Finally found this treasure trove. 🪙

White Horse Temple is located in Luoyang, Henan Province. It is the first ancient temple in China and the first official temple built after the introduction of Buddhism into China. It was built in the 11th year of Yongping in the Eastern Han Dynasty (68 AD) and has a history of more than 1,900 years. White Horse Temple is not only the "ancestral home" of Chinese Buddhism, but also an important place for promoting cultural exchanges between Chinese and foreign Buddhism. It has a profound impact on the spread of Buddhism in Asia and the world. The establishment of the White Horse Temple is related to a dream of Emperor Ming of Han Liu Zhuang. It is said that Emperor Ming of Han dreamed of a golden man, and later learned that this was a Buddha, so he sent envoys Cai Yin, Qin Jing and others to the Western Regions to seek the Dharma. They invited the Indian monks She Moteng and Zhu Falan to China, and used a white horse to carry the Buddhist scriptures and Buddha statues back to Luoyang. In order to commemorate the merits of the white horse carrying the scriptures, Emperor Ming of Han ordered the construction of the White Horse Temple. The architectural complex of the White Horse Temple is distributed along the central axis, including the mountain gate, the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Great Buddha Hall, the Great Hall, the Reception Hall, and the Pilu Pavilion. The temple has preserved a large number of Yuan Dynasty clay lacquer statues, such as the Three Buddhas, the Two Heavenly Kings, and the Eighteen Arhats. These statues are extremely precious. In addition, there are also "two monks' tombs" in the temple, namely the tombs of She Moteng and Zhu Falan, as well as important buildings such as the Qingliangtai and Pilu Pavilion. The White Horse Temple is not only the center of the spread of Buddhist culture, but also an important place for cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. Since the end of the 19th century, the governments of Japan, Thailand, India, Myanmar and other countries have successively funded the construction of Buddhist temples in the White Horse Temple, making it an international temple with Chinese, Indian, Burmese, and Thai-style Buddhist temples. The historical and cultural value of the White Horse Temple has been recognized by the state. It was designated as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units in 1961, and was designated as a national key temple of Chinese Buddhism in 1983. It was named the first batch of AAAA-level scenic spots in 2001. Today, the White Horse Temple is not only a pilgrimage site for Buddhists, but also an important place for tourists to understand the history and culture of Chinese Buddhism.