1882

On the way to India to worship Buddha, Master Hui Gen from Putuo Mountain obtained five jade Buddha statues in Burma. When he passed Shanghai, he left two statues for Buddhists here to worship and had a thatched shed built at Yizhoutang in Zhanghuabang to enshrine the Buddhas.

1900

With donations collected, Master Hui Gen had a temple built near the Jiangwan Station in Shanghai, which was named Jade Buddha Temple,and Master Hui Gen became the first abbot.In the same year, Master Hui Gen passed away, and Master Ben Zhao succeeded him as abbot. Master Ben Zhao once went to Beijing and brought back a set of Dragon Sutras, which is still kept in the monastery. With this set of sutras, the Jade Buddha Temple is complete with all the three treasures of Buddha, Buddhist Sutras and Monks, which are the basic conditions for a Buddhist monastery.

1911

The temple was occupied. The two jade Buddha statues were moved to a nearby park. Shortly after that, Master Ben Zhao passed away, and Master Hong Fa succeeded him. The jade Buddha statues were moved to a rented room on the Maigen Road (now Huaian Road) to be enshrined.

1917

Master Hong Fa passed away and Master Ke Cheng succeeded him as abbot. He collected a land donation of 11.6 mu (a little less than a hectare) on the Binglang Road (now the Anyuan Road) to build a new temple. The construction started in 1918 and completed in 6 years. Being the 46th generation of Linji School of Chan Sect, Master Ke Cheng changed the name of the monastery to the Jade Buddha Chan Monastery.