Jade Buddha Temple was first during the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty. At that time, Hui Gen, a monk from Mount Putuo went on a pilgrimage to Burma. In Burma, Mr. Chen Jun-Pu, an overseas Chinese resident in Burma, donated five Jade statues of Buddha to Hui Gen. After he came back to China, Hui Gen left two of them, namely, a seated Buddha statue and a recumbent Buddha statue, in Shanghai and built a temple in Jiangwan to house them with donated funds. In 1882 A.D., the construction completed and the temple was named Jade Buddha Temple.

 

Later, the temple was burned down in the early 20th century. In 1918, Jade Buddha Temple was rebuilt on Anyuan Road. The construction of the temple is in the magnificent architectural style of the Song Dynasty.

 

The temple is composed of several compounds such as the Halls of Heavenly Kings, Hall of the Great Hero (Daxiong Baodian), the Hall of the Sleeping Buddha and the Hall of the Jade Buddha. There are monks currently living in the Temple and the Temple houses the Shanghai Buddhist Institute. Here many ancient statues, paintings, a complete set of Buddhist scriptures (printed in the Qing Dynasty), and over 7000 other rare scriptures are kept.

 

The first hall is Hall of Heavenly Kings where statues of the four celestial kings and Maitreya are enshrined. It was said that the Maitreya is, in fact, the Budai Monk. In 916 A.D., before his death, he had told people that he was the reincarnation of the future Buddha Maitreya. Later, people called him Buddha Maitreya and began to worship him in temples.

 

The second hall is the Hall of the Great Hero. Three large gilded Buddha statues: the Buddhas of the past (Bhaisajya-guru), present (Sakyamuni) and future (Maitreya) are kept in the hall. The one in the center is Sakyamuni, east of it is Bhaisajya-guru and west is Maitreya. Eighteen gilded Luohan statues stand around them.

 

After visiting the Hall of the Great Hero, people reach the Jade Buddha Tower. A jade Buddha, which is 1.92 meter tall and 1.34 meter wide, stands on the second floor. Inlaid with diamonds and agates, the jade Buddha is sitting leisurely at the moment of his enlightenment. And in a hall on the western part of the temple housed another recumbent Buddha statue. The lying Buddha is 96cm long, lying on the right side with its hand supporting the head and left hand is placed on the left leg. The calm face shows Sakyamuni’s peaceful mood when he passed from this world.

 

Both of these two Buddha statues were invited by Monk Hui Gen from Burma. They were carved out of a single piece of white jade. Besides all this, many Buddhist sculptures and classics are housed in the temple.

 

Opening Hours: 8:00 am – 5:00 pm

Cost: ¥15 ($1.80)

Metro: No Metro