Red Snail Temple (Hong Luo Si) is located at the southern foot of Hongluo Mountain on the northern outskirts of Beijing ‘s Huairou District. The temple, which is the largest Buddhist temple in northern China, was originally erected in CE 378, but was later renovated and enlarged during the Tang (CE 618-907) Dynasty. It’s original name was Daming Temple (it was also referred to as Huguo Temple at the time, though a temple by that name has since been built in Anhui Province during the Qing (CE 1644-1911) Dynasty). The temple’s current name is derived from a legend about a fairy maiden.
Red Snail Temple/ Daming Temple has been the most important Buddhist temple in northern China for the past 10 centuries, as the temple has served not only as a traditional buddhist place of worship, but also as a monastic center for the education of Buddhist monks and abbots throughout northern China, and indeed, monks and abbots have arrived from Japan and from locations farther afield in order to study at Hongluo Temple. The temple houses an account of its thirteen founders in a book entitled Nian Song Yi Gui. Hongluo Temple is also the natal temple of the renowned monk, Jinghua Qigong, founder of the qigong meditation method (to learn more about qigong, click here). Given its location on the outskirts of the nation’s capital, Hongluo Temple was also frequented by Chinese emperors down through the country’s history.
To the north of the temple lies Hongluo Mountain and to the south Hongluo Lake. The temple itself is divided into five courtyards, the central of which serves as the entrance to the temple complex. This central courtyard is surrouned by the Hall of Heavenly Kings, Mahavira Hall, the Meditation Room, and a hall where Buddhist scripture is taught. The other courtyards correspond to the four compass directions: the eastern, western, northern, and southern courtyards, whereof the former two deserve special mention. The eastern courtyard consists of a guestroom, dining rooms, a room for prolonging life (“Yanshoutang”), the Monk’s Hut and an arena for practicing qigong. The western courtyard consists of the Tower Yard which contains the Ash Room for the remains of monks, as well as a bone pagoda.
The three most prominent scenic areas of the temple complex are called Imperial Bamboo, Male and Female Gingko, and Pines Entangled with Chinese Wisteria. Most of the visitors to Hongluo Temple do not fail, however, to pay a visit to the temple itself, where they light incense sticks in memory of the dead, as a gesture towards peace and harmony, etc.
