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Putuoshan |
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The Temple Of Guanyin Who Refuses To Leave
"Inspired, illuminated, she crouches on Lo-chia Island, a tiny dollop of land in the restless brown
waters of the South China Sea. She hunkers down and springs above the waves, her white robes
billowing, winglike, behind her, one strand of glistening black hair falling on her neck from her
tightly wound bun, her eyes beaming forward at the green hills of Putuoshan. One foot strikes
the shore with such force that it sinks into the rock, making a footprint. She is home."
In the year 916 AD, a Japanese monk called Hui Er was on a pilgrimage to China. After leaving another sacred mountain, Wutai, he boarded a ship for Japan with a newly acquired bronze statue of
Guanyin. A strong wind blew up as the ship approached the island of Putuo, forcing the vessel to run aground against a reef. The winds intensified. Waves beat against the hull, and the crew feared the boat would be destroyed.
As the storm intensified, Hui Er suddenly envisioned that the violent winds were a sign of Guanyin's unwillingness to leave China. He knelt before her image and prayed: "If my countrymen are not destined to see you, I will follow your direction and build a temple to you here.”
Immediately the wind subsided. The sea became as calm as a lotus pond. The ship freed itself from the shoal and sailed close to shore, below the
Cave of Tidal Sound.
Disembarking with his statue, Hui Er encountered a fisherman who was marveling over the deliverance of the distressed ship. The fisherman offered his home as a shrine for the image of Guanyin.
Through the years, the original statue has been replaced by many replications. An exquisite new shrine to Guanyin completed
in 1998 attracts a steady flow of visitors.
Another story says that the sea was filled with iron lotus blossoms and the boat could not move forward. The monk prayed to Guanyin when his boat moved closer to the shore. A man on the shore saw the problems the monk was facing and transformed his house into a shrine and took the statue in. Once Guanyin was installed, the lotuses disappeared from the sea and the boat was released to sail back to Japan. The shrine became known as the "Temple of Guanyin Who Refuses To Leave" (Bukenqu Guanyin).
The Temple Of Guanyin Who Refuses To Leave, is the oldest and most important temple in Putuohan. It is small and by the sea, just below the much larger than the temple in the Purple Bamboo Forest (Zizhulin). It is decorated in carvings of the Japanese monk and his Guanyin statue and has an obviously patched stele of the Dont-leave story which was smashed by the Red Guards and later retrieved from the sea. It has recently been completly restored.
For information or reservation call or send an e-mail to Chen Zhongyu ((0580)6091227) in Putuoshan.
Last modification: 10/11/2003
This page is made by Anthony Debyser. For comment on this page send an e-mail to adebyser@hotmail.com
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