Departing Zhujiajian Wharf along the coast of Zhejiang Province for a fifteen-minute ferry crossing across the waters known as the Lotus Ocean, pilgrims watch a rugged granite island emerge through the salt mist of the East China Sea. Along golden sandy coves where waves break endlessly beneath ancient camphor trees, the deep resonance of a bronze temple bell drifts across a vast freshwater lotus basin called the Haiyin Pond, where three carved stone bridges mirror their arches in still water just yards from the open ocean.
This is Mount Putuo (Putuo Shan, 普陀山) and its mother monastery Puji Temple (Puji Chansi, 普濟禪寺, traditionally known as the Front Temple), located in Putuo District, Zhoushan City, Zhejiang Province. Within the classical quartet of the Four Sacred Mountains of Chinese Buddhism alongside Mount Wutai, Mount Emei, and Mount Jiuhua, Mount Putuo stands alone on an island amid the waves, revered for over a millennium as the Sea-and-Sky Buddha Realm (Haitian Foguo) and the earthly bodhimanda of Great Compassion Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin Bodhisattva).
IMount Potalaka of the Avatamsaka Sutra and the Legend of the Guanyin Statue That Refused to Leave
The island of Mount Putuo covers roughly 12.5 square kilometers, stretching north to south to its highest summit at Foding Peak (Buddha Summit Peak, also called White Flower Peak, 291.3 meters above sea level). Prior to the arrival of Buddhism, the island was known in Chinese antiquity as Meicen Mountain (named after the Western Han recluse Mei Fu, who retreated here to practice alchemy) or Baihua Mountain (White Flower Mountain). The name Putuo is a Chinese phonetic contraction of the Sanskrit Potalaka (Putuoluojia, signifying a mountain brilliant with small white blossoms), the oceanic Pure Land of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva described in Mahayana scriptures.
Unlike almost all mainland Chinese monasteries, which enshrine Shakyamuni Buddha in their central Mahavira Hall and place Guanyin in a rear shrine or side pavilion, Puji Temple and every monastery across Mount Putuo dedicate their grandest central hall directly to Guanyin Bodhisattva as the presiding deity. Today the resident monastic community upholds the Linji school of Chan Buddhism harmonized with universal devotion to the compassionate name of Guanyin and recitation of the Great Compassion Mantra.
The scriptural foundation establishing Mount Putuo's sanctity comes directly from the Entry into the Dharma Realm chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra (Flower Garland Sutra) and the Universal Gateway chapter of the Lotus Sutra. During his pilgrimage to fifty-three spiritual teachers in the south, the youth Sudhana visits his twenty-eighth teacher, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, seated upon a diamond boulder amid lush woods and jeweled streams on Mount Potalaka in the southern sea, expounding the Dharma of fearless compassion. As Mahayana devotion took deep root along the Jiangnan seaboard, seafaring monks and lay mariners recognized in the white granite crags, wave-echoing sea caves, and camellia forests off Mingzhou (modern Ningbo) the living counterpart of scriptural Potalaka. At the heart of Puji Temple, the main sanctuary is therefore named not the Mahavira Hall, but the Great Yuantong Treasure Hall (Dayuantong Baodian), honoring Guanyin's title Yuantong Dashi (Great Being of All-Pervading Perfection) from the Surangama Sutra, where Avalokiteshvara attains supreme awakening through the faculty of hearing: listening inward to the primordial stillness of mind while hearing the cries of the world and manifesting thirty-two responsive forms to liberate beings.
The historical turning point that inaugurated Mount Putuo as Guanyin's island sanctuary centers on the sea voyage of the Japanese monk Egaku (Hue Ngac in Sino-Japanese Buddhist chronicles, 慧鍔). According to monastic histories, Master Egaku traveled to Tang China, ascended Mount Wutai in Shanxi, and reverently obtained an exquisite statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva to carry home to Japan aboard a merchant vessel sailing out of Mingzhou. As his ship passed the Lotus Ocean off the rocky eastern cliffs of Meicen Island, fierce winds arose and countless iron-lotus blossoms miraculously surfaced across the sea, immobilizing the vessel for three days and nights.
