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The Temple of Bright Filial Piety is the oldest temple of Guangzhou city. The site of the temple was originally the residence of Zhao Jiande, the third generation descendant of Zhao Tuo, who was king of the Southern Yue Kingdom in the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-8AD). During the period of the Three Kingdoms (220-280), an official named Yu Fanbei from the Wu Kingdom came to Guangzhou city. He lectured here and cultivated a garden and grew many Pingpokezi (a kind of plant) in it. People at that time called the garden Yuyuan or Kelin. Later, the Yu family gave in charity a land to the temple and named it the Zhizhi Temple. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), an Indian monk known went to Guangzhou city to expound Buddhism. He built five new halls there. In the first year (676) of the Yifeng reign of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), a dignitary monk name Huineng was initiated into monkhood under the bodhi tree in front of the temple altar. He set up the Zen Buddhist and was accordingly called the sixth master of the Zen sect. The name of the temple experienced several changes and in the 21^st year (1151) of the Shaoxing reign it was finally settled as the Temple of Bright Filial Piety by an emperor of the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

The Temple of Bright Filial Piety was one of the four biggest jungle areas in Guangzhou City, and it takes up an area of 30,000 square meters. Towering old trees shelter the temple, and nearly 20 halls and other buildings built in the past years stand side by side in a certain order. The main buildings include the Great Hall, the Sixth Ancestor Hall, the Sakyamuni Hall, the Samgharama Hall, the King of Heaven Hall, the Jiafa Tower and two iron towers, etc.

The construction of the Great Hall was started in the first year and completed in the 5^th year  (397-401) of the Long’an reign of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Later it was rebuilt several times. The extant one was constructed in the 11^th year (1654) of the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The main hall is 35.36 meters wide and 24.8 meters long with double-eaved gable and hip roof, bearing the architectural features of the Tang and Song dynasties. On the stone base in front of the hall there are two 4.95-meter-high stone structures with simple style. They are octagonal and have seven storeys with niches carved in each storey. Southeast to the hall there is another structure called Dabeizhuang. It was built in the second year (826) of the Baoli reign under Emperor Jingzong of the Tang Dynasty. It is 2.19 meters high. On its eight sides of the structure is carved the Dabei Incantation in regular script. This stone monument was the oldest among all the extant monuments in the Temple of Bright Filial Piety, and its specific age can be traced via such word information like the incantation. The plane of the monument assumes an octagon. Under the monument there is a base carved with images of warriors on each side. On the head of the monument is a cover, beneath which an arch supports the cover.

(Source: chinaculture.org)