A Journey to Central Plains: White Horse Temple

White Horse Temple, located 12 km east of the old city of Luoyang, Henan Province, was first built in the 11th year of Yongping of the Eastern Han Dynasty (68 AD). It is the first temple built after Buddhism was introduced to China. After the establishment of White Horse Temple, Chinese 'monastic compounds' became generally referred to as 'temples' (si). Therefore, White Horse Temple is considered the birthplace of Chinese Buddhism, known as the 'ancestral court' and 'source of Śākyamuni' of Chinese Buddhism.

From Luoyang Railway Station to White Horse Temple, Bus No. 56 costs 2 yuan, and a taxi costs about 30 yuan. The ride takes half an hour, and the temple is right next to the national highway. The admission fee is 50 yuan. At the entrance, there are some shops selling tourist souvenirs. Printed on the ticket is this introduction: 'In the past, Emperor Ming of Han dreamed of a golden man at night and sent envoys to seek the Dharma. They invited the eminent Indian monks Kāśyapa Mātanga and Dharmaratna, who carried Buddhist scriptures and images on a white horse back to Luoyang. Emperor Ming personally welcomed them, entrusted them to the Court of State Ceremonial (Honglu Si), and treated them with state rites. He ordered the painting of an image of Śākyamuni on the Cool Terrace, and built White Horse Temple three li outside the Yong Gate in the west of the city, where the two venerable ones resided. This was the beginning of monasteries in China.' The Eastern Han scholar Xu Shen's 'Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters' (Shuowen Jiezi) says: 'Temple (si) is a court; it is a place of law and order.' The commentary on 'Zuo Zhuan' also says that the residences of the nine ministers are called si. 'Si' was originally a name for a type of government office in ancient China, such as the Court of Judicial Review (Dali Si) and the Court of State Ceremonial (Honglu Si). As mentioned earlier, when Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han, Liu Zhuang, sent envoys to the Western Regions to seek Buddhism, two Indian monks, Kāśyapa Mātanga and Dharmaratna, came to Luoyang at the invitation of the Han envoys. They were initially lodged in the Honglu Si. Later, when the monastery built by imperial order of Emperor Ming was completed, it took the character 'si' from 'Honglu Si' and added 'white horse' in front, calling it White Horse Temple. The 'Records of Origins of Things' (Shiwu Jiyuan) compiled by Gao Cheng of the Song Dynasty says: 'In the time of Emperor Ming of Han, white horses carried scriptures from the Western Regions. They first stayed at Honglu Si, so they took the name si and established White Horse Temple, which was the beginning of Buddhist monasteries.' This refers to that account (also see 'Comprehensive Gazetteer of the Qing Dynasty'). With the widespread spread of Buddhism, the character 'si' further evolved into a general term for Chinese monasteries.

After the entrance is the temple front square, shaded by green trees, with a pond full of blooming lotus flowers in midsummer. Near the national highway side of the square, a new archway has been built, inscribed with 'China's First Ancient Temple' (Zhongguo Diyi Gucha).

White Horse Temple currently occupies about 34,000 square meters, with over a hundred buildings of various sizes. The temple faces south, with a symmetrical axis layout, well-organized with clear priorities. The main buildings are all distributed along the central axis: from south to north, they are the Mountain Gate, Heavenly King Hall, Great Buddha Hall, Great Hero Hall, Receiving Guidance Hall, and Cool Terrace. On both sides are subsidiary buildings such as the Bell and Drum Towers, Gate Hall, Cloud Water Hall, Guest Hall, Refectory, Ancestral Hall, Meditation Hall, and Abbot's Courtyard.

Outside the temple gate stand two stone horses facing each other, with gentle expressions. Legend says they were the horses that carried the scriptures in the Han Dynasty, but in fact they were stone statues from the tomb of Wei Xianxin, Grand Preceptor and Grand Protector of the Northern Song, moved here in 1935. The Mountain Gate is a three-arch arched gate in a memorial archway style, with a single-eave hip-and-gable roof, symbolizing Buddhism's 'Three Gates of Liberation': the Gate of Emptiness, the Gate of Signlessness, and the Gate of Wishlessness, which Buddhism calls the Nirvana Gate. On the front is a plaque inscribed with 'White Horse Temple' written by Mr. Zhao Puchu, former president of the Buddhist Association of China. Some arch openings have craftsmen's names carved on them, all relics from the Eastern Han.

