Kushan Temple

I noticed online that an eBay seller, who has some great Amoy postcards, had a postcard of a temple in "Kushan, Amoy."  Unfortunately, Kushan is not near Amoy.  It is a few miles East of Fuzhou (福州formerly Foochow or Fuhchau ).  Kushan is the old spelling of Gushan 鼓山 or "Drum Mountain," and is famous for its large, sprawling temple, which among other things has some Buddhist sutras written in blood (I take it ink was expensive?).  They also have great vegetarian food.

Click the photo below to view a larger version of it (it is the same as Mr. Lim Yap's photo, except it has two monks in it, and was taken by Ms. Jean Nienhuis, a missionary nurse at Hope Hospital and Wilhelmina Hospital on Gulangyu (Kulongsu), in Xiamen (Amoy).

100 years, foreigners escaped the deadly heat of Fujian (with good reason it was called "White Man's Graveyard") by heading to Kushan, which was relatively cool because of its higher altitude.  I have dozens of old photos from the 1920s and 1930s of foreign missionaries enjoying their summers in their Kushan stone cottages, playing tennis, repairing roofs after typhoons--and hunting tigers!  Until the 1950s, all of Fujian province was home to the beautiful but deadly Amoy tiger.  Considered the "father of all tigers," virtually all Amoy tigers were man-eaters because the Chinese had killed almost all of the larger game (with the exception of domesticated animals.

Click Here to read more about Amoy Tigers.  While you're at it, Click Here to read about Amoy Vampires as well! (True story of Chinese vampires--the deadliest creature on the planet!中国吸血鬼).  Of course, even more dangerous are Amoy's Darwinian Drivers!

... Enjoy Amoy!

Bill Brown Xiamen University www.amoymagic.com



Bill Brown Xiamen University www.amoymagic.com