Our answer
Quanzhou’s great temple, and part of a World Heritage site 开元寺
Two granite pagodas over 44 m high, a pillared Ming hall and traces of Quanzhou’s foreign merchants
The short answer
Kaiyuan Temple (开元寺, Kāiyuán Sì) is a Buddhist temple on West Street in Quanzhou, Fujian, founded in 686 and the largest surviving Buddhist temple complex in the province. Visit for its twin granite pagodas, the pillared Mahavira Hall with its 24 flying musicians, and Hindu carvings left by medieval Tamil merchants. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
| In Chinese | 开元寺 (Kāiyuán Sì), ‘Kaiyuan’ after the Tang emperor’s reign name; first called 莲花寺 (Liánhuā Sì), Lotus Temple |
|---|---|
| Where | 176 West Street (西街), Licheng district, Quanzhou, Fujian province |
| Founded | 686, under the Tang dynasty; renamed Kaiyuan Temple in 738 |
| Known for | The East (Zhenguo) and West (Renshou) stone pagodas, about 48 m and 44 m high |
| UNESCO | One of the 22 sites of ‘Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China’, inscribed in 2021 |
| Ticket | Free to enter (The Paper, April 2026) |
Kaiyuan Temple history in brief
The temple has been rebuilt several times; the main hall standing today is from the late Ming dynasty and the pagodas from the Southern Song. For the general plan of a Chinese temple, see our guide to Chinese temples.[1][2][3][4][5]
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 686 | The temple is founded on the mulberry garden of a local landowner, Huang Shougong, and named Lotus Temple (莲花寺). |
| 692 and 705 | Renamed Xingjiao Temple, then Longxing Temple. |
| 738 | An imperial order has each prefecture name a temple after the reign period, Kaiyuan; the temple takes the name it still bears. |
| 865 and 916 | The first East and West pagodas are built, both of wood. |
| 1228–1250 | Both pagodas are rebuilt in granite: the West Pagoda in 1228–1237, the East Pagoda in 1238–1250. |
| 1637 | The present Mahavira Hall is built. |
| 1982 | Listed as a major national protected heritage site, and as a key national Buddhist temple in Han Chinese areas. |
| 2021 | Inscribed as part of the UNESCO World Heritage site ‘Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China’. |
The twin pagodas
The two pagodas stand east and west in front of the main hall, and the three together form a triangle. Both are octagonal, five storeys high and built of granite in imitation of timber pagodas, and each carries 80 Buddhist figures in relief around its storeys.
The East Pagoda, or Zhenguo Pagoda (镇国塔, ‘Pagoda Guarding the Nation’), is about 48.24 m high. It began in 865 as a five-storey wooden tower and was rebuilt in stone in 1238–1250. The West Pagoda, or Renshou Pagoda (仁寿塔, ‘Pagoda of Benevolence and Longevity’), is about 44.06 m high; it began in 916 as a seven-storey wooden tower called the Pagoda of Infinite Longevity and was rebuilt in stone in 1228–1237. For more on how Chinese pagodas developed, see our guide to pagodas.[1][2][3][5]
What else to see at Kaiyuan Temple
The complex covers about 70,000 m² and faces south, with its main halls on a central axis and building groups to either side.
- Hall of Heavenly Kings: the entrance hall, which doubles as the mountain gate; the present building dates from 1925. Its pillars carry a couplet composed by the Song philosopher Zhu Xi and written out by the monk Hongyi: ‘This place was called the land of the Buddha in ancient times; the streets are full of sages.’
- Mahavira Hall (大雄宝殿): also called the Purple Cloud Hall, built in 1637, 20 m high and nine bays wide, with a double-eaved roof. It enshrines the Five Dhyani Buddhas. Its stone columns, 86 in all, give it the nickname Hall of a Hundred Pillars (百柱殿), and the brackets inside are carved as 24 flying musicians, winged figures holding instruments.
- Hindu carvings: reliefs of lions and the sacred cow kamadhenu on the platform in front of the main hall, and carved column fragments and an image of Vishnu behind it, from a Vishnu temple built in Quanzhou in 1283 by a Tamil merchant community. They are a reminder of the foreign merchant communities of Song and Yuan Quanzhou.
- Sweet Dew Precept Altar (甘露戒坛): an octagonal double-eaved building where monks are ordained, first built in the Song and rebuilt in the late Ming. Inside is a five-tiered altar topped by a Ming wooden statue of the Vairocana Buddha, and 24 flying apsaras on the ceiling. It is counted among the three great precept altars of China.
- The ancient mulberry tree (桑莲古迹): west of the main hall, a mulberry said to date from the Tang, linked to the temple’s founding legend.
The legend of the mulberry and the lotus
Tradition says that Huang Shougong, who owned the mulberry garden where the temple stands, dreamed that a monk asked him for the land. He replied that he would give it only if his mulberry trees bloomed with white lotus flowers. Three days later, the story goes, they did, and he gave the land. That is why the temple was first called Lotus Temple, and why the plaque on the main hall reads 桑莲法界, ‘Dharma realm of the mulberry and lotus’.
The temple’s Sweet Dew Precept Altar, built for ordaining monks, is ranked with those of Jietai Temple in Beijing and Zhaoqing Temple in Hangzhou as the three great precept altars of China.[1][2][3]
Questions readers ask
Is Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou free?
Yes. Kaiyuan Temple is free to enter, according to a list of Quanzhou’s free attractions published in April 2026.
How old is Kaiyuan Temple?
It was founded in 686, under the Tang dynasty, so it is more than 1,300 years old. The present main hall dates from 1637 and the stone pagodas from the 13th century.
What is Kaiyuan Temple famous for?
Its twin granite pagodas, about 48 m and 44 m high; the Mahavira Hall, nicknamed the Hall of a Hundred Pillars, with 24 carved flying musicians; Hindu carvings from a 13th-century Vishnu temple; and its precept altar.
How tall are the Quanzhou twin pagodas?
The East (Zhenguo) Pagoda is about 48.24 m high and the West (Renshou) Pagoda about 44.06 m. Both are five-storey octagonal granite pagodas, rebuilt in stone between 1228 and 1250.
Is Kaiyuan Temple a UNESCO World Heritage site?
Yes. Since 2021 it has been one of the 22 sites that make up the World Heritage listing ‘Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China’.
Why are there Hindu carvings at Kaiyuan Temple?
Quanzhou was a great trading port in the Song and Yuan dynasties, with communities of foreign merchants. A Tamil merchant community built a Vishnu temple in the city in 1283, and carved pillars and reliefs from it ended up at Kaiyuan Temple.
Where is Kaiyuan Temple?
At 176 West Street, Licheng district, in the historic centre of Quanzhou, Fujian province, on China’s south-east coast.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Kaiyuan Temple (Quanzhou) · accessed 1 Nov 2026
- Wikipedia (Chinese), 开元寺 (泉州) · accessed 1 Nov 2026
- Quanzhou Municipal Government, Kaiyuan Temple (UNESCO heritage page, 28 December 2024) · accessed 1 Nov 2026
- China Daily, Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China (28 July 2021) · accessed 1 Nov 2026
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, Quanzhou · accessed 1 Nov 2026
- The Paper, Quanzhou free attractions list (20 April 2026, in Chinese) · accessed 1 Nov 2026
Update log. 1 November 2026 — reviewed. Next review due 1 February 2027. Suggest a correction