The Jiming Temple () is a renowned Buddhist temple in

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

, China. One of the oldest temples in Nanjing, it is located in the Xuanwu District near Xuanwu Lake.Lonely Planet.
Lonely Planet Jiangsu: Chapter from China Travel Guide
'. Lonely Planet; 1 June 2012. . PT14.

History

The temple, which literally means "rooster crowing" was first constructed in 527 during the

Liang dynasty The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () or Xiao Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was pre ...

and has been destroyed and reconstructed many times. The existing temple was initially constructed during the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

Chung Wah Chow; David Eimer; Carolyn B. Heller.
China
'. Lonely Planet; 2009. . p. 283. during the reign of the

Hongwu Emperor The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328– 24 June 1398), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Ming, personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, courtesy name Guorui, was the List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, founding emperor of the Ming dyna ...

in 1387.Nanjing Scenic Spots
Meet China. It was destroyed during the

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a civil war in China between the Qing dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The conflict lasted 14 years, from its outbreak in 1850 until the fall of ...

but was rebuilt later. By 1931 most temple buildings had been appropriated as barracks by police and army of the

Nationalist government The Nationalist government, officially the National Government of the Republic of China, refers to the government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China from 1 July 1925 to 20 May 1948, led by the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT ...

of Republican China. The main hall had been emptied completely apart from the large Buddha statue. Only one hall, near the city wall was still being used for worship. The temple remained popular primarily because of its tea house which was also situated in that hall.Krug, Hans Joachim (*1893); ''Wanderungen und Wandlungen in China;'' Berlin 1941 (Scherl), p. 42-3 (based on a visit in spring 1931)

Description

Within the temple are Guanyin Hall (), Huomeng Building (), and the Medicine Buddha Pagoda (). The Rouge Well (), got its name from a legend that the emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty and his concubine hid themselves in the well to escape enemy pursuit. The stains of rouge were left on the well: hence the name of Rouge Well. The seven-story pagoda overlooks Xuanwu Lake. There is an entrance to the Nanjing City Wall from the rear of the temple. Behind the temple there remains a section of palace wall called Taicheng. It is the busiest temple in Nanjing, particularly during the

Lunar New Year Lunar New Year is the beginning of a new year based on lunar calendars or, informally, lunisolar calendars. Lunar calendar years begin with a new moon and have a fixed number of lunar months, usually twelve, in contrast to lunisolar calendar ye ...

. The newly opened Line 3 metro line has a stop for the temple called Jimingsi File:Jiming Temple door Nanjing.jpg, Jiming Temple entrance File:Jimingsu.JPG, Jiming Temple entrance File:Jiming Temple, Nanjing 20101125.jpg, Jiming Temple File:Jimingsu-Pagoda.JPG, Pagoda File:Jiming Temple Cherry Blossoms.jpg, The area around Jiming Temple blooms with cherry blossoms in late February File:Jiming Temple Nanjing, 2019.jpg, Jiming Temple, seen from the ancient city wall

References

External links

寺院介绍 (Jiming Temple)
(Chinese and English) * {{Jiangsu topics Buddhist temples in Nanjing