Entering the Mountain Gate, on the west side is a stele titled 'Record of the Reconstruction of White Horse Temple in the Western Capital', written by Su Yijian when Emperor Taizong of Song ordered the renovation of White Horse Temple, and erected during the Chunhua period (992 AD). The stele inscription is divided into five sections with rectangular writing, known as the 'Broken Text Stele'. On the east side is a stele titled 'Record of the Ancestral Court of White Horse Temple in Luoyang', written by the monk Wencai of White Horse Temple when Kublai Khan twice ordered the repair of the temple, and carved by the famous calligrapher Zhao Mengfu in 1333 AD, known as 'Zhao Stele'. Passing the two symmetrical steles, one arrives at the first hall of White Horse Temple—Heavenly King Hall. The center of Heavenly King Hall enshrines Maitreya Buddha in front and Skanda Bodhisattva in the back, with the Four Heavenly Kings on both sides, which is the standard configuration. What is astonishing is the pedestal of Maitreya and Skanda, made of finely carved wooden curtains. The same is true for the Great Buddha Hall behind. Maitreya Buddha also seems to be carved from wood. The couplets on the left and right read: 'Look up and see, why should you have a few fears? Turn back and wake up, you must still have sincere intention.' Skanda, with a somewhat simple look, holds the Demon-subduing Vajra club weighing 84,000 jin, resting diagonally on his shoulder, and holds the small Mount Sumeru in his right hand, whose weight is unknown. Between the Mountain Gate and Heavenly King Hall is a lotus-lined path, flanked by the Drum Tower and Bell Tower. The ground floor of the Bell Tower houses Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva. The bell sound of White Horse Temple is one of the Eight Sights of Luoyang. Behind the Bell and Drum Towers are the tombs of Kāśyapa Mātanga and Dharmaratna. To the east is the tomb of Kāśyapa Mātanga. He translated the first Buddhist scripture into Chinese—the Sutra of Forty-two Chapters, which is the origin of Jin Yong's novel 'The Deer and the Cauldron'. To the west is the tomb of Dharmaratna.

In most temples, after the Heavenly King Hall is the Great Hero Hall, enshrining Śākyamuni Buddha with Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra on the sides. But White Horse Temple is different: it divides the Great Hero Hall into two halls, the Great Buddha Hall and the Great Hero Hall. The Great Buddha Hall is the main hall of the temple, built in the Ming Dynasty. It sits on a 1-meter-high platform, five bays wide and four bays deep, with a single-eave hip-and-gable roof. The rear wall and side gable walls are built with wedge-shaped Han bricks and stones, a relatively rare form. On the front and back of the roof ridge are four characters each: 'Buddha's Light Shines Everywhere' (Foguang Puzhao) and 'Dharma Wheel Turns Constantly' (Falun Changzhuan). In the center of the hall are enshrined Śākyamuni Buddha, the two disciples Ānanda and Kāśyapa, and the bodhisattvas Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra. Compared to other temples, the statue of Śākyamuni here is not so magnificent; the colors of the statues are uniformly sandalwood red. In front of the Great Buddha Hall is a dharma pillar. Behind the hall is a statue of Guanyin, which is also standard.

Behind the Great Buddha Hall is the Great Hero Hall. This is the largest hall in the temple. It was changed from a hip-and-gable roof to a hanging roof, slightly reducing its area. Inside, a gilded and carved large niche houses the Buddhas of the Three Times: in the center is Śākyamuni Buddha of the Saha world, on the left is the Medicine Buddha of the Eastern Pure Land, and on the right is Amitābha Buddha of the Western Paradise. In front of the three Buddhas stand statues of the two guardian deities Skanda and Weili, holding their implements. On both sides are eighteen arhat statues with diverse expressions and bright features. These eighteen arhats are made using a unique technique: layers of lacquer, hemp, silk, and cloth are applied over a clay mold, then the clay is removed, leaving the hollow statue. This 'dry lacquer' craft, called jia zhu gan qi process, is unique in China and is the finest statuary in the temple. Each statue is hollow and can be lifted with one hand. The back wall is carved with over five thousand miniature Buddhas arranged neatly. On both sides between the Great Buddha Hall and the Great Hero Hall are the Jade Buddha Hall and the Reclining Jade Buddha Hall.

Behind the Great Hero Hall is the Receiving Guidance Hall, which is rare in ordinary temples. It is 14 meters long and 10.7 meters deep, with a double-layer pedestal, making it the smallest building in the temple. Inside are enshrined the Three Saints of the West: in the center is a standing statue of Amitābha Buddha, on the left is Guanyin Bodhisattva holding a pure vase, and on the right is Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva holding a mani pearl, all made of Qing Dynasty clay. 'Receiving guidance' means that the future Buddha Amitābha guides the souls of deceased Buddhists to the Western Paradise. In front of the Receiving Guidance Hall is a stone gourd.

The Cool Terrace was originally the place where Emperor Ming studied and cooled off in his youth, later becoming the place where Kāśyapa Mātanga and Dharmaratna translated scriptures. It is the highest spot in the temple, 43 meters long, 33 meters wide, and 5 meters high. The Vairocana Pavilion (Pilu Ge) is the last Buddha hall in White Horse Temple, located on the Cool Terrace, forming a courtyard-style complex. The main hall, Vairocana Hall, is a two-eave hip-and-gable tower-style building, 15.8 meters long and 10.6 meters wide, first built in the Tang Dynasty and rebuilt in the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. Inside the hall, in the center, there is a brick platform with a wooden niche housing a statue of Vairocana Buddha, with Mañjuśrī on the left and Samantabhadra on the right. These three—one Buddha and two bodhisattvas—are collectively called the 'Three Saints of the Avataṃsaka' in Buddhism. On the left of the Cool Terrace is the Scripture Depository (Cangjing Ge), with the first floor as the 'Śākyamuni Source Art Museum' and the second floor storing scriptures. On the right is the Dharma Treasure Pavilion (Fabao Ge), with the first floor used as the 'Śākyamuni Source Exhibition Hall' displaying the history of White Horse Temple. It is worth a visit; I spent half an hour carefully exploring it. It shows the first ordained Buddhist in China, the first ordained female Buddhist in China, and statues donated by foreign dignitaries from exchanges with India, Thailand, etc. Outside White Horse Temple, there are replicas of famous foreign Buddhist architectural complexes, still under construction decoration, which actually have little significance.