The most important religions in Jiaxing have been Buddhism and Taoism, so there are temples here and there that may date back to Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty. Most of them are large, and have many worshippers, especially the Lengyan Temple in Jiaxing City, in which there are many sutra books. Jiaxing Collection of Sutra Books in it produced in the Ming Dynasty is valuable and is renowned all over the world.

Since 1980, many ancient temples have been restored such as Jingyan Temple, and Juehai Temple in Jiaxing City, Yuanjue Temple in Jiashan County, Baoben Temple in Pinhu City, Tianning Temple in Haiyan, Yunxiu Nunnery and Huili Temple in Haining, Fuyan Temple in Tongxing, etc.

I. Jingyan Temple

Jingyan Temple is the most ancient one of the eight temples in Jiaxing. It was built in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (340). In 1918, the great master HongYi came to the temple to check the sutras.

Jingyan Temple has been restored.

II. Juehai Temple

Juehai Temple lies at Xiexi Street of Jiaxing City. It was formerly a residence and was contributed by the owner Zao Rufei to be changed into a temple in 1294 (Song Dynasty). Two years later, the imperial government named it Baozhong Temple. It was rebuilt in 1417.  In the 11th year of Yong Zheng’s Reign (1773), the emperor ordered to rebuild the temple, and changed its name Baozhong Temple to Juehai Temple. The next year, he inscribed “Juehai Temple”, and granted the statue of Guanyin to the temple. In 1983, the temple was restored .

III. Yuanjue Temple

Yuanjue Temple lies in Taozhuang Town of Jiashan County. It was built in Song Dynasty (1262) and was restored in 1995.

The temple is near Fen Lake, so many famous people visit it.

Since 1997, people all over the world have come to visit the temple, including Chinese overseas, our compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao and foreigners, etc.

IV. Baoben Temple and Baoben Pagoda

The original name of Baoben Temple was Baoben Pagoda Temple. It lies on Shapenyu (or Parrot Islet) in Danghu Town of Pinghu City. In Ming Dynasty (1563), Lu Gao sponsored to build Baoben Pagoda on the islet, and it was completed in three years. In 1994, the temple began to be rebuilt, and the rebuilding was completed in 2000.

The experience of the pagoda is quite complicated. It has been restored several times since 1659. Now it is 49.14 meters high.

V. Tianning Temple

Haiyan Tianning Temple lies at Western Haibing Street of Wuyuan Town. It was built in Han Dynasty. Its original name was Chanyue Temple. In Tang Dynasty (768), Thousand-Buddha Pavilion was built in it. In Song Dynasty (1105), the plaque “Tianning Yongza Temple” was inscribed and granted by Song Huizong, emperor of Song Dynasty. Thousand-Buddha Pavilion was restored from 1985 to 1987. Professor Chen Congzhou regarded the Pavilion as “No. 1 Pavilion of Zhejiang”.

Tianning Temple was rebuilt in 2000.

VI. Yunxiu Nunnery

Yunxiu Nunnery is on the top of the hill Yinchaoding of Gaoyang, which is not very high (only 184.6 meters high), but very beautiful. In Song Dynasty (960~962), a monk called Benyuan came here and made a hut as a nunnery to settle down to cultivate the hill. The government of Haiyan began to rebuild the nunnery in 1983.

The most famous thing in the Nunnery is the Xuedou Spring in the front of Kwan-yin Hall. You can drink the tea made with the water from the spring.

VII. Fuyan Temple

The temple is 13 kilometers east to Tongxiang City. In 1990, the temple resumed opening to the public. It was built in 503. The Grand Hall of the temple is a bit shorter than that in Lingyin Temple, but larger. The “Stone-supplementing Bell” and “Yingyang Mirror” are famous utensils of Fuyan Temple.

In 2001, the Fuyan Buddhism Culture Center was built to the south of the temple and is connected with the millenarian temple. It occupies an area of 40,000 square kilometers.

VIII. Huili Temple

Huili Temple lies at the foot of West Hill in Xiashi of Haining. In Eastern Jin (373~375), an official called Zhang Yanguang used his residence as a temple, called Zhiyuan Temple. In Song Dynasty (1009), it was granted the plaque Huili Temple by the emperor.

IX. Jinzhuang of Anguo Temple

Anguo Temple was built in Tang Dynasty (713), named Zhenguo Haichang Temple at that time. From 841 to 843, lotuses emerged from the ground, as was considered an auspicious sign by a monk in the temple called Fa Xin, so he invited a famous monk An Guoshi to preside the temple. In Song Dynasty (1008), the present name was granted. It was restored several times. In 1887, it was restored for the last time, but in the winter of 1987, it disappeared. Now what we can see is its relics. On it there are some steles and three Jinzhuangs of the Tang Dynasty in the open air. Jinzhuang is a kind of Buddha stone carving, which was originated in Tang Dynasty. Buddha names, Buddha images or sutras were carved on the stone pillars, which were covered on the top and there was a dado under each pillar.