The First Buddhist Temple in China
The Baima Temple in Luoyang, Henan Province, was the first Buddhist Temple in China. Before your Luoyang tour, such info can help you get a better view.
It is said that one night in the year A. D. 64, Emperor Mingdi of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) dreamed of a golden man 12 feet high, and the light from the man's head illuminated the hall where he stood.
In the morning, the emperor told his officials what he had seen, and one of them, named Fu Yi, said the emperor had dreamed of the Buddha, a god of the West. Then the emperor sent Cai Yin, Qin Jing, and others to Tianzhu (now India) for Buddhist scriptures.
A jade statue of Sakyamuni, the Buddha, in the Hall of the Jade Buddha. The Buddha stands five meters high and weighs eight tons. When Cai, Qin, and their group arrived in what is now Afghanistan, they met Kasyapamatanga and Dharmaranya, two eminent Indian monks, who were preaching Buddhism there. Luoyang tours will impress you for its own style.
In A. D. 67, they loaded Buddhist scriptures written in Sanskrit and a portrait on white felt of Sakyamuni, the Buddha, onto a white horse and returned to Luoyang with the two Indian monks. The emperor lodged the monks at the Honglu Temple, which had a guesthouse for foreign emissaries.
When living quarters for the monks were built in the temple the following year, the temple was renamed Baima (White Horse) Temple so people could remember the white horse that carried back the Buddhist scriptures and the portrait of Sakyamuni.
The Baima Temple has been through many changes. What we see today is a rectangular courtyard complex facing south, reconstructed during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), with an area of 40,000 square meters and a roofed entrance arch with three doorways. The entrance is built of blue stones, including several pieces from the Eastern Han Dynasty. Luoyang of China tour needs you to join in.
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