001 Architecture Faxing Temple Formerly known as Cilin Temple and Guangde Temple, Faxing Temple originally stood on Mount Cilin in Changzi County, Shanxi. The Tang Record of Prince Hui of Zheng’s Stone Pagoda, Song and Yuan temple records, and Qing gazetteers preserve its relic pagoda, hall rebuilding and changes of name. Photographs published in 1958 and taken during the 1962 survey show its pagodas, Yuanjue Hall, timber frame and painted sculptures before relocation. Tang dynasty Changzi County, Changzhi, Shanxi, China Tang architecture · Song architecture · Shanxi →
002 Architecture Fengxue Temple Fengxue Temple stands on Mount Fengxue northeast of Ruzhou, formerly Linru County, Henan. Also known as Baiyun and Qianfeng Temple, it was associated with Master Zhen and his pagoda inscription in the Tang Kaiyuan era. Yanzhao revived the abandoned monastery during the Five Dynasties, making it an important Linji Chan center. Surviving buildings include the Tang Seventh Patriarch Pagoda, the Jin Middle Buddha Hall, and the Ming Vairocana Hall. The Bell Pavilion, first built under the Northern Song and repeatedly repaired, houses an iron bell cast in 1125. Fengxue Temple and its pagoda cemetery joined the third national list of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level in 1988. This article brings together original historical passages from Dream Pool Essays, Compendium of the Five Lamps, Outline of the Buddhas and Patriarchs, Records of Central Plains Inscriptions, General Gazetteer of Henan, and Supplementary Gazetteer of Fengxue. Tang dynasty Ruzhou, Henan, China Linji school · Tang brick pagodas · Henan →
003 Architecture Zhaoren Temple Zhaoren Temple stands in Changwu County, Xianyang, Shaanxi, on the former Qianshuiyuan battlefield in what was Yilu County, Binzhou, under the Tang. Li Shimin defeated Xue Rengao here in 618. An imperial order in the twelfth month of Zhenguan 3 called for temples on former battlefields to benefit the dead; this temple was completed in the first month of Zhenguan 4. Zhu Zishe composed the Stele of Zhaoren Temple in Binzhou of the Great Tang. Its unsigned regular-script calligraphy has been attributed to Yu Shinan, Ouyang Tong and Wang Zhijing. In 1988, Zhaoren Temple Main Hall was included in the third group of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level, with its period recorded as Tang. Historical sources reproduced here include the Illustrated Gazetteer of the Prefectures and Counties of the Yuanhe Era, Sea of Jade, Colophons to the Collected Records of Antiquity, Treasured Inscriptions on Metal and Stone, Inscribed Splendors in Stone and Ink, and Collected Inscriptions on Metal and Stone. Images come from The Zhaoren Temple Stele (1927), Panorama of Asia (1932), and Cultural Monuments of China (1940). Tang dynasty Changwu County, Xianyang, Shaanxi Tang architecture · Shaanxi · Changwu →
004 Architecture Zhihua Temple Zhihua Temple, in Lumicang Hutong in Beijing's Dongcheng District, was completed in the ninth year of the Zhengtong reign of the Ming (1444). After his restoration, Emperor Yingzong erected a shrine to Wang Zhen inside the temple; the Qianlong emperor later approved Shen Tingfang's petition to destroy the statue and the stele, after which the temple lost its patronage and gradually declined. By the Republican era, Abbot Puyuan could only keep the monastery going by renting out rooms and felling and selling its ancient cypresses. In 1930 the two caisson ceilings of Zhihua Hall and Wanfo Pavilion were dismantled and sold: the former entered the Philadelphia Museum of Art the same year, while the latter was purchased the following year by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art from a Beijing antiquities dealer. Ming dynasty Dongcheng District, Beijing Zhihua Temple · Zhihua Chan Temple · Ming dynasty architecture →