Realizing that the Bodhisattva wished to remain on this island rather than cross eastward, Egaku knelt at the bow in prayer: if Sacred Compassion chose to dwell here to guide seafarers and sentient beings, let the ship drift to the spot where a shrine should rise. Instantly the wind calmed and the vessel glided toward the rocky grotto of Chaoyin Cave (Tidal Sound Cave). A local islander surnamed Zhang joyfully offered his seaside cottage to enshrine the sacred image under the name Bukengqu Guanyin Yuan (the Refusing-to-Leave Guanyin Courtyard), inaugurating more than eleven centuries of continuous pilgrimage to the Sea-and-Sky Buddha Realm.
Students of East Asian Buddhist history should note two distinct chronological dates recorded for Egaku's founding and distinguish the Three Great Monasteries on the island. Regarding the founding year, the Southern Song chronicle Comprehensive History of the Buddhas and Patriarchs (Fozu Tongji) by Master Zhipan places the Refusing-to-Leave Guanyin Courtyard in the 12th year of the Tang Dazhong reign (858 CE), whereas the local mountain gazetteer Putuoluojia Shan Zhi and island stele inscriptions date the event to the 2nd year of the Later Liang Zhenming reign during the Five Dynasties period (916 CE). Both dates are cited side by side in academic scholarship. Visitors should also distinguish the island's Three Major Monasteries: Puji Temple (the Front Temple, oldest and largest at the southern foot of Lingjiu Peak), Fayu Temple (the Rear Temple, founded in 1580 beneath Guangxi Peak), and Huiji Temple (atop Foding Mountain). Meanwhile, the famous 33-meter outdoor bronze South Sea Guanyin statue at Longwangang on the southern tip of the island is a modern monument completed in 1997, standing roughly two kilometers south of historic Puji Temple.
IIFrom the Tang-Five Dynasties Seaside Hermitage to the Imperial Kangxi Monastery
Positioned directly astride the maritime Silk Road gateway linking Ningbo with Japan, the Korean Peninsula, and Southeast Asia, Puji Temple grew from a humble cliffside hermitage into an imperial Chan monastery crowned with yellow glazed tiles under Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing patronage.
- 858 or 916 CEJapanese monk Egaku establishes the Refusing-to-Leave Guanyin CourtyardMaster Egaku and the islander Zhang enshrine the miraculous Guanyin statue beside Chaoyin Cave (dated 858 CE in Fozu Tongji and 916 CE in local mountain gazetteers), planting the seed of the Putuo sanctuary.
- 1080Emperor Shenzong of Northern Song bestows the plaque Baotuo Guanyin TempleIn the 3rd year of Yuanfeng (1080), imperial envoy Wang Shunfeng encountered a tempest off the island during a diplomatic mission to Korea, prayed to Guanyin for safe passage, and reported the auspicious vision to court, prompting Emperor Shenzong to grant the title Baotuo Guanyin Temple.
- 1214Southern Song Emperor Ningzong decrees exclusive Guanyin dedicationFollowing Chan Master Zhenxie Qingliao's consolidation of Chan monasticism on the island and relocation of the main complex to the sheltered valley south of Lingjiu Peak, Emperor Ningzong bestowed the plaque Yuantong Baodian in 1214 and designated Putuo as a specialized bodhimanda of Guanyin.
- 1334Yuan imperial patrons erect the stone Duobao PagodaIn the 2nd year of Yuanthong under Emperor Huizong of Yuan (1334), Abbot Fuzhong Huaixin secured donations from Mongol princes and court nobles to construct the five-story square Duobao Pagoda out of pale Taihu limestone southeast of the temple.
- 1387 to 1605Early Ming coastal evacuation and Wanli imperial revivalIn 1387 under Ming Hongwu, coastal defenses against pirate raids forced temporary evacuation of the island monks to Ningbo. Under the Wanli Emperor in 1605, court eunuch Zhang Sui oversaw a major island-wide restoration and bestowed the title Huguo Yongshou Puji Chan Temple.
