Linji Temple is located in the county seat of Zhengding, Hebei Province. It was originally situated in Linji Village in the southeast of the city. The village got its name Linji for standing close to a ferry crossing on the Hutuo River. In 1983, the State Council designated it as a Key National Buddhist Temple in Han-inhabited Areas.
According to Records of Zhengding County, Linji Temple was built in the second year of the Xinghe reign of the Eastern Wei Dynasty (540 AD), earlier than the founding of the Linji School of Chan Buddhism. In the eighth year of the Dazhong reign of the Tang Dynasty (854 AD), Master Yixuan took charge of the temple and propagated the Chan teachings of the Linji School here. He put forward a set of principles and essentials for Chan practice, including the "Three Secrets", "Three Essentials", "Four Classifications" and "Four Illuminations". Through dialogues between masters and disciples, he assessed practitioners’ spiritual attainment and gave targeted instructions accordingly.
Distinguished for its direct approach and sharp wit, his Chan style established an independent school. Instead of giving explicit answers to questions raised by learners, Master Yixuan would strike them with a staff or shout loudly to awaken their minds — this is where the Chinese idiom "a sudden blow and shout to jolt someone into realization" originates. His teachings soon won wide recognition among Buddhist followers in northern China. Crowds of pilgrims flocked here to seek the Dharma, and the Linji School developed into one of the major branches of Chan Buddhism. Named after the temple, it has become the most widespread sect among the five major schools of Chan Buddhism.
Master Yixuan passed away in the eighth year of the Xiantong reign of the Tang Dynasty (867 AD). After his body was cremated, his disciples divided his relics and built two pagodas to enshrine them. One was erected in Daming, Hebei, which no longer exists today. The other remains inside Linji Temple in Zhengding. Emperor Yizong of the Tang Dynasty posthumously titled Master Yixuan the Chan Master Huizhao and named the pagoda Chengling Pagoda. The temple was destroyed in wars during the Song-Jin conflicts, while the pagoda survived intact. In the twenty-third year of the Dading reign (1183), Emperor Shizong of the Jin Dynasty ordered its restoration, preserving the architectural style of the Tang Dynasty.
Linji Temple thrived once more in the Yuan Dynasty. Master Haiyun oversaw its reconstruction and expansion, erecting grand and magnificent halls. Records of Historical Sites Visited in Heshuo, written by Ge Luolu Nai Xian of the Yuan Dynasty, notes: "Linji Temple stands in Zhengding Prefecture, east of the Flying Cloud Tower on Dingyuanmen Street. Beneath its main gate are exquisite stone carvings, including the image of the Cloth Bag Monk painted by Wu Daozi of the Tang Dynasty, eulogies to Master Puhua who rang a bell, ink paintings of bamboo by Su Dongpo, and poems for the Green Bamboo Pavilion." In the second year of the Zhiyuan reign of the Yuan Dynasty (1309), Zhao Mengfu was ordered to compose the Stele of the Orthodox Linji School, which was erected within the temple.
Another renovation was carried out in the sixth year of the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty (1521). The major buildings at that time included the mountain gate, the Mahavira Hall, Chengling Pagoda, the Ancestral Hall and monks’ quarters. A new stone stele with an inscription written by Wang Bing and calligraphed by Guo Xiyu was also set up. The temple fell into disrepair between the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty issued an imperial edict conferring upon Master Yixuan the posthumous title Chan Master Zhenchang Huiyou, and allocated funds for renovation. In the tenth year of the Daoguang reign (1830), Military Governor Shutong'a funded further repairs. He relocated the Ancestral Hall to both sides of the Mahavira Hall, rearranging the overall layout.
During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, apart from Chengling Pagoda, three rooms of the Ancestral Hall and three east side halls still stood. By the end of 1947, these halls were demolished, leaving only the solitary pagoda standing. In 1984, Linji Temple was handed over to the Buddhist community for management and reopened as a venue for Buddhist activities, breathing new life into this ancient millennium-old temple.
The Linji School spread far beyond China and took root overseas. In 1168, Monk Eisai from Mount Hiei in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, came to China to study Buddhism. He visited Mount Tiantai, Mount Lu and Ashoka Temple, and introduced the Huanglong lineage of the Linji School to Japan, which attracted numerous followers and was respected by both the imperial court and common people. Later, Japanese Master Shunjo traveled to China during the Song Dynasty and brought the Yangqi lineage of the Linji School back to Japan. In the early Qing Dynasty, Master Ingen of the Linji School from Wanfu Temple on Huangbo Mountain in Fuqing, Fujian, went to Japan and founded Uji Wanfu Temple, establishing the Huangbo School.
For this reason, Japan’s Huangbo School is essentially a branch of China’s Linji School. To this day, the Linji and Huangbo Schools remain influential Buddhist sects in Japan, boasting over 3 million believers and more than 6,000 temples. In May 1979, the two sects jointly founded a friendship organization — the Japan-China Friendship Linji-Huangbo Association. Starting from 1980, it has sent delegations to China every year to pay homage to Master Yixuan’s pagoda and donate funds for its maintenance, writing a new chapter of friendly exchanges between the Buddhist communities of China and Japan.
