Nanhai Temple

Nanhai Temple

Nanhai Buddhist temple, a national AAAA scenic spot, is located in the South East corner of Runan County, Zhumadian City, Henan Province, China. It covers an area of more than 500 mu, with wide temple area and numerous buildings. The main building is Daxiong hall, with a base of 2 meters and a plane of 80 meters, with a construction area of 6400 square meters.

Nanhai temple gate archway is 50 meters long and 31 meters high. In the 500 meter long and 20 meter wide corridor inside the mountain gate, 12 granite archways are built from north to south according to 12 karma, 12 zodiac and 12 Bodhisattvas. The style is unique and magnificent.

In the northeast of Nanhai temple, there is the pagoda courtyard of Baigong. The pavilions and steles are well arranged. The relic pagoda built for master Baigong is carved from granite, integrating ancient Chinese architectural art with modern tower building art style in Southeast Asia. From September 20, 2018, the ticket price of Nanhai Zen Temple scenic spot (4A scenic spot) in Runan County of Zhumadian has been reduced from 50 yuan / person time to 40 yuan / person time.

In February 2020, in order to pay homage to the benevolence of doctors and praise the great love of the world, the scenic spot will implement a free admission policy for medical workers from the date of its reopening to December 31, 2020.

Construction history

According to historical records, Xiaonanhai, formerly known as Nanhu, is a place where cities were built and embankments were built in the past dynasties. After nearly 600 years of construction and decoration in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it has formed a scenic spot with a total area of 1000 mu, from Wuying tower in the west to Rushui riverside in the East and Chenghao in the north. The Guanyin pavilion built in Nanhu in Ming Dynasty is a model of imitating Putuo temple in Nanhai. Because the scale of Guanyin Pavilion is smaller than that of Nanhai, Nanhu is called Xiaonanhai. The ancient buildings in Xiaonanhai include Guanyin Pavilion, Dashi temple, zhuntilou and huanghe tower.

According to the annals of Runan County, Guanyin pavilion was built in the 24th year of Jiajing reign of Ming Dynasty. The Yellow Crane Tower, built in 1606, was destroyed in the late Ming Dynasty. In Yongzheng period of Qing Dynasty, Tianzhong Academy was moved to Nanhu, which is called Nanhu Academy. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, Dou Xu in Daxing inscribed "Dengying" on a blue stone, standing on the north side of the South Lake.

According to the annals of Runan County, in 1928, when Feng Yuxiang was in charge of Henan Province, he ordered the temple to be destroyed. The statues in Xiaonanhai temple were destroyed and gradually recovered in 1937. Unfortunately, it was destroyed again during the cultural revolution, and then it was replanted by Runan garden school.

1994 (another term: 1992)

）Master Mingcheng, the head of Guanyin Temple in Daxiang mountain, Taipei, invested 150 million yuan to rebuild the temple in his hometown. The relic tower of master Bai Sheng in Taipei was also built in this temple. On September 24, 1994, more than 800 Grand Masters, eminent monks and people from all walks of life from Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and other countries and regions attended the inauguration ceremony of master Bai Sheng's Sarita.

Temple layout

Nanhai temple is built on the beach of Ruhe River. The overall layout of Nanhai temple is in the shape of "Shi". The surrounding walls are 3 meters high and 5300 meters long. It is a brick concrete structure. In front of the temple is the gate of three halls. Two vajras are worshipped on both sides of the temple as the two generals of "hem ha". In the south of the temple is the hall building area with the main hall as the center.

The main hall has a construction area of 5274.30 square meters and a height of 36 meters. It is a three story hall with double eaves. There is a 17 meter high bronze gilt statue with a weight of 72 tons inside. In front of the hall is a square of 1200 square meters. In front of the main hall is the heavenly king hall, with a construction area of 333.16 square meters and a height of 15 meters. There are four vajras and eight strange colored clay statues in the hall.

The latter is the Guanyin hall, with a construction area of 2170.8 square meters. Only a 14 meter high gilded statue of Guanyin is worshipped in the hall. It is carved with thousands of hands and eyes from Cinnamomum camphora wood. On the left and right are Manjusri and Puxian halls, with a building area of 1520 square meters and a height of 21 meters. A 9-meter-high bronze statue of Manjusri and Puxian, weighing 12 tons, is worshipped in the hall.

In front of the left and right sides of the main hall are the bell tower and Drum Tower, with a construction area of 626 square meters and a height of 36 meters. It is a two-story double eaves Pavilion building. In the north of the temple, there are twelve archways and mountain gates. The twelve memorial archways, 7.6 meters high and 8 meters wide, are located on a 500 meter long corridor. Located in the north of twelve archways, the gate is the north gate of Nanhai temple, 32 meters high and 50 meters wide. It is a archway style building.

The Century Peace Bell Tower is located in the northeast of the temple, with a construction area of 772.84 square meters and a height of 34.6 meters. It is a three story wing turret style building. There is a century Peace Bell with a height of 7 meters, a diameter of 6 meters and a weight of 21 tons suspended indoors. On the north side of the bell tower is the Baisheng relic garden. The upper hall is a rectangular building group with more than 20 rooms on three floors. There is a releasing pool with goldfish, rockery and a Jiuqu stone bridge.

Baisheng relic garden covers an area of more than 10 mu. In the middle of the garden, there is Baisheng relic tower, 15.5 meters high, which is a classic building. There are clear stone paved paths in the park, and flowers and trees are planted on both sides of the path. In the west of the temple, there is Kaishan hall, a two-story Pavilion style building. In front of the door, there is a "Buddha" garden composed of golden cypresses.

Xishanmen building

From the Xishan gate to the main hall of Nanhai temple, you need to cross the Ruhe River twice, walk through three bridges and pass through three gates. They are:

World peace gate, Jinxia bridge;

World cooperation gate, cross strait cooperation bridge;

World harmony, three heart bridge.

This group of buildings, with one gate and one bridge as a unit, constitutes three groups of architectural landscapes with unique styles and symbolic meanings.

Tourism information

Free policy

In February 2020, in order to pay homage to the benevolence of doctors and praise the great love of the world, the scenic spot will implement a free admission policy for medical workers from the date of its reopening to December 31, 2020. All medical workers in the country can visit the scenic spots with valid certificates (ID card + doctor card or nurse card) and enter the park free of charge, and open green channels for medical workers.

Ticket Price

From September 20, 2018, the ticket price of Nanhai Zen Temple scenic spot (4A scenic spot) in Runan County of Zhumadian has been reduced from 50 yuan / person time to 40 yuan / person time.

Transportation guide

Address: Zhumadian, Henan Province

Longitude: 114.367134

Latitude: 32.998296

Chinese PinYin : Nan Hai Chan Si