Travel Notes #佛教
Longhua Temple: The Oldest Buddhist Temple in Shanghai, With Its Pagoda Still Standing Where It Always Was
Longhua Temple stands at 2853 Longhua Road in Xuhui and goes by the name first ancient temple of Shanghai. Its founding is put in the Chiwu era of the Three Kingdoms, around 247 CE, though documented history reaches back to the Tang. The site covers about 28,000 square metres. The octagonal pagoda is a national protected monument, and the axis runs through the Maitreya Hall, the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Hall of Mahavira and the Hall of the Three Saints. The New Year fair is a national intangible heritage item. Entry is free.
Dule Temple: The Liao-era Guanyin Pavilion Liang Sicheng Called a Priceless Treasure
Dule Temple, also the Great Buddha Temple, stands in Jizhou, Tianjin, among the oldest surviving wooden high-rise pavilions in China and one of its three great Liao-dynasty monasteries. Its heart, the Guanyin Pavilion, rises 23 metres and shelters a eleven-faced clay Guanyin 16 metres tall — the largest ancient clay Guanyin image extant. The architect Liang Sicheng called it a priceless treasure.