Dabaoen Temple

Dabaoen temple is located in changganli, east of Yuhua Road, zhonghuamenwai, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. According to the legend of Emperor Yongle (Zhu Di) of the Ming Dynasty, it is a group of large-scale buildings built between 1412 and 1431 in memory of his tragic death of his biological mother, concubine Yu (Korean, specific reason is unknown). The construction of Dabaoen temple is extremely exquisite, and it is built completely according to the standard of the imperial palace. The foundation is first nailed with thick wooden piles, and then burned to make it into charcoal, which is rolled and tamped with iron wheel rolling stones. A layer of cinnabar is laid on the charcoal to prevent moisture and kill insects. There are more than 20 pavilions, 118 galleries and 38 Scripture rooms in the temple. It took 19 years, consuming 2.5 million taels of silver and recruiting more than 100000 workers. Located behind the main hall, the glazed pagoda of Dabaoen temple was built in the 10th year of Yongle and completed in the 3rd year of Xuande. It has nine floors and eight sides and is 78.2 meters high. It can be seen even on the Yangtze River tens of miles away. The body of the tower is covered with white porcelain and the arch is glazed. The door frame is decorated with five color glazed bricks with Buddhist themes such as lion, white elephant and flying sheep. The top of the brake is inlaid with gold and silver jewelry. There are 152 wind chimes hanging under the corner beam. They ring day and night and sound for miles. Since its completion, 140 lamps have been lit in Changming tower, which consumes 64 Jin of oil every day. It is resplendent and bright day and night. The walls of the tower are covered with niches. The tower is one of the 48 scenic spots in Jinling. It was also called one of the seven wonders of the medieval world by Western missionaries who entered China in the 17th century. It is also a symbol of Nanjing.

Dabaoen Temple

Dabaoen temple is located outside Zhonghua Gate, Qinhuai District, Nanjing city. It is the oldest Buddhist temple in Chinese history. Its predecessor was Jianchu temple and ayuwang pagoda built in the reign of chiwu (238-250). It is the second temple in China after Baima temple in Luoyang. It is also the first Buddhist temple in Southern China. It is the Buddhist Center of China. It is also known as Jinling three temples together with Linggu Temple and Tianjie temple The grand temple governs hundreds of temples.

Dabaoen temple was built by Zhu Di of Ming Dynasty to commemorate Zhu Yuanzhang and empress Ma of Ming Dynasty. It was rebuilt at the beginning of the tenth year of Yongle of Ming Dynasty (1412). It lasted for 19 years and cost 2.485 million taels of silver, 100000 soldiers and civilians. The construction of Dabaoen temple is extremely exquisite. It is built completely according to the standard of the imperial palace. It is resplendent and bright day and night. The whole temple is extremely large in scale, with more than 30 pavilions, 148 monasteries, 118 porches and 38 Scripture rooms. It is the largest and the highest standard temple in Chinese history, and is the first of 100 temples.

The glazed pagoda of Dabaoen temple is 78.2 meters high. It is made of glazed materials. There are 146 long-standing lights inside and outside the pagoda. From its completion to its decay, it has been the highest building in China and a miracle in the world architectural history. It ranks among the seven wonders of the world in the middle ages. At that time, it was regarded as a landmark building of China by Westerners. It is known as "the great antique of China and the great kiln of Yongle" It is "the first tower in the world".

Dabaoen Temple site is the highest specification, largest scale and best preserved Temple site in China

. In 2008, a large number of world-class cultural relics and sacred objects were unearthed from the underground palace of Changgan temple, the predecessor of Dabaoen temple, which shocked the world and the Buddhist world, including the world's only "true bone of Buddha", "sensing relic", "sacred relic" and "Qibao Ayu tower"

. In 2011, it was rated as "the top ten new archaeological discoveries in China in 2010"

. In 2013, it was approved and announced as a national key cultural relics protection unit by the State Council

. At the end of 2015, Dabaoen Temple Heritage Park was officially opened.

Historical evolution

Dabaoen temple is the oldest Buddhist temple in Nanjing. It has been abandoned and built for more than a thousand years, and its name has been changed. Dabaoen temple tower is located in the birthplace of temples in the Southern Dynasties and the Buddhist Center in the south of the Yangtze River.

There are 480 temples in the Southern Dynasties. In Du Mu's poem, 480 temples originated from Dabaoen temple. The history of Dabaoen Temple started from Sun Wu and went through various dynasties. It has the names of Changgan temple and Tianxi temple. The predecessor of Dabaoen temple tower is Ashoka tower.

In the reign of chiwu (238-250) of the eastern Wu Dynasty, Sun Quan built Chusi and ayuwang pagoda, which is the beginning of Jiangnan pagoda temple. It is known as "the first temple in Jiangnan". It is the second temple in China after Baima temple in Luoyang and the first temple in southern China. After textual research, the Ashoka pagoda was built in the Xingping period of Emperor Xian of the Eastern Han Dynasty (194-195). It is the oldest Pagoda in Nanjing and one of the earliest pagodas in China. It is very likely that Fulong, a moling man, built the pagoda. He was a water transport official in Guangling, xiapi and Pengcheng counties under the command of Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou, and built the temple and pagoda with the funds from water transport. Fu Rong was the first founder of Chinese loft style Pagoda in official history. He retreated to moling, his hometown, and was defeated by sun CE.

In 247, Sun Quan, the great emperor of the eastern Wu Dynasty, built Jianchu temple and ayuwang Pagoda in changganli, which became the beginning of Jiangnan pagoda temple.

