THE SIGN HUNTERS

CHINA: Hangzhou Explorations, 11: Fuxing Temple

Written by Laszlo, 19 November 2022

Fuxing Temple (复兴寺) is located in the Xianghu Scenic Area (湘湖景区), in Xiaoshan District (萧山区), in Hangzhou City (杭州市), next to the posh sounding "Zurich Town" (苏黎士小镇别墅). The temple has a history of more than 800 years. It was originally named Zhushenghou Temple (助胜侯庙), also known as Fuxing Nunnery (复兴庵). It has gone through several reparation, reconstruction and expansion works over the centuries during which it also merged with other temples. This means, some parts of the temple was constructed in the Sothern Song Dynasty, some other parts in the Ming Dynasty.

According to legends, in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127 A.D.), Kang Wang (康王) fled to the Lusha Temple (绿沙庙) by the river to avoid the Jin soldiers. Kang Wang escaped successfully. In order to let people remember this period of history and appreciate God's grace, Sun Xuesi (孙学思) changed the name of the temple to "Fuxing Nunnery". Nunnery normally refers to a convent of nuns, but in this case the translation of 庵 better refers to a small-size temple, although Fuxing Temple even now works as a monastery and monks live on-site. It is, however, hard to say whether Fuxing Temple has ever been a place for nuns.

During the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese invaded the land of China, and Fuxing Temple was also burned and looted by the Japanese army. The Japanese invaders burned down the house on the east side of the temple, and seven monks were killed. During the Great Leap Forward period, the temple was damaged again, the brick walls of the terraces and pavilions were demolished, and the wood was moved to build the Changhe Great Hall (长河大会). During the Cultural Revolution, the Buddhist statues in the temple were looted again, and cultural relics such as banners, Buddhist scriptures, wooden carvings, and ancient scrolls were robbed, and the temple site was used for other purposes.

In the 1980s, China's Communist Party implemented a new religious policy and the temple's buildings were rebuilt by the support of old monk Juedao (commonly known as Wang Bingquan 王炳铨), lay Buddhists Chen Zhicheng (陈志成), Qian Jinshui (钱金水) and many other believers.

After 2002, the area around the temple site changed, several large-scale construction projects started. This is the time when Zurich Town and even Venice (see our post by clicking here) were built. Nowadays, with the development of the Xianghu Scenic Area to a national 4AAAA tourism and leisure resort, more and more tourists come to the temple for sightseeing. In 2005, Fuxing Nunnery was renamed to Fuxing Temple.

Our photos here below were taken in February 2021 and November 2022. During this shorter than two years, the highway (风情大道) next to the temple site was completed, which makes the entire surroundings of the temple look different.