The Former Site of Xianning Temple

What the listing says

The city's description, as summarised on English Wikipedia: Constructed in the Five Dynasties period, it is one of the famous temples in the area of Banshan. The temple was reconstructed between 1911 and 1949.

The temple stands in Liuwen Village, Banshan subdistrict, Gongshu District, at the north-western foot of Banshan hill. Its founding date is not recorded; it began as a merit cloister of Liu Zhengfu, and an old saying paired it with the city's most famous temple: "Lingyin in the south, Xianning in the north".

It was destroyed in war at the end of the Song dynasty and rebuilt in the Chongzhen reign of the Ming. Of its four main halls only one, built in 1930, survives; the monk Mingdao raised funds for a sutra library in 1931. After 1949 the site served as a sanatorium of the Hangzhou steel works. Restoration began at the end of 2017 and the temple reopened in November 2019.

Key facts

Where it fits

Hangzhou has been a centre of Buddhism for more than a thousand years, and the list includes former temple sites, nunneries and halls as well as a Protestant church of the 1920s. Many of these buildings lost their religious use in the twentieth century and served as schools, factories or homes; the listing protects what survives of their halls and courtyards. All the temples and churches on the list.

It belongs to the first batch, announced on 24 May 2004: 75 buildings, from Republican-era villas around West Lake to lane houses, temples and churches in the old city.

What the listing protects

A listed building may not be altered, moved or demolished without approval. Under the regulations in force since 1 October 2013, each listed building has a protection plan and a sign put up by the city, and falls into one of three protection categories, from keeping its main exterior features to keeping its exterior, plan, structure and details.

Its owner, or for a state-owned building its user, is responsible for upkeep and repairs, and a repair plan must be approved first. The listing does not open a building to the public: most listed buildings are still homes, offices, schools or shops.

Next to it on the list

• The Former Site of Shi Guanyin Ge Temple: LSJZ1-3, qing dynasty
• Villa at 30, Jiaochang Road: LSJZ1-5, between 1911 and 1949

Sources and licence

• Description: adapted from the English Wikipedia article List of first batch of declared historic buildings in Hangzhou, CC BY-SA 4.0.
• Chinese name, period, address and remarks: Chinese Wikipedia, 杭州市历史建筑 and the building's own article, CC BY-SA 4.0.
• Listing: Hangzhou municipal government notice 杭政办函〔2004〕154号 of 24 May 2004.
• Photo: Laohangzhou, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons. Photos credited to "hangzhoumemory" or "Laohangzhou" were uploaded by the former heritage portal; Hangzhou Memory is not connected with it.
• The text of this page is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.