New Year’s Day 2020 at Jingshan Temple
For three straight years—2018, 2019, and 2020—I’ve gone to Jingshan Temple on New Year’s Day. No incense, no bowing, just a ritual habit.
More and more people come each year. Last year you could still drive to the parking lot at the top; this year traffic police stopped cars at the Tea First Village and we switched to the scenic bus. The mountain driver was fearless—20 minutes of winding roads made two passengers carsick.
The temple’s front boardwalk, under construction for three years, finally opened. It leads straight from the parking lot to Emperor Xiaozong’s stele inscribed “Jingshan Xing Sheng Wan Shou Chan Temple.” Almost no visitors stop—everyone rushes inside. If not for abbot Zonggao defying Qin Hui, supporting Yue Fei and Han Shizhong, and being summoned by Emperor Xiaozong—who left the eight characters “径山兴圣万寿禅寺”—how would the temple enjoy today’s incense prosperity? Of course, the Beijing leaders’ connection to Jingshan Temple is another story.
Since 2009 the temple has been continually renovated and expanded. On New Year’s Day 2020 more construction sites appeared. The once spacious compound now feels crowded; donated ancient trees and precious stone have dressed a once austere Tang-style Zen temple in gaudy finery. It seems the operators aim to revive the glory of “3,000 disciples, the top Zen temple in Southeast China.” But the developers’ aesthetics—and their grasp of Zen—are lacking. The ancestors left a place with imperial ties, Zen stature, and serene surroundings; it’s being squandered. The relics of generations of masters can barely hold it down.
Pilgrims come to burn incense and pray for wealth and fortune; the developers are raking it in. A place for quiet cultivation is wasted. Crowds stream through, yet how many actually study Zen practice, Jingshan’s place in the Linji lineage, or the thought of masters like Faqin, Jian Zong, Zonggao, Yuan Cong, and Wuzhun Shifan? According to Linji, “Prajna at the core; emptiness containing form; form and emptiness interwoven.” Practice means not seeking Buddha or patriarchs outside yourself—everyday life is the path.
Published at: Jan 3, 2020 · Modified at: Dec 4, 2025
