Shanghai & Jiangnan Tour - Hansan Monastery, Suzhou 蘇州 . 寒山寺

Suzhou is one of the old cities of China. The first known kingdom of Wu [吴国] was established here in 514BC. Suzhou is famous for a number of things. Among them are over 200 private gardens with mansions, built during a few dynasties. Each of these gardens exhibits styles reminiscent of the periods they were built. About a dozen of these gardens have been restored and now become tourist attractions and destinations. We visited one of these magnificent gardens. I shall bring you pictures of the place.

One of Suzhou's most famous attractions is the 1,400 year old Hansan Monastery, made so by a poem by 張繼 of Tang Dynasty. It seems schools in China and Japan make it mandatory to learn this poem. This is probably the reason as many as 3,000 Japanese devotees congregate at the Monastery on eve of every new year, to hear the sound of the bell reverberating through the night.

The monastery adopted its present name when a monk named Hansan became its abbot during the Tang period. Our local tour leader David gave each member of the tour group a set of 10 postcards of this monastery. I shall post them here later, if they are not copy righted. .


Layout Plan of the Monastery

Main entrance


楓橋夜泊 - 唐 . 張繼

月落烏啼霜滿天，江楓漁火對愁眠。

姑蘇城外寒山寺，夜半鐘聲到客船。

I am particularly fond of this poem. One can really feel and hear the goings on when reciting the poem, especially the sound of the big bell. The poem is inscribed on a stone plaque and displayed at the monastery. David, our local tour leader recited it in his Suzhou slang. I could not make anything out of it. There is really quite a difference in local spoken Mandarin from north to south of China.

Bell tower

Bell tower 钟楼

Canal separates sections of the monastery

大雄宝殿 The maple bridge is hidden on the left