Daxiangguo Temple

大相国寺

Founded in the Northern Qi and a royal temple in the Northern Song, the site where Lu Zhishen uproots a willow tree in “Water Margin.” The thousand-armed, thousand-eyed Guanyin wood carving in the Octagonal Hall is the temple's treasure.

Daxiangguo Temple lies in the western part of Ziyou Road in the old city center. It was founded in 555 during the Northern Qi dynasty. In the Northern Song it was a royal temple and also the largest Buddhist temple and commercial market in the capital. The story of Lu Zhishen uprooting a willow tree in “Water Margin” takes place here. The existing buildings were rebuilt in the Qianlong era of the Qing dynasty. Along the central axis are the Heavenly King Hall, the Mahavira Hall, the Octagonal Glazed Hall (Arhat Hall) and the Sutra Library. The main highlight is the thousand-armed, thousand-eyed Guanyin statue, about 7 metres tall, in the center of the Arhat Hall. It is carved from a single ginkgo tree, with a Guanyin on each of the four sides, and 1,048 hands in total. It is known as the “King of Wood Carvings.” The hall also houses five hundred Arhat statues. The temple's Buddhist music ensemble preserves the imperial Buddhist music tradition of the Song dynasty and sometimes performs on holidays. The Daxiangguo Temple Fair held around the Spring Festival is very lively. Admission is about 40 yuan. A visit takes about an hour. Getting there: several bus routes stop at the Xiangguo Temple station. It is about a 5-minute walk from the Drum Tower, and about 15 minutes on foot from Kaifeng Prefecture Office. Suggested route: combine it with the Drum Tower, Bookstore Street and the Shanxi-Shaanxi-Gansu Guild Hall for a half-day loop of the old city. After touring the temple, walk directly to the Drum Tower Night Market. Notes: flash photography of Buddha statues is prohibited inside. Ignore the “consecrated” items that vendors outside the temple try to sell.

Daxiangguo Temple

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