Jinshan Temple locates Canshang District of Fuzhou. It was built on the Wulong River during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). It was constructed on the bedrock of a small island with a simple courtyard and stone pagoda in center. It is the only temple built on the water in Fuzhou.
History about Jinshan Temple
Jinshan Temple looks like a stone seal floating on water, just like the famous Jinshan Mountain in Zhenjiang, so it is also called "Little Jinshan".
Seven or eight hundred years ago, people built this seven-story solid pagoda by granite, which is about 7 meters high. Later, people built a temple around the pagoda. Several renovations were carried out in the past dynasties. People believe that the temple is an "unsinkable boat" blessed by gods, which is a perfect place to worship and pray for fortunes.
The current Jinshan Temple was reconstructed in 1934. Due to the limited terrain, the temple does not have the magnificent pavilions or huge Buddha statues, but obtain the exquisite buildings with unique features.
Zhang Jing, a famous anti-Japanese warrior from Fuzhou during the Ming Dynasty (1522-1566), once studied here in his youth. The temple's relative isolation has also preserved the ancient calligraphy of celebrities, including Zhu Xi, a Confucian philosopher in the 12th century, and Lin Sen, president of the National Government of the Republic of China from 1931 to 1943.
Today’s Jinshan Temple
Although Jinshan Temple is small in scale, there are many places of interest in the attraction. Today, the eight ancient famous scenes of Jinshan Temple can still be seen, such as the "Hong Tang Gu Du", "Shi Cang Qiu Yan", "Miao Gao Zhong Sheng", "Ban Zhou Yu Huo", "Yun Cheng Shi Ta", "Ba Shan Feng Fan", "Huan Feng Ye Yue" and "Qi Lu Xie Yang". Seen from afar, Jinshan Temple looks small and elegant while its shadow in the river water is clear and beautiful.
There were two old banyan trees in front of the palace. In 1613, the reign period of Ming Emperor Wanli, Cao Xuequan, a local officer from Sichuan, was falsely accused and sacked. When he returned to his hometown, he built a house between these two banyan trees, looking like an antique nesting house. He named it as the Chan House. But the building was destroyed in the past hundred years, only leaving one ancient banyan tree still alive.