11/3 Island temple

The whole island is essentially the temple called DingHuiSi, 定慧寺.  From across banks the island does not look like a temple but it essentially encompasses the whole island.  Built during the Han Dynasty, around 1500 years ago, this temple still has its original architecture, surviving the red guards during the Cultural Revolution likely due to its island inaccessibility.

I’ve seen the fish, looks like dragon fish “bong”, at many temples such as the temples in Korea.  A kind monastic explained that they would strike the fish to call everyone back for mealtime.  As for the coin “hudian” they would strike that to gather everyone for announcements.

Late Master Dong Chu, the teacher of late Master Shen Yen who founded of Dharma Drum Mountain, was the abbot here.

Jiaoshan Dinghuisi,Dongwu Rd, Jingkou, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China

11/2 JiangZhen, Abbot of DaMingSi, traveled to Japan to help establish early Japanese Buddhism

DaMingSi, 大明寺, was first built in 457-464 AD. The famous monk, Jiangzhen who was also a scholar in architecture and medicine traveled to Japan at the request of Japanese priests.  There he established the Ristu Sect, one of six Buddhist sects in the ancient capital Nara Japan, built the temple Toshodai-Ji, and brought other cultural technology to Japan. JiangZhen or Gangjin (Japanese), he and other Chinese monks from his entourage undertook the ordination of Japanese monastics in 755 AD to help establish Japanese monastic sangha. An ordination platform was constructed for this purpose at Todai-Ji by the order of the Japanese emperor.

If you have visited Nara, you would recognize the resemblance of the temple and pagoda architectures.  When I visited Toshodai-Ji and Todai-Ji in Nara, I never thought that today I would be connecting the dots with DaMingSi.

Side note; DaMingSi has a university where all their students must also learn traditional Chinese medicine, traditional Chinese music, along with two additional foreign languages, English and Japanese.

8 Pingshantang E Rd, Weiyang, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China