Baoqing Temple is located on the north bank of Qinglin Ferry by the Yaojiang River in Zhuangqiao, Ningbo City. According to local chronicles, Baoqing Temple was first built in the second year of Duangong in the Northern Song Dynasty (989) by Zen Master Zongben. It was initially named ‘Xizi Nunnery’. During the Kaixi period of the Southern Song Dynasty (1205 – 1207), the monk Guangqing carried out a large-scale expansion and petitioned the court. In the 15th year of Jiading (1222), Emperor Ningzong of the Song Dynasty bestowed the name ‘Baoqing Lecture Temple’ and invited Wang Yinglin, a veteran of three dynasties, a great Confucian scholar and minister of the Ministry of Rites, to write ‘Records of Baoqing Lecture Temple’. When the newly-built Guanyin Hall was completed, another great Confucian scholar, Huang Zhen, was invited to write ‘Records of Guanyin Hall of Baoqing Lecture Temple’. Both steles were erected in the temple. The reconstructed Mahavira Hall has a double-eaved gable and hip roof, majestic and solemn. In the hall, there is a caisson with a ‘sounding cage top’, which is rare in Buddhist temples in eastern Zhejiang. There is a jade Buddha with a net height of 3.8 meters in the hall. The newly-built Jade Buddha Hall, Patriarch Hall, Sangharama Hall, relocated Earth Store Hall, newly-built mountain gate, bell and drum towers, release pond and four antique side halls make the Buddhist temple more magnificent and become a grand sight of the jungle. The specific business hours and opening status are subject to the opening situation on that day.
