Fuxing Temple, Yuhuang Hill玉皇山福星观

Type

Temples and Abbeys (Gongguan)

Location

China · Zhejiang · Hangzhou · Summit of Yuhuang Hill, Shangcheng District

Coordinates

30.22, 120.145 Map ↗

School

Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism

First built

Wuyue of the Five Dynasties (tradition) · Known in the Song as Yulong Daoist Temple; rebuilt and renamed Fuxing Temple by Li Wei in the eighth year of the Yongzheng reign (1730); restored in the 1990s.

Heritage status

Hangzhou Municipal Cultural Heritage SiteWithin the West Lake Cultural Landscape UNESCO World Heritage Site (2011)

Overview

Fuxing Temple stands atop Yuhuang Hill on the southern shore of West Lake; tradition holds that a king of Wuyue of the Five Dynasties built Ashoka Temple here; the Song converted it into the Yulong Daoist Temple, dedicated to the Jade Emperor; in the eighth year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing (1730), the Governor-General of Zhejiang Li Wei rebuilt it and renamed it "Fuxing Temple" — the site where Hangzhou made offerings to the Jade Emperor; before the temple stands the Dengyun ("Ascending the Clouds") Pavilion, which commands a view over West Lake and the Qiantang River. The temple was damaged during the Republican era and the Cultural Revolution and restored in the 1990s; it now comprises the mountain gate, the Hall of the Jade Emperor, the Hall of the Three Pure Ones, the Seven Star Vat (a Qing-dynasty device for warding off fire) and other structures; on the hillside stand the Zilai Cave (cut in the Ming) and the Buddho-Daoist carvings of the Five Dynasties at Ciyun Ridge. Fuxing Temple, together with Baopu Daoist Temple and Huanglong Cave, ranks among Hangzhou's celebrated Daoist sites, and is today administered by the Hangzhou Taoist Association.

Highlights

• Hall of the Jade Emperor
• Dengyun Pavilion
• Seven Star Vat
• Ciyun Ridge carvings