Puzhao Temple is located in Liuxian Lake Park, Zichuan District, Zibo City, Shandong Province. The temple was built around the first year of Guangda (567) of Emperor Chen Fei of the Southern Dynasty, or collectively known as the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577). It has been more than 1,400 years ago. In the Tang Dynasty, it was built in the first year of Guangda (567) of Emperor Chen Fei of the Southern Dynasty. At that time, there was a stone Buddha pedestal in the temple with the image of Feitian carved on it; there was also a sutra pillar written by Li Yong called "Zunsheng Dharani Sutra", and there was an octagonal thirteen-story stone pagoda, which no longer exists today.
In the Tang Dynasty, it was the place where Master Huizhao, the third ancestor of the Faxiang Sect, spread the Dharma. The master was from Zichuan, Shandong, and was a disciple of Xuanzang and Kuiji. He was proficient in the knowledge-only Dharma and Physiology. He was called the "Three Consciousness-only Patriarchs" or the "Zizhou Master" at that time, and was known as the "Shandong Yiyi Zhao". He is the author of "The Treatise on the Sun that Can Manifest the Wisdom of the Middle Side" and "The Seal Script Essentials of Understanding the Right Theory", and he also studied the "Dabao Ji Sutra" and made outstanding contributions to the promotion of the Dharma-Appearance Consciousness-only Religion. According to historical research, the spread of the Dharma-Xiang-Wei Sect in Japan originated from Puzhao Temple, the place where Master Numa preached Dharma in Zizhou, Tang Dynasty. At that time, there was a stone Buddha pedestal in the temple with an image of the Flying Apsara engraved on it; there was also a sutra pillar called "Zun Sheng Dharani Sutra" written by Li Yong, a famous calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty; According to "Zibo City Chronicles", Buddhism in Zibo began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the trend of building temples and statues became more and more popular. During the Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, Buddhist temples flourished and Taoism flourished.
Seventeen years after 1949, Puzhao Temple still preserved a large number of precious cultural relics such as the complete main hall of the mountain gate, the giant stone Buddha, and the ink-printed scripture building. However, after ten years of catastrophe, no trace of the thousand-year-old temple remained.
After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee re-implemented religious policies, in the early 1990s, under the initiative of Zicheng Gao Mingsheng, preparations for reconstruction were officially launched. After half a year of searching, we first obtained two remnant steles. In the 7th year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty, "Praise for the Reconstruction of the Large Stone Buddha Stele with Gold Decoration in the Main Hall of the Ancient Zizhou Puzhao Temple" contains: "In the city of Zizhou, close to the ancient temple of the county, there is a natural stone Buddha body. It is unparalleled. Looking at the origins, it is incredible that the human power is exhausted and the work of heaven is revealed. It is also a grand view of the world. "The "Preface to the Reconstruction of Puzhao Temple" in the second year of Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty records: "To the east of Ziyi Zhi, there used to be Puzhao Temple. . Scholars also called it a Buddhist temple. The stone Buddhas are natural and perfect. During the festival, tourists are like ants, making Zibo a beautiful place." In order to rebuild the ancient temple, the great virtue Gao Mingsheng visited the villages of Zibo and finally found it in "Zibo". Daily reporter Mr. Chen Wenxiang found a photo of the Stone Buddha taken in 1964, which provided precious first-hand information for restoring the original appearance of the Stone Buddha.