Hualin Temple (Guangzhou)

Hualin Temple, also known as the Temple of the Five Hundred Genii^[1][2] or Gods,^[3] or Hualinsi Buddhist Temple, is a Buddhist temple in Guangzhou, China.

Hualin Temple
Main entrance
Traditional Chinese	華林寺
Simplified Chinese	华林寺
Literal meaning	Flourishing Forest Temple Temple of the Flowery Forest
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Huálín Sì Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Waa⁴-Lam⁴ Zi²
Xilai Monastery
Traditional Chinese	西來庵
Simplified Chinese	西来庵
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xīlái Ān Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Sai¹-Loi⁴ Am¹

The Hall of the 500 Arhats

Not to be confused with Guangzhou's Temple of the Five Genii, a former translation of the Temple of the Five Immortals.

History

The Xilai Monastery was established in Panyu (now Guangzhou) by Emperor Wu of the Liang in the AD 520s. It is traditionally credited to the Buddhist missionary monk, Bodhidharma, but he may have arrived in China as early as the Liu Song.

The name was changed to the Hualin Temple by the Zen master Zongfu (宗符) during his rehabilitation of its grounds in 1655.^{[n 1]} There used to be a Gilded Ashoka Pagoda (阿育王塔) and 500 arhats statues (五百羅漢像) but all of them were destroyed during cultural revolution.

See also

• Chinese Buddhism
• List of Buddhist temples
• Guangxiao Temple (Guangzhou)
• Six Banyan Temple, also built in Guangzhou around the same time
• Ocean Banner Temple
• Hualinsi Buddhist Temple station, a metro station nearby

Notes

1. Given in Chinese sources as the 12th year of the Shunzhi Era of the Qing Dynasty.