Sun Quan was told by the local people that Hang-up River nearby was built by Lord Chunshen of the Warring States Period (475-221BC) and that its scenery was very charming. So, the pair sailed to Hang-up, finding the area very lovely, just like the locals said. On a clear day, one could see where the river joined the sky, constituting a dazzling image; on rainy days the waves roared and stormed the sky, also presenting a magnificent sight. Sun Quan's mother was so drawn to the place that she decided to stay on. After several months she felt so relaxed and in such good health that she refused to leave. Since his mother was a pious Buddhist, Sun Quan erected a temple in her name to express his thanks to heaven.

By the end of the Tang Dynasty, the temple was destroyed in a war. According to legend, when King Qian Chu of Wu Yue of the Song Dynasty anchored his boat for the night in Huangpu River, he suddenly noticed that the temple was on fire. He immediately ordered his men to save the temple. By 977, the temple was rebuilt, and it now boasts a 1,000-year history. In 1064, during the Song Dynasty, the temple was renamed Kongxiang Temple. The name Longhua was restored during Emperor Wanli's reign (1573-1620) in the Ming Dynasty. In the early years of Emperor Tongzhi's reign in the Qing Dynasty, the temple underwent extensive renovations to take its present shape.

 Inside Longhua Temple

** Maitreya Hall

The first hall at Longhua Temple is Maitreya Hall. Overhead is a horizontal tablet with three Chinese characters, "Long Hua Si " ("Longhua Temple"), which were inscribed by Zhao Puzhu, chairman of the Chinese Buddhists' Association.

Entering the hall we come face to face with the statue of a plump, smiling monk -- Bodhisattva Maitreya. Some say his smile is contagious: "One smiles with Maitreya, forgetting all their worries." The word "Maitreya " in Sanskrit means "the benevolent," and Maitreya is the "Future Buddha" -- a successor to Buddha Sakyamuni. However, the bodhisattva here is a Chinese bodhisattva -- an incarnation of Maitreya. It is said that he was a monk during the Five Dynasties Period (907-960) named Qizhi, who always carried a wooden staff and a cloth sack over his shoulder. Qizhi often went around town and through the busy streets to beg for alms. As a jovial character, who was always laughing and smiling, Qizhi became known as the "cloth sack monk". In 916 he came to Fenghua in Zhejiang Province and sat on a millstone in the east corridor of Yuelin Temple where he passed away, leaving a message that said he was the incarnation of Maitreya. Later, people regarded him as the incarnated Bodhisattva Maitreya and made a sculpture in his honor to be enshrined in the first hall of a Buddhist temple.

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