- 1699 to 1731Imperial reconstructions under the Kangxi and Yongzheng EmperorsIn the 38th year of Kangxi (1699), the Qing court financed a grand reconstruction roofed in imperial yellow glazed tiles, naming the monastery Puji Chan Temple and granting the plaque Puji Qunling. In 1731, the Yongzheng Emperor expanded the halls and erected the Imperial Stele Pavilion, fixing the present layout.
- 1983 to 2013National Key Buddhist Monastery and National Key Cultural RelicRevived from 1979 under Venerable Miaoshan, Puji Temple was named in the first batch of National Key Buddhist Temples in Han Areas (1983), with Duobao Pagoda listed as a 6th-batch National Key Relic (2006) and the entire Puji Temple compound listed in the 7th batch in 2013.
Maritime sanctuary along the East Asian sea lanes. Port archives from Ningbo and Putuo gazetteers show that throughout the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing eras, diplomatic fleets, tribute envoys, and merchant junks sailing across the East China Sea toward Japan, the Ryukyu Kingdom, or southward toward Dai Viet (Jiaozhi in historical Chinese records) and Southeast Asia treated Mount Putuo as their final spiritual beacon before open ocean waters. Ships routinely anchored in the Lotus Ocean so crews could ascend to Puji Temple and offer incense before the Great Yuantong Hall for calm winds and safe return.
Why the central Mountain Gate of Puji Temple remains closed. First-time visitors often notice that the three crimson wooden portals of Puji Temple's central Zheng Shanmen facing Yongshou Bridge remain shut year-round, while both monastics and lay pilgrims enter through the eastern and western side gates. This custom dates back to Qing dynasty imperial protocol (linked in local lore to an incognito night visit by the Qianlong Emperor after temple closing hours, as well as court etiquette reserving the central imperial doorway for the monarch and major patriarchal enthronements). Today the central portal of Puji Temple swings open only on extraordinary occasions such as the formal installation of a new Abbot or major state-level Dharma assemblies.
IIIThe Haiyin Lotus Pond, the Column-Free Great Yuantong Hall, and the Yuan Stone Pagoda
Puji Temple is the largest monastic architectural ensemble on Mount Putuo, occupying a precinct of approximately 37,019 square meters with 15,289 square meters of built floor space comprising ten major halls, twelve two-story pavilions, and 357 rooms stepping gently up the southern slope of Lingjiu Peak. Built in the refined early Qing imperial style of Jiangnan combined with robust Ming timber joinery, the complex features warm ochre-yellow enclosure walls and sweeping hip-and-gable yellow glazed roofs engineered to shed coastal typhoon winds.
Before crossing the monastery threshold, pilgrims pass through a serene water-and-stone forecourt composed of the spring-fed Haiyin Lotus Pond, three carved granite bridges, the Octagonal Pavilion, and the Imperial Stele Pavilion. From there, the north-south ritual axis ascends sequentially through the Central Mountain Gate, Hall of the Four Heavenly Kings, Great Yuantong Treasure Hall, Dharma Hall (Sutra Library), and Abbot's Quarters, flanked symmetrically by the Bell and Drum Towers and shrines to Manjushri, Samantabhadra, and Ksitigarbha.
Stretching directly across the front of the monastery is a one-hectare freshwater release pond formed by damming mountain streams, carpeted with pink and white lotuses each summer. Spanning the center of the pond is the 40-meter-long, 7.5-meter-wide granite Yongshou Bridge built in the 34th year of Ming Wanli (1606), its balustrades carved with forty lively stone lions, linking the Octagonal Guanyin Pavilion to the 1731 Yongzheng Imperial Stele Pavilion housing a monumental 4-meter tortoise-borne royal stele.
The architectural heart of Puji Temple, measuring seven bays wide, six bays deep, and over 21 meters high beneath a double-eaved yellow-glazed hip-and-gable roof. Utilizing traditional Chinese column-reduction structural carpentry (transferring roof loads onto massive spanning tie-beams to eliminate interior middle columns), the hall creates a vast unobstructed nave capable of accommodating a thousand worshippers simultaneously, celebrated in proverb as a hall where a thousand people bow together without a pillar blocking sightlines.