During the Taikang period of Jin Dynasty (280-289), it was rebuilt and named Changgan temple; in the Southern Dynasty, it was called Baoen temple in Chen Dynasty, Tianxi temple in Song Dynasty and Shenggan tower in Song Dynasty; in the Yuan Dynasty, it was changed into cienjing Zhongjiao temple.

In the sixth year of Jiande (577) of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Buddhism in Qi was robbed. He led more than 40 monks to Jiankang by sea. In case of storm, the boat broke and sank. Suddenly, the giant turtle came out of the water, and the monks came to Jiankang in an instant. It is said that there is no Amitabha Buddha in the south. The tortoise said to him: Master, have you ever remembered that I am the old tortoise of Haiqu free pond. When I heard it, I suddenly realized. The emperor Xuandi and the emperor Dayue built Baoen temple and worshiped it with incense.

In the Tang Dynasty, the people of Bohai Sea in Qi Dynasty were the people who heard the news. When he was young, he went to the temple at 12 and received precepts at 16. He made painstaking efforts to cultivate the theory of great wisdom and the theory of middle wisdom, and set up "one heart, Three Outlooks" to enlighten the source of Tiantai. The way you enter is unknown to the world. Scholars believe that if you walk on the ground and wear the sky, you don't know how high you are. He also used the alms obtained from min temple to buy the stone beams of Haiqu stream as the release pool, and the Buddhist dharma was broadcast in Jiangbei. "

In the first year of Duangong (988) of the Northern Song Dynasty, Seng Kezheng obtained the parietal bone relic of master Xuanzang of Sanzang in Tang Dynasty, and built a pagoda in Changgan temple to bury Tibet. In the first year of Tianxi (1017) of the Song Dynasty, the rebuilt Changgan temple was renamed Tianxi Temple, and the pagoda was renamed "Shenggan". In the 25th year of the Yuan Dynasty (1288), the pagoda was renamed "Cien pagoda".

In 1408, the Ming Dynasty was destroyed by fire. In 1412, Zhu Dichi, Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, rebuilt the work department at the original site. In the name of commemorating emperor Taizu and empress Ma, Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty ordered the work department to rebuild the Dabaoen temple and the nine storey glazed pagoda. According to the regulations of the palace, more than 100000 craftsmen were recruited from all over the world. The cost was 2.5 million liang of grain and silver and 1 million yuan of money. It took 19 years to be finished. "According to Da Nei Tu Wu, build a nine level five color glazed pagoda, which is called the first pagoda, and the temple is called Da Bao en temple.".

The construction of Dabaoen temple was supervised by Zheng He and others. The Dabaoen temple was built in Yongle and Xuande years, when Zheng He led the fleet to go to the Western Ocean for many times. Therefore, zheng he could not fully take care of the project, and the project was slow and the disadvantages showed. Therefore, in 1428 (the third year of Xuande), Zhu Zhanji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, issued an imperial edict to Zheng He, who had already returned from abroad to serve as the garrison of Nanjing at this time, to finish the work within a time limit. After the completion of the temple, Zheng He also brought back some exotic plants, such as "five grain tree" and "Borneo tree", which were planted in the temple.

From the early Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, the glazed pagoda of Dabaoen temple, as the most distinctive landmark building in China, was known as "the first Pagoda in the world". It was also known as "China's great antique and Yongle's kiln ware". It was a must for Chinese and foreign people to visit Jinling at that time.

In 1566, the Ming Dynasty was attacked by thunder and fire, and more than 140 rooms of Tianwang hall, main hall, Guanyin hall, and huakuo were burned to ashes. In 1600, the wood in the heart of the tower was decayed, and the top of the tower was tilted. Monk Hong En raised thousands of liang of silver to rebuild it.

After the 18th year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty, the government and the local governments have recorded the funds for repair. The last time was in 1802 (the seventh year of Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty), when the restoration was completed, the pagoda map was drawn and attached with annals.

In 1854, the pagoda of Dabaoen temple was destroyed. There are two reasons for the destruction. It is said that after the Qing army conquered Yuhuatai, in order to prevent the Qing army from occupying Dabaoen temple and causing threat to the city, the Taiping Army started first, and then "used gunpowder to bombard it, dug out the base under the tower, collapsed the tower for several days, and burned the temple.". On the other hand, in 1856, during the Tianjing change, Wei Changhui, the northern king, worried that Yiwang shidakai would occupy the Liuli tower outside the city, set up guns to attack the city. He sent soldiers to dig a tunnel under the tower to detonate explosives and bombard the tower with guns directly. Finally, the Liuli tower turned into a pile of rubble, and other buildings of Dabaoen temple were also burned by the fire. Others believe that Zeng Guofan ordered the bombing.

In 1865, Jinling machinery manufacturing bureau built 12 houses, more than 80 working rooms and more than 50 corridors on the vegetable fields on the slope of Dabaoen Temple site. The temple site was gradually eroded and carved up.

In 1958, a large number of glazed components unearthed in Yanxiang temple, Furong mountain and Yaogang village were mostly marked with ink calligraphy. The components are now collected in the National Museum of China, Nanjing Museum and Nanjing Museum.

On August 7, 2008, a series of world-class cultural relics and sacred objects, such as the Qibao Ayu tower, were found in the iron letter unearthed from the Dabaoen Temple site in Nanjing

Chinese PinYin : Da Bao En Si