Hongjue Temple, Jiangning, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province

Hongjue Temple in Jiangning, Nanjing, is located on Zutang Mountain in Dongshanqiao Town, Jiangning District, next to the Southern Tang Dynasty Mausoleums. The temple was first built in 503 AD, during the second year of the Tianjian period of the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties. It was originally named "Foku Temple" and later became "Hongjue Temple." During the Qing Dynasty, to avoid using the same character as Emperor Qianlong's given name, Hongli, it was renamed "Hongjue Temple." It was destroyed by fire during the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty. Although it was later slightly repaired, its scale was not as large as before. During the Republic of China, Hongjue Temple was renamed Pujue Temple. In May 1993, with the approval of the Jiangning County People's Government, the relevant departments of the province and city agreed to allocate 30 mu of land in Zutang Mountain in Dongshanqiao Forest Farm for the long-term use of Hongjue Temple. The foundation laying ceremony for the restoration of Hongjue Temple was held on Zutang Mountain on August 5, 1993. Since 1994, more than 30 million yuan has been raised to build some temples and halls. Hongjue Temple South Gate is a few minutes north along the highway from the Southern Tang Dynasty Mausoleums. The temple is built on a mountain and near water, with many halls. The scale is very large, and the buildings are built on the mountain, row upon row, scattered and orderly, very majestic and spectacular. After a circle of pilgrimage, my feeling is that there are so many halls that almost all the halls that can be seen in Buddhist temples can be found here, which is completely different from the pattern of Buddhist temples I knew before. Hongjue Temple is one of the eight major national temples in Nanjing during the Ming Dynasty. It is the ancestral court of the Niutou Zen sect. In the early Tang Dynasty, Zen Master Farong, the successor of the Buddhist Zen sect, was stationed here and founded the sect, which is known in history as the "Niutou Zen sect," which had a profound impact on the Sinicization of Zen in later generations. At present, the temple project has not yet ended, and there are still projects under construction. There are very few pilgrims and tourists here, but it is a good place to calm down.