The
temple was first built
in 515 under the reign
of the Liang dynasty
(502-557). It used to
lie at the northeast
foot of Mount Zhongshan,
i.e. where Ming Xiaoling
Mausoleum now locates,
since Emperor Zhu
Yuanzhang chose the
place to be his
mausoleum and then the
temple was moved to the
present place. The
temple was named by
Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang
himself. It used to be
large and covered an
area of over 30
hectares. Later it was
destroyed in warfare
under the reign of
Emperor Xianfeng and
rebuilt under the reign
of Emperor Tongzhi in
the Qing
Dynasty(1644-1911). In
the temple, except for
Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas, Monk
Xuanzang and his relic
were enshrined and
worshiped.
Wuliang Hall, or
Beamless Hall, was
constructed in 1831, and
is 22-meters-high and
53.8-meter- wide. The
hall enjoys high
reputation for its
special architectural
techniques. It has three
archways on the front
and rear sides
respectively. The
structure was built with
bricks from the bottom
to the top entirely,
without a piece of wood
or a single nail. Thus
it was called Wuliang
Hall, since Wuliang
means beamless. It
happens that the hall
originally enshrined
Amitayus (Buddha of
Infinite Life) whose
Chinese name pronounces
the same with Wuliang.
Later in 1928, the hall
was turned into the
memorial hall of
soldiers sacrificed in
the War of Northern
Expedition(1926-1927).
More than 30,000
soldiers were enshrined.
Linggu Pagoda was built
in 1929 to memorize
those soldiers. The 9
stories pagoda stands
60.5 meters high.
Speeches made by Dr. Sun
Yat-Sen and epigraphs of
Chiang Kai-Shek were
inscribed on the tower.
In the temple, there is
also a Three Superb
Tablet, on which a
painting of Monk Baozhi,
painted by Wu Daozi, a
famous painter, a
memorial poem written by
Libai, the most
outstanding poet, and
calligraphy written by
Yan Zhenqing, a
well-known calligrapher
in the Tang
dynasty(618-907) were
inscribed. Since the
three were all superb
masters in their own
field in the Tang
dynasty, the tablet was
considered Three Superb
Tablet. Unfortunately,
the original tablet was
broken in warfare, the
present one is a
duplicate under the
reign of Emperor
Qianlong in the Qing
dynasty. |