Qualla: Gufo Temple

Gufo Temple: Introduction

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

"Old Buddha exists before the beginning of the world. Gufo Temple exists before Mount Wutai." No one knows when these words were first spoken, but they capture something essential about the temple that sits on the bank of the Qingshui River at the southern gateway to Mount Wutai. There are records of Gufo Temple's renovations across the centuries, but nothing at all about its founding. It is a temple whose origin has been swallowed by time.

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Gufo Temple: The Talking Buddha

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The legend that gives Gufo Temple its identity is the story of a monk named Puji. By the time he arrived at the remote river bank at Jingangku, the temple had fallen into ruin. Little incense burned there. Only one clay figure of Buddha remained, so eroded by wind, rain, and snow...

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Gufo Temple: Gateway from the South

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Gufo Temple occupies a strategic position in the Mount Wutai sacred landscape. It is the first temple that pilgrims encounter when approaching from the southern route, which follows the Qingshui River through Jingangku into the mountain complex. This placement gave the temple an ...

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Gufo Temple: Unexpected Visitors

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In the early nineteenth century, men from Jiajiang County in Sichuan Province installed a statue of Cai Lun -- the inventor of paper -- inside Gufo Temple. The choice seems odd for a Buddhist temple, but it reflects the fluid boundaries between religious and folk worship in Chine...

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