Canton - Temple of Light and Children's Love Guangxiao Si

The Temple of Light and Children's Love, one of the oldest buildings in the city, is only a short distance from the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees. In the 1st C BC Zhao Jiande, the king of the state of Nanyue, lived here. Under the Western Jin dynasty (265-316) the royal residence was turned into a temple. After that the building was chiefly inhabited by Indian monks who came to China in order to disseminate Buddhism.

It was here, too, that Huinen, the 6th patriarch of Zen Buddhism, took his vows. In 1151 the building received its present name. Of the original 30 temples and palaces only about ten have survived.

The two iron pagodas on either side of the main temple are worth inspecting closely, as they are thought to be the oldest of their kind in China.

The Eastern Iron Pagoda (Dongtie Ta) dates from 967 and is decorated with over 900 niches with statuettes of Buddha.

The Western Iron Pagoda (Xitie Ta), dating from 963, only retains three ''stories''.