Qixia Temple (Temple where the Dawn Perches) was once one of the most important temples in central China. It was first founded in 489 by the Buddhist monk, Shao Shezhai, during the Six dynasties period of Chinese history (Southern Qi, to be specific) when the north of China was ruled by tribes from the steppes of Asia and Nanjing was the capital of the southern, ethnic Chinese state. The temple that now stands on this site was built during the late Qing dynasty, but there are several hundred small niche caves there that were carved into the rocks behind the temple beginning shortly after the temple was first founded. Most of these were severely damaged during the Taiping rebellion and the social unrest at the end of the Qing dynasty. In the first part of the 20th century the images were repaired by the monks with concrete and this is now crumbling away. During the Cultural Revolution the buildings were used as an army barracks and further damage was done. The temple was reopened in 1979.

The first building a visitor encounters in the two-story bell tower. This building has an image of Guanyin on the first floor and the bell is on the second floor. Unlike other temples, there is no matching drum tower. Next one passes a semicircular pond before coming to a wide courtyard to the south of the temple’s Gate of the Four Deva Kings. The images here are all recent. Inside the gate one enters the main courtyard of the temple which has the Viarocana Hall at the head and which is flanked by a Founder’s Hall to the right and Visitor’s Room to the left. The Viarocana Hall is a huge double-eaved hall with a 30-foot statue of Viarocana Buddha, the cosmic Buddha, with two huge wooden statues of bodhisattvas. One of the guidebooks I read identifies them as Avalokitesvara (Guanyin) and the Bodhisattva of Great Strength (Dashizhi). If this is correct then the seated Buddha is probably Amitabha.

To the rear of the main hall are the living quarters of the monks and a large assembly hall, which are closed to the public. Also to the right of these buildings is an old Southern Tang dynasty pagoda. Records indicate that this pagoda was first built during the Sui dynasty in 601, but the style of the pagoda indicates that the renovations during the Southern Tang in the 10th century were quite substantive and the pagoda is stylistically a Southern Tang structure. The eight images of Buddha’s life are carved in bas-relief on the sides of the octagonal base. Also this area and higher up the slopes of Qixia Hill, are where the Thousand Buddha Caves are found.

The best way to get to the temple is to take a mini-bus from the Nanjing Train Station. The cost is less than 5 RMB.