On May 19, 1986, a 100-member delegation of the Japan-China Friendship Linji-Huangbo Association, with Matsuyama Banmitsu as Honorary Leader and Shiozawa Daisada as Chief Leader, gathered at Linji Temple together with Chinese Buddhists. A grand ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the pagoda’s restoration and a sutra-chanting Dharma assembly were held. Zhao Puchu, President of the Buddhist Association of China, and Elder Matsuyama Banmitsu cut the ribbon for the renovated pagoda. President Zhao composed a poem for the visiting delegation:
Bright and clear, its light reaches all realms;
A towering pagoda stands firm between heaven and earth.
Carrying on the legacy of Huangbo,
Upholding the spirit of Linji.
Side by side we hold high the Dharma banner,
As brothers of two nations stand united.
Chengling Pagoda is an eight-sided, nine-storey solid brick pagoda with dense eaves, standing 30.47 meters tall. It rests on an octagonal brick platform, topped with a stone base and a brick Sumeru Throne. An imperial edict issued in the twelfth year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1734) is carved on the front of the waist section of the Sumeru Throne. Above the throne lies a balustraded platform decorated with swastika symbols and floral patterns. Three layers of upturned lotus petals support the main pagoda body.
The first storey is relatively high, with four arched false brick doors on the main sides and four square false windows on the lateral sides. Cylindrical pillars with carved capitals stand at the corners. A stone plaque inscribed with "Chengling Pagoda of Master Huizhao of Linji, Tang Dynasty" is embedded on the front facade. From the second storey upwards, the height of each level gradually decreases, with dense eaves closely connected and the width of each bay narrowing accordingly, forming a graceful silhouette.
Brick brackets imitating wooden structures are installed under every eave; those under the balustrade and the first-storey eaves are five-tiered double-bracket sets. The corner beams of each eave are made of wood, while the tiles, ridge ornaments and corner decorations are crafted from green glazed pottery. Wind chimes hang at every eave corner, tinkling gently in the breeze. The pagoda roof is covered with green glazed tiles, and the pagoda spire consists of an upturned lotus base, a treasure vase, a wheel of the law, a halo, a precious canopy, a crescent moon and a sacred pearl. Elegant, slender, steady and upright, the entire pagoda is a fine architectural work.
Since 1984, with support from the Chinese government and assistance from the Linji and Huangbo Schools of Japan, a grand consecration ceremony for Buddha statues was held at Linji Temple. The ceremony was presided over by Master Benhuan, the 44th lineage holder of the Linji School, and Elder Shinohara Daxiong of Yongen-ji Temple in Japan. Buddhist disciples from China and Japan chanted sutras, praying for world peace and everlasting friendship between the two peoples. So far, the mountain gate hall, the Mahavira Hall, the Dharma Milk Hall, the Lamp Transmission Hall and monks’ quarters have been restored, restoring the temple to its initial scale.
The mountain gate hall features a hip-and-gable roof covered with grey cylindrical tiles. Its facade follows the layout of five visible bays and seven hidden bays. In the center stands a large stone relief stele of Master Yixuan. Carved from Qingtian stone, the stele is 2.90 meters high, composed of a main slab and a Sumeru Throne base. A half-length portrait of Master Yixuan is carved on the front in traditional Chinese line engraving with incised lines. In the upper left section is an inscription eulogizing Master Yixuan, written by Zhao Puchu. The back of the stele bears an approximately 800-word brief biography of Master Yixuan, compiled by local monastics.
Completed in 1987, the Mahavira Hall faces south and stands behind Chengling Pagoda. It is 11 meters high and 20 meters wide, with five bays across the front. Built with a gable roof, large ridges and grey cylindrical tiles, its architraves are painted with traditional spiral decorative patterns. Enshrined inside are statues of Sakyamuni Buddha, the two venerables Kasyapa and Ananda, as well as Manjushri, Samantabhadra and Avalokitesvara. Statues of the Eighteen Arhats carved from camphor wood line both sides.
To the east of the Mahavira Hall is the Dharma Milk Hall, housing statues of Patriarch Bodhidharma, the Sixth Patriarch Huineng and Master Yixuan. To the west stands the Lamp Transmission Hall, where statues of three patriarchs are enshrined: Japanese Masters Eisai and Nanpo Shomyo of the Linji School, and Master Ingen, the founder of Japan’s Huangbo School.
The temple has drawn up a long-term development plan. Bell and drum towers will be built on both sides of the mountain gate hall, and auxiliary halls will be erected flanking the Mahavira Hall: the reception hall and dining hall on the east, and the northern lecture hall and meditation hall on the west. A scripture repository and abbot’s quarters will be constructed behind the main hall. All buildings will be linked by covered corridors, allowing visitors to reach any hall from the mountain gate via the walkways.
With continued support from all parties, Linji Temple strives to restore its resplendent ancient halls along the banks of the Hutuo River and revive the profound Chan spirit of the Linji School once again.
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