Donglin Temple (East Forest Monastery)

One of the most important Buddhist monasteries in Chinese history, founded in 386 CE at the foot of Mount Lu and considered the birthplace of Pure Land Buddhism in China.

Donglin Temple — East Forest Monastery — sits at the northern foot of Mount Lu (Lushan), approximately 15 km from Jiujiang city on the Yangtze River. Founded in 386 CE by the monk Huiyuan during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Donglin is one of the oldest Buddhist monasteries still functioning in China and carries enormous significance in the history of Chinese Buddhism.

Huiyuan established at Donglin what later became known as Pure Land Buddhism, the devotional practice of reciting Amitabha Buddha's name with focused intention to secure rebirth in the Western Pure Land (sukhavati). This teaching became the most widely practised form of Chinese Buddhism, and the White Lotus Society he founded at Donglin is considered its institutional beginning. Pilgrims from the Pure Land tradition across China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam regard Donglin as a place of particular spiritual potency.

The monastery was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt over sixteen centuries. The main hall's current form dates from Qing Dynasty reconstruction, though the surrounding grove of ancient trees — particularly the fine specimens of nanmu (phoebe nanmu) — is of considerable age. The lotus pond in the monastery's forecourt replicates the symbolic body of water central to Pure Land visualisation practices.

In 2012 the monastery opened a monumental 48 m standing Buddha of Amitabha in white stone on the slopes above the monastery, visible from a considerable distance and now an important pilgrimage destination in its own right.