car views over Guangzhou.
- Chen Clan Ancestral Hall (Chen Clan Academy)
A joint-clan ancestral hall and academy built 1888–1894 with funds pooled by Chen family clans from 72 counties of Guangdong, it is the largest and most lavishly decorated surviving ancestral-hall building in Lingnan: wood, brick and stone carving (the "three carvings"), ceramic and lime sculpture (the "two sculptures"), plus bronze and iron casting and colored painting, together known as the "…
- Yongqing Fang · Cantonese Opera Art Museum
A model of "micro-renewal" in the historic Enning Road district of Liwan (launched 2016): qilou arcade buildings and Xiguan mansions restored to their old look, now home to creative shops, cafes and intangible-heritage studios; the Bruce Lee ancestral home has a display in one of the alleys — old-street charm and youthful energy coexist.