Description of the attraction
Temple of the White Horse is a Buddhist temple, one of the first erected in China. The Luoyang City Temple was founded under the tutelage of Emperor Ming Di (personal name - Liu Zhuan) in 68 AD.
There are interesting beliefs about the origin of the name of the monastery. Liu Zhuang had a dream, after waking up, he immediately sent his loyal subjects to India to find out everything about the mysterious teaching, rumors about which continued to spread among the population of the Celestial Empire. The messengers returned, but not alone, but together with Buddhist monks who transported their holy books on white horses, after whom the temple got its name.
Another belief is directly related to the emergence and spread of Buddhism in China. Emperor Chau Wang, the ruler of the Tang Dynasty, saw an unusually bright halo of light in the sky. The court astrologers predicted the birth of a holy man. And also that the teaching that this person will follow will spread in China. The prediction was entered into the royal registry book. Later, as it turned out, it was in this year that Gautama Buddha was born in India.
The temple, although small in size, is considered by most believers to be the "cradle of Chinese Buddhism." The territory of the temple is 13 hectares. The facades of the temple are facing south. In front of the entrance to the temple, there are statues of stone horses.
The temple has several halls, namely the Hall of the Six Founders, the Hall of Mahavira, the Hall of Salutations, the Hall of the Jade Buddha, the Hall of Heavenly Kings, and the repository of ancient scriptures. Behind the main hall is the Cool and Clear Terrace, also known as the Qingliang Terrace. The four sides of the terrace are lined with green bricks. The Kunlu Pavilion is also located near the terrace, to the east and west of which there are halls with statues of two prominent monks - She Moteng and Zhu Falan. These two were buried at the gate of the temple.
In the main hall on the altar there are three statues: in the center there is a statue of Buddha Shakyamuni between the statues of Manjushri and the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra. The monks are still served by a huge bell, weighing more than a ton, which was installed near the altar during the time of Emperor Jiejing of the Ming Dynasty.
