Baishui Temple

Baishui Temple is located on the Lion Mountain, 20 kilometers south of Zaoyang City. Baizhu Village at the foot of the mountain is the hometown of Liu Xiu, the Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Baishui Temple was formerly known as Shanlin Temple and has a history of more than 2,000 years. After Liu Xiu became emperor, he built the "Four Relatives Temple" here and returned to his hometown five times to worship his ancestors.

Baishui Temple stands majestically on the top of the mountain, solemn and simple. Outside the temple, there are picturesque pines and cypresses on both sides of the road. Below the mountain, there is a white water like a belt, with bright waves reflecting the sky. The temple originally enshrined a statue of Liu Xiu, so it is also called Liu Xiu Temple. During the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty, the abbot Zhenlong converted the main hall into a place for worshipping Buddha, and used the west side hall to worship Emperor Guangwu, forming a unique layout of sharing the same worship between people and Buddha, which has continued to this day.

The temple now has the Main Hall, the Goddess Hall, the Weapon Hall, the Liu Xiu Hall, the Millennium Qinglong Well, the Qinglong Pavilion, the Millennium Coptis Tree and other landscapes. There are two couplets on the pillars in front of the hall. There are also stone carvings of "Baishui Chongguang" and dozens of paintings and calligraphy by modern people in the temple. It has been praised by ancient and modern literati as "the remains of Baishui Longfei, and Zihui Mountain protects the real wall."