Built in the penultimate year of the Southern Chen dynasty (588 CE), it is one of the most influential Chinese Buddhism temples in China[1] as well as one of the most scenic visitor attractions in Fujian Province.

The temple stands about 500 metres (1,600 ft) from the entrance to the Longmen Stone Cave (龙门石洞)[2] and is spread over an area of more than 32,000 m (105,000 ft),[3] Constructed in 558 CE, the second year of Emperor Wu of Chen's Yongding (永定) era, the temple was originally called the Jinxian Monastery (金仙庵), after its first abbot, Master Jinxian.

[4] In 589 CE, founding Sui dynasty Emperor Wen, a Buddhist adherent, extended the building and renamed it the "Guanghua Temple".

During Emperor Xuanzong of Tang's reign (685–762 CE), Indian monks came to discuss and lecture on Buddhism at the temple.

[7][note 1] At the foundation of the People's Republic of China in 1949 the temple had a resident population of 60 monks, a figure which by 1965 had declined to 57.

The same year, Venerable Master Yuanzhou funded the establishment of the new Fujian Buddhism Academy (福建佛学院) on the site.