Linji Temple Hebei

This active monastery is notable for its tall, elegant, carved-brick Chengling Pagoda (澄灵塔, Chénglíng Tǎ; also called the Green Pagoda), topped with an elaborate lotus plinth plus ball and spire. In the Tang dynasty, the temple was home to one of Chan (Zen) Buddhism’s most eccentric and important teachers, Linji Yixuan, who penned the now-famous words, ‘If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him!’