Enshrined at the center of the Great Yuantong Hall is a gilded statue of Vairocana Guanyin (Avalokiteshvara wearing the crown of Vairocana Buddha) standing 8.8 meters tall in total (an approximately 6.5-meter seated figure atop a lotus pedestal over 2 meters high), seated in tranquil meditative equipoise. Lining the eastern and western walls are thirty-two finely sculpted statues portraying the thirty-two responsive manifestations of Guanyin described in the Lotus and Surangama Sutras, appearing as Buddhas, monastics, officials, youths, or celestial guardians according to the needs of beings.
Standing just outside the southeastern wall beside the Hundred-Step Sand path is the oldest surviving architectural monument on Mount Putuo: a five-story square stone pagoda rising roughly 32 meters high (three main stories set upon a two-tiered Sumeru pedestal), constructed entirely of pale Taihu stone in 1334 during the Yuan dynasty. Each face of the upper stories bears exquisite high-relief carvings of the Buddhas of the Four Directions and attendant Bodhisattvas blending Chinese and Tibetan-Yuan Buddhist iconography.
Set on an elevated terrace behind the Great Yuantong Hall, this two-story timber edifice serves as the Dharma lecture hall below and the Sutra Library above, preserving thousands of Ming and Qing Tripitaka fascicles and imperial ritual gifts. In the western monastic kitchen stands the famous giant iron Thousand-Person Cauldron, historically used to steam vegetarian rice for thousands of resident monks and visiting pilgrims during grand feast assemblies.
| Feature | Specifications and date | Verified source |
|---|---|---|
| Overall scale of Puji Temple | 37,019 sq m precinct, 15,289 sq m floor area, 357 bays across halls and pavilions | Putuoshan Buddhist Association (putuoshan.org.cn) |
| Great Yuantong Treasure Hall | 7 bays wide by 6 bays deep, over 21 m high, Kangxi-era reduced-column timber frame (1699) | 7th Batch National Key Cultural Relics Dossier (2013) |
| Central Vairocana Guanyin | 8.8 m total height gilded figure, flanked by 32 Manifestations of Guanyin | Putuoshan Buddhist Association, Encyclopaedia Britannica |
| Duobao Pagoda | 5-story square Taihu stone pagoda, approx. 32 m tall, built in 1334 (Yuan dynasty) | 6th Batch National Key Cultural Relics Dossier (2006) |
| Haiyin Pond and Yongshou Bridge | Approx. 10,000 sq m freshwater lotus pond, granite bridge built in Ming Wanli 1606 | Putuoluojia Shan Zhi, Putuoshan Buddhist Association |
| Satellite coordinates | 29.9878 degrees N, 122.3825 degrees E | Wikidata (Q1817167), OpenStreetMap |
IVThe Lie of the Land and Orientation
In the Prajna wisdom of Mahayana Buddhism, Mount Potalaka is realized wherever a compassionate mind is free of obstruction rather than bound by secular geomancy. Yet when Southern Song masters shifted the principal monastery away from the wind-lashed rocks of Chaoyin Cave into the southern valley of Lingjiu Peak and Qing imperial builders finalized Puji Temple, they achieved a textbook example of an island basin sanctuary sheltered from ocean typhoons and nourished by sweet mountain springs. The section below reads the actual terrain through the library's comparative framework of traditional landform geomancy.
Examined across the island-and-sea geography at coordinates 29.9878 degrees north, 122.3825 degrees east, Mount Putuo rises as an oceanic dragon vein emerging from the Zhoushan continental shelf amid the Lotus Ocean. In classical coastal landform theory, the greatest hazard on an offshore island is relentless salt wind blowing directly into halls, dispersing vital qi and corroding timber joinery. Puji Temple overcomes this exposure by nesting securely against the southern flank of Lingjiu Peak (a central spur descending southward from the island's highest ancestral peak, Foding Mountain, 291.3 meters high). This crescent wall of granite rises behind the compound as a sturdy Black Tortoise backing that blocks bitter winter gales from the north. Two wooded side ridges extend forward on either side: an eastern Green Dragon arm curving past Duobao Pagoda toward Hundred-Step Sand, and a western White Tiger arm wrapping around the West Heaven boulders and Heart-Character Rock, forming a calm, wind-sheltered amphitheater right beside the sea.
