Nanhua monastery, (near) Maba, Guangdong, CN

Raw data

"Nanhua Temple (南华寺) is a Buddhist monastery of the Chan School - one of Five Great Schools of Buddhism, where the 6th Patriarch of the Chan School of Buddhism - the Great Master Hui Neng [= Huineng, tmc] - once dwelled and spoke the Dharma. It is located 25 km southeast of Shaoguan, China in the town of Caoxi (漕溪) [near the town of Maba - tmciolek], within Qujiang District. The location is in the northern part of Guangdong Province, within a few kilometers from Bei River, formerly an important trade route from Central China to Guangzhou.
The temple was founded during the time of the North-South Dynasties in 502 AD by an Indian monk named Zhiyao Sanzang (智樂三藏) who originally named the site Baolin Temple (寶林寺). It received its present name in 968 during the reign of the Song Dynasty Emperor Taizong. The site was later renovated in 1934 under the leadership of Hsu Yun."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanhua_Temple

Input by: tmciolek, Mar 17, 2010

"Nanhua Buddhist Temple lies on the side of Caoxi, six kilometers away from Maba Town, Qujiang County. The temple was first built in A.D.502, more than 1,500 years ago. Huineng(A.D.638-713), the sixth ancestor of Buddhist gave speeches here for 37 years and brought out The Sixth Ancestor Giving Speech, the only classics of China’s Buddhism. The temple with a construction area of 12,000 square meters was repaired throughout the years. There are many valuable cultural relics here, including the real body of Huineng and more than 300 national first class historical relics such as gold-silked cassock with one thousand Buddha and decree by Wu Zetian, wood-carved arhat in Beisong Dynasty,[…]"
http://www.shaoguan.gov.cn/website/portal/english/nanhua.html
Input by: tmciolek, Jul 23, 2013

Final data (and their sources)

Last updated: 27 Jan 2014

Lat/Long coordinates' accuracy:
The monastery in question is assumed to be situated actually no farther than 200 m from the point defined by the coordinates below.

Location of Nanhua monastery, CN.

General location of the Nanhua monastery, CN.
Lat 24.6491 Long 113.6313
Mapping & images: Falling Rain Genomics (http://www.fallingrain.com), 2009.


Google Map link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=24.6491+113.6313+(Approx.%20loc.%20of%20the%20Nanhua%20monastery,%20CN)&ll=24.6841,113.5984&spn=05.0,05.0&t=k&hl=en


Final data - explanatory notes

1. Monastery's name

  • Nanhua monastery

2. Monastery's modern country & province

  • China:Guangdong Sheng

3. Monastery's alternative/historical names


4. Monastery's lat/long coordinates

  • Approx., Lat 24.6491 Long 113.6313 - visual identification of the monastery in satellite photographs, maps.google.com - tmciolek, 17 Mar 2010.

5. Other known nearby Buddhist monasteries

  • [missing data]

6. Modern name of the known nearest city, town, or village


7. The settlement's alternative/historical names


8. The settlement's coordinates


9. Monastery's major Buddhist tradition

  • Mahayana

10. Monastery's Buddhist sub-tradition


11. Date-early

MBM chrono-tag 0500-32c - tmciolek 27 Jan 2014
0500-32c 0533-66c 0567-99c 0600-32c 0633-66c 0667-99c 0700-32c 0733-66c 0767-99c 0800-32c 0833-66c 0867-99c 0900-32c 0933-66c 0967-99c 1000-32c 1033-66c 1067-99c 1100-32c 1133-66c 1167-99c 1200=> dated-el


12. Date-intermediate


13. Date-late

MBM chrono-tag 1200=> - tmciolek 27 Jan 2014


14. Details of contacts with other monasteries

  • [missing data]

15. Type of evidence regarding the monastery

  • architectural, scriptural

16. Additional notes

  • [missing data] (incl. details of the size of the monastic population)

17. Corrections & addenda to this page were kindly provided by

  • [missing data]

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