White Horse Temple (Baima Temple) is located 12 km away from Luoyang City. Established by the Han Dynasty in 68 AD when Buddhism started to spread, this temple is believe to be the first Buddhist temple built by the government in China.
According to historical records, Emperor Ming of the
Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 AD) once sent his minister on a diplomatic mission
to western region to learn about Buddhism. After finished study, they came back
with two eminent Indian dignitary monks - She Moteng and Zhu Falan, and a white
horse carried the sutra and the figure of Buddha. In order to memorialize the
white horse's contribution of taking back the sutra, Emperor Ming ordered the
construction of the temple and named it White Horse Temple.
White Horse Temple was regarded as the "originating
court" and the "cradle of Chinese Buddhism" by the Buddhist disciples. Since its
establishment, White Horse Temple has experienced vicissitudes of centuries. It
was rebuilt for several times, in which the restoration during the reign of
Emperor Wu Zetian was especially notable in its large scale.
Today's White
Horse Temple is a rectangle courtyard facing south. The gate of the White Horse
Temple was built in Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) and it is three arches side by
side. Covering a total area of 40, 000 square meters, the temple mainly consists
of Tianwang Hall, Great Buddha Hall, Daxiong Hall, Jieyin Hall, Qingliang
Terrace and Pilu Pavilion, which are all distributing along the north-south
central axis.