In terms of compass facing and water configuration, the ceremonial axis of Puji Temple is aligned sitting North and facing South (angled slightly south-southeast along the natural opening of the valley toward the bay), stepping upward terrace by terrace from water level to mountain foot. Most prized in island geomancy is the presence of a tranquil freshwater basin amid surrounding salt water: directly before the Mountain Gate spreads the one-hectare Haiyin Lotus Pond, collecting pure mountain spring streams as a mirror-calm Inner Bright Hall. Just beyond the pond, a low wooded sand ridge acts as an inner footstool screen preventing the sweet spring water from draining abruptly into the surf, beyond which the golden beach and open expanse of the East China Sea unfold as a boundless Outer Bright Hall. Looking southeast across the waves, the neighboring islet of Luojia Mountain rests on the horizon in the unmistakable silhouette of a reclining Bodhisattva floating upon the sea, serving as an auspicious facing mountain that locks the maritime water gate of the entire island sanctuary.
VThe Three Great Guanyin Feast Seasons and South Sea Guanyin Devotion in Vietnam
Liturgical life across Mount Putuo and inside Puji Temple follows the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, culminating in the Three Great Guanyin Pilgrimage Seasons (Guanyin San Da Xianghui Qi). During each feast period, tens of thousands of devotees from across Asia cross the water to the island, many performing the arduous devotion of three steps, one full prostration from the pier past Puji Temple all the way up stone stairs to Foding Summit through the night. The table below outlines the major annual observances.
| Date | Calendar system | Observance or festival | Ritual practice at Puji Temple and across the island |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19th day of the 2nd month (pilgrimage from the 15th to 20th) | Lunar calendar | Birthday of Guanyin Bodhisattva | The great spring pilgrimage opening the year. On the night of the 18th into the 19th, monks and lay pilgrims fill the courtyard of the Great Yuantong Hall for all-night chanting of the Universal Gateway chapter, the Great Compassion Mantra, and lamp offerings. |
| 19th day of the 6th month (pilgrimage from the 15th to 20th) | Lunar calendar | Enlightenment Day of Guanyin Bodhisattva | Celebrated in midsummer when lotuses bloom across Haiyin Pond. Seafaring families and pilgrims from Zhejiang, Fujian, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia gather to give thanks for maritime safety and perform life-release ceremonies. |
| 19th day of the 9th month (pilgrimage from the 15th to 20th) | Lunar calendar | Renunciation Day of Guanyin Bodhisattva | The autumn peak pilgrimage season drawing vast crowds performing three-steps-one-bow ascents under crisp coastal skies, often accompanied by monastic and lay precept ordination assemblies at Puji Temple. |
| 9th or 10th lunar month annually | Lunar calendar (paired with October or November solar dates) | Mount Putuo South Sea Guanyin Cultural Festival | An international Buddhist cultural gathering held annually since 2003, featuring a lotus-lantern Dharma transmission procession from Puji Temple to the South Sea Guanyin Plaza, academic symposia, and prayers for world peace. |
Deep spiritual kinship with South Sea Guanyin devotion and Chan lineages in Vietnam. The vision of Avalokiteshvara dwelling on Mount Potalaka amid the Southern Sea has shaped Vietnamese Buddhist piety for nearly a thousand years. As early as 1049 under the Ly dynasty, Emperor Ly Thai Tong's auspicious dream of Avalokiteshvara seated upon a radiant lotus pedestal inspired the construction of Hanoi's iconic One Pillar Pagoda (Dien Huu Temple). The exact three lunar feast dates observed on Mount Putuo (the 19th days of the 2nd, 6th, and 9th lunar months) are likewise the three preeminent Guanyin festival days across Vietnam, most famously animating the three-month spring pilgrimage to Huong Tich Grotto at the Perfume Pagoda southwest of Hanoi, venerated in Vietnamese tradition as the earthly sanctuary of Guanyin of the Southern Sea, alongside coastal shrines to the Lady of the South Sea protecting fishermen along central and southern Vietnam.
