Located at the 12 kilometers east of Luoyang city, the White Horse Temple is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in China and is renowned as the cradle of Chinese Buddhism. Although it is not the largest nor the most beautiful Buddhism monument in China, this temple with its large number of Buddhism items housed there, is well worth a trip.
An interesting legend related to the temple goes that a white horse carried the first Buddhist script from India here in ancient time hence the name White Horse Temple. History records that the site was original the place used by the second Han Emperor-Liu Zhuang as a summer resort and for study. In 68 AD, when Buddism reached its heyday in India, two Indian monks brought Buddhist scriptures to Luoyang on the back of a white horse. The emperor, who was a devout Buddhism believer, built the temple to house the scriptures and named it White Horse Temple. It was said that there were once thousands of monks living in the temple. It was even used as a refugee sanctuary during the social turmoil of Wang Mang in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The two monks who brought scriptures from India were buried here. Many monks from outside China have visited the monk and many of them have spent the rest of their time in that temple. The famous Tang Dynasty monk-Xuanzang started his 17 years long pilgrimage trip to Indian from the temple. After returning, Xuanzhang became the abbot of the White Horse Temple, where he disseminated the scriptures of Buddhism for the rest of his life.
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It is one of the oldest Buddhism temple in China and has been internationally regarded as the “cradle of China’s Buddhism”.
How to get there? – Take bus No. 56(Luoyang Railway Station-White Horse Temple)
Located in the western part of China’s central Henan Province, Luoyang is one of China’s seven ancient capitals. Comprised of six city districts and eight counties, Luoyang occupies an area of 15,492 square kilometers, with a total population of 6.16 million, 1.4 million urban. Luoyang city proper covers an area of 544 square kilometers.
Luoyang served as the capital for nine dynasties over a period of more than 1,500 years. 96 emperors from the prehistoric Xia Dynasties, through Shang, Western and Eastern Zhous, Cao Wei, Sui, Later Liang, Later Tang and Later Jin Eastern Han established their seat of power there. Luoyang’s importance in history means that it has significant influence in China’s cultural heritage and has many historical sites. Although the political upheavals in the last century destroyed some of its grand historical heritage, Luoyang still retains many of its significant ancient landmarks which are the main tourist draw cards.
In and around Luoyang, visitors will find the White Horse Temple, the first Buddhism temple in China, Longmen Grottoes, a place renowned as a treasure house of Buddhist culture and art. The natural scenery around this area is also fascinating.
An interesting legend related to the temple goes that a white horse carried the first Buddhist script from India here in ancient time hence the name White Horse Temple. History records that the site was original the place used by the second Han Emperor-Liu Zhuang as a summer resort and for study. In 68 AD, when Buddism reached its heyday in India, two Indian monks brought Buddhist scriptures to Luoyang on the back of a white horse. The emperor, who was a devout Buddhism believer, built the temple to house the scriptures and named it White Horse Temple. It was said that there were once thousands of monks living in the temple. It was even used as a refugee sanctuary during the social turmoil of Wang Mang in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
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