The White Horse Temple (Baima Si) in Luoyang, Henan Province, was the first Buddhist temple in China, established by Emperor Mingdi in the year 68 AD. The historic, leafy site features several ancient buildings and a highly devotional atmosphere.
History
According to legend, the Eastern Han emperor Mingdi dreamed of a golden figure flying over his palace with the sun and moon behind its head. The emperor told his ministers about the dream, and they suggested the figure may be the Buddha in India.
A delegation was thus sent to India to learn more about Buddhism. After three years, the delegation returned with two eminent Indian Buddhit monks, She Moteng and Zhu Falan (also spelled Kasyapamatanga and Dharmavanya or Moton and Chufarlan). The monks brought with them a white horse carrying a bundle of Buddhist sutras and figures.
The next year, the emperor ordered the construction of White Horse Temple to honor the arrival of Buddhism in China and the horse that carried back the sutras. It was China’s first Buddhist temple. The introduction of Buddhism in China would have a significant influence not only in the religious sphere, but on Chinese morals, philosophy and ethics.
The first Chinese version of the Sutra of Forty-two Sections was produced at the White Horse Temple, and the temple increased in importance as Buddhism grew within China and spread to Korea, Japan and Vietnam.
In 258, a royal Kuchean monk, Po-Yen, translated six Buddhist texts into Chinese at the temple, including the important Infinite Life Sutra. In 1992, with the assistance of Thai and Chinese donors, the Hall of the Thai Buddha was constructed slightly west of the old temple.
What to See
The layout of Baima Si is in keeping with the founding legend – there are two stone horses, one on either side of the entrance, and the tombs of the two Indian monks (earthen mounds surrounded by round stone walls), lie in the first courtyard.
Home to a thriving community of Buddhist monks, the temple is primarily a place of worship and not all areas are open to tourists. Over-inquisitive visitors are tactfully but firmly pointed in the right direction. A sense of peace and quiet pervades the leafy complex, in marked contrast to the busy highway and pushy souvenir sellers outside.
The complex covers an area of 200mu and faces south. A stone archway has been recently built 150 metres in front of the original gate. Between the archway and gate lies a pool with fountains, spanned by three stone bridges.
The visitor first encounters the Hall of Celestial Guardians (or Heavenly Kings), originally built in the Yuan Dynasty and decorated in the Qing Dynasty. Beyond this is the Main Hall (or Hall of Great Buddha), from the Ming Dynasty, which houses a large statue of Sakyamuni Buddha flanked by figures of Manjusri and Samantabhadra.
Near the Great Altar in the Main Hall is an ancient bell weighing more than a ton. It is still struck in time with the chanting of the monks. Its inscription reads: “The sound of the Bell resounds in Buddha’s temple causing the ghosts in Hell to tremble with fear.”
Behind the Main Hall is the Cool and Clear Terrace, where it is said the original sutras brought by the white horse were stored and translated.