In monastic lineage as well, the Linji Chan school upheld at Puji Temple shares the same ancestral Dharma trunk as the Linji lineages introduced into northern and southern Vietnam from the 17th century onward, enriching Vietnam's earlier Chan heritage of the Vo Ngon Thong, Thao Duong, and Truc Lam Yen Tu schools. Today, Mount Putuo and Puji Temple remain a cherished destination for Vietnamese monastic and lay pilgrimage delegations touring the Four Sacred Mountains, bowing inside the Great Yuantong Hall where temple bells mingle with the surf of the East China Sea.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Số 93 đường Baihua, đảo núi Putuo (Phổ Đà Sơn), quận Putuo, quần đảo thành phố Zhoushan (Chu Sơn), tỉnh Chiết Giang (浙江省舟山市普陀区普陀山白华路93号普济禅寺)
- Getting there
- Mount Putuo is an offshore island accessible only by ferry, with no road bridge to the mainland. Visitors can travel by high-speed train or coach to Ningbo and take an express bus across the sea bridges to Zhujiajian Wugongshi Wharf in Zhoushan, or fly directly into Zhoushan Putuoshan Airport on neighboring Zhujiajian Island. From Wugongshi Wharf, fast ferries cross to Mount Putuo Pier in about 15 minutes, from where Puji Temple is a scenic 10-minute walk past Duobao Pagoda or a short ride on the island shuttle bus.
- Coordinates
- 29.9878, 122.3825
The entire island of Mount Putuo is a working monastic sanctuary. Puji Temple enforces eco-friendly incense etiquette: each visitor offers at most three slender incense sticks at the outdoor courtyard censer, and large bundles of giant incense or spirit paper burning are strictly prohibited near the historic timber halls. Please enter through the eastern or western side portals (as the central Mountain Gate remains closed by tradition), dress modestly covering shoulders and knees, step cleanly over raised wooden thresholds rather than treading on them, and refrain from photographing statues directly inside the Great Yuantong Hall.
Nearby places in the library
VIIContribute To This Page
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?Quick Questions
Why is Mount Putuo called the Sea-and-Sky Buddha Realm and associated with Guanyin Bodhisattva?
Among China's Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains, Mount Putuo is the only sanctuary located on an ocean island in the Zhoushan Archipelago of Zhejiang Province. Its name derives from Mount Potalaka in the Avatamsaka Sutra, the island home where Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin) expounds the Dharma amid the southern sea, earning it the title Sea-and-Sky Buddha Realm.
What role does Puji Temple play among the monasteries of Mount Putuo?
Puji Temple (traditionally called the Front Temple) is the oldest, largest, and foremost of the Three Great Monasteries of Mount Putuo (alongside Fayu Temple and Huiji Temple). Serving as the headquarters of the island's Buddhist community, it is the primary ceremonial center and traditional starting point for pilgrims venerating Guanyin.
Why is the main shrine of Puji Temple named the Great Yuantong Hall rather than the Mahavira Hall?
Whereas standard Chinese Buddhist monasteries dedicate their central Mahavira Hall to Shakyamuni Buddha, Mount Putuo was imperially designated in 1214 during the Southern Song dynasty as an island sanctuary dedicated specifically to Guanyin Bodhisattva. Its central hall is therefore named the Great Yuantong Hall after Guanyin's title Great Being of All-Pervading Perfection in the Surangama Sutra, enshrining an 8.8-meter Vairocana Guanyin and her thirty-two manifestations.
Which is the oldest surviving architectural monument at Puji Temple?
The oldest surviving structure is the Duobao Pagoda (Crown Prince Pagoda), standing just outside the southeastern wall of Puji Temple. Built in 1334 during the Yuan dynasty entirely of pale Taihu limestone, this five-story square pagoda rises roughly 32 meters high with carved Buddhist reliefs on all four faces and was designated a National Key Cultural Relic in 2006.
Why does the central doorway of Puji Temple's Mountain Gate stay closed on ordinary days?
Rebuilt as an imperial monastery under the Qing Kangxi and Yongzheng Emperors, Puji Temple follows historic court protocol whereby the central portal of the Zheng Shanmen opens only for extraordinary occasions such as the formal installation of a new Abbot or major state-level ceremonies. On ordinary days, monastics and pilgrims alike pass through the eastern and western side gates.