Jiming Temple locates in the Xuanwu District, near the Xuanwu Lake in Nanjing. It is also known as the Old Jiming Temple, which is the renowned and one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Nanjing. It is a place of harmony and serenity, while its history can be dated back to over 1,700 years ago. Covering over 50,000 square meters, it used to be the Buddhism center during the Southern Dynasties (420-589) period.
History of Jiming Temple
As one of the oldest temple in Nanjing, Jiming Temple was firstly built in AD 527 during the Three Kingdoms period. In the following centuries, it was destroyed many times, until it was later rebuilt in 1387 during the Ming Dynasty under the reign of Emperor Hongwu. It is the only monastery in the Southeast Coastal Area in ancient China. It is said that Emperor Liangwu used to live here like real monks for four times with a name of Emperor Bodhisattva.
There is a legend about Jiming Temple. Long long time ago, there was a fierce centipede living by the side of Xuanwu Lake, which could spout powerful fire from its mouth to hurt the passersby. The Jade Emperor from the heaven heard of it and appointed the golden rooster to deal with the event.
When the golden rooster immortal descended to the human world, he saw the centipede attacking humans. The golden rooster stood on the mountain crowing at the centipede. The centipede was scared by the roar and escaped. But the centipede didn’t resign to be failed but became more powerful. After the fierce battle, the centipede was pecked to death and the golden rooster was poisoned seriously.
From then on, people named the temple as “Jiming Temple” to in memory of the golden rooster.
Graceful Jiming Temple
The calm and relaxing ambient with the bright yellow and orange color of the temple creates a nice atmosphere. There is a seven-floor pagoda, named Yaoshifo Pagoda in the temple. It is a wooden pagoda with a height of 44.8 meters, which makes it the highest point of Jiming Temple. On the top of the pagoda, people will have a breathtaking view of the Xuanwu Lake, Purple Mountain, city wall, city center together with the Yangtze River.
Every year in April, Jiming Temple is also a good place to see the cherry blossoms. The white and pink cherry blossom makes the temple look like in a movie scene.