The roofs of Lingyin appear among trees, with rock and running water close by. Its name is often translated as the Temple of the Soul’s Retreat. The surrounding valley gives those words a place to rest.
The temple traces its beginnings to the fourth century and Huili, a monk from India. In the naming legend, he recognises the hill opposite as a familiar sacred landscape from his distant homeland. A journey into another country becomes, for a moment, a kind of homecoming.
A retreat full of life
Lingyin remains a living Buddhist temple. Monastic life, worship and the movement of visitors share its halls and courtyards. Trees interrupt the rooflines; the spaces between buildings hold changes of light and sound.
Beyond the temple, Feilai Feng continues Huili’s story. Closer at hand, an old stone tower or the shade beneath an eave brings the valley down to the scale of a single detail.