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Jingshan Temple was originally built during the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty and has a history of over 1200 years, viewed as the last climax Buddhism reached after Buddhism was sinieized.
Brief of Jingshan Temple
Jingshan Temple was originally built during the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty and has a history of over 1200 years, viewed as the last climax Buddhism reached after Buddhism was sinieized. The temple was located on the Jingshan Mountain in Yuhang District and led the Top Five Temples in Jiangnan Area. Important historical relics inside the Temple include Imperial Stele of Song by Xiaozong Emperor of Song, Three Iron Buddha Statues, Bell Tower and Yongle Bell etc.
Jingshan Temple is the most popular during the Southern Song Dynasty with over 1700 monks and 1000 buildings. Due to wars and disrepair, what remains the original Jingshan Temple is a bell tower with Yongle Bell hanging inside, three iron Buddha statues from the Song Dynasty and a stele engraved with names of prominent monks. In 2008, with the big support of the government and Hangzhou Buddhism Association, the reconstruction of Jingshan Temple was started.
Jingshan Temple is of great significance in the Sino-Japan Buddhism exchange, if not Sino-Japan culture exchange. In the middle and late periods of the Southern Song Dynasty, two prominent Japanese monks studied here and brought home what they have learned in Jingshan Temple. In the meantime, they brought along with them Chinese works about tea and Jingshan tea sets, and that’s how Jingshan Tea Ceremony, that is, Chinese Buddhism temples tea customs, spread to Japan and was gradually evolved to Japanese tea ceremony. Therefore, Jingshan Temple, as the origin place of Japanese Tea Ceremony, was greatly admired by the Japanese.
What is also worth mentioning of Jingshan Temple is Jingshan Tea Feast, which is the remains of Chinese ancient tea feast customs and is an outstanding representative of Chinese Buddhism tea culture. It was named after its birthplace – Jingshan Temple and is a tea ceremony Jingshan Temple used to greet honored guests.
Jingshan Tea Feast starts from the Tang Dynasty and prospered in the Song and Yuan dynasties. It played a great role in the formation of Chinese tea gathering, Japanese tea ceremony and folk tea drinking etiquette in Hangzhou areas. In 2010, the Jingshan Tea Ceremony was listed as one of the third group of national-level intangible cultural heritage.