Longhua Temple

龙华寺

󰺂5.2

4.7/5

715 reviews

based on 549 reviews

Historic landmark

Closed for the day Opening hours of Longhua Temple

Recommended sightseeing time: 1–3 hours

Address:

No.2853 Longhua Road Xuhui District, Shanghai ChinaMap

Phone:Ticket inquiry: +86-21-64571440

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Sammy0618

5.0/5

Outstanding

Longhua Temple, located in Longhua Subdistrict, Xuhui District, Shanghai, is the oldest and largest ancient temple in Shanghai, known as the "Ancient Temple of Jiangnan." Its history dates back to the Three Kingdoms period, traditionally believed to have been built by Sun Quan for his mother, making it over 1700 years old. The temple's name originates from the Buddhist story of Maitreya Bodhisattva attaining enlightenment under the Longhua tree, making it a famous Maitreya Bodhisattva practice site in Han Chinese Buddhism, often referred to as "Tushita Heaven on Earth." Longhua Temple boasts a rigorous architectural layout, perfectly preserving the "Seven Halls of a Monastery" layout from the Song Dynasty. Along the central axis are six halls: the Maitreya Hall, the Heavenly King Hall, the Great Buddha Hall, the Three Saints Hall, the Abbot's Chamber, and the Sutra Repository. The Longhua Pagoda within the temple, built in the second year of the Taiping Xingguo era of the Northern Song Dynasty (977 AD), is the oldest existing pagoda in Shanghai, exhibiting a typical Song Dynasty pavilion-style pagoda design.

Longhua Temple Highlights: Must-See Features and Attractions

Some information may have been translated by Google Translate

Longhua Temple is an ancient temple with a long history and a large scale in Shanghai, with a history of more than 1,700 years. On the central axis of Longhua Temple, from south to north, there are six halls in total: Maitreya Hall, Daxiong Hall, Sansheng Hall, Abbot's Room in the enclosed courtyard, and Sutra Building. The Mahavira Hall is solemn and solemn, with three golden statues of Manjusri and Puxian on the front, and a beautiful island Guanyin on the back. There are bell and drum towers on the east and west sides of the temple. You need to pay extra for ringing the bell in the bell tower. There is a big drum with a diameter of 1.7 meters inside the drum tower. There are Guanyin Hall and Luohan Hall in the east and west side halls. In the east of the Sansheng Temple are the Dyeing Incense Building and the Peony Garden. You can pay for vegetarian food in Longhua Temple. Because it is very delicious, almost all tourists who come to Longhua Temple to burn incense will buy a bowl of plain noodles, and they often see scenes of queuing for vegetarian food. Longhua Temple has a bell ringing event to welcome the new year. Many citizens want to ring the first bell and put incense on their heads to pray for a safe year. There is a Longhua Temple Fair in March and April. There is an old saying in Shanghai, "On the third day of March, go to Longhua and see the peach blossoms." According to legend, the third day of the third lunar month is the day when Maitreya incarnates as a cloth bag monk. There is a Longhua Pagoda next to Longhua Temple. According to legend, it was built by Sun Quan of the Three Kingdoms Soochow to honor his mother. It was destroyed in the war at the end of the Tang Dynasty and rebuilt in the second year of Taiping and rejuvenation in the Northern Song Dynasty. Because of the soft soil in Shanghai, the Longhua Pagoda has already been tilted. For the sake of protection, the Pagoda can only be viewed from the outside and cannot be climbed up.