Xuanzang Temple () is a

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...

located within , in

Xuanwu District, Nanjing Xuanwu District () is one of 11 districts of Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province, China. Xuanwu District is an urban centre located in the north-eastern part of Nanjing. It is the site of the Nanjing Municipal Government. Administrative s ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

History

In the early winter of 1942, the occupying

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

dug a stone envelope at the ruins of Sanzang Pagoda at

Great Bao'en Temple The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, part of the former Great Bao'en Temple, is a historical site located on the south bank of external Qinhuai River in Nanjing, China. It was a pagoda constructed in the 15th century during the Ming dynasty, but was m ...

which contained the

Śarīra Śarīra is a generic term referring to Buddhist relics, although in common usage it usually refers to pearl or crystal-like bead-shaped objects that are purportedly found among the cremated ashes of Buddhist spiritual masters. Relics of the Bu ...

of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

(618–907) eminent monk

Xuanzang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

. In early 1943, the

Wang Jingwei government The Wang Jingwei regime or the Wang Ching-wei regime is the common name of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China ( zh , t = 中華民國國民政府 , p = Zhōnghuá Mínguó Guómín Zhèngfǔ ), the government of the pup ...

built a brick tower to worship the Śarīra of Xuanzang, which was named Sanzang

Pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...

(). Xuanzang Temple was built by the Xuanwu District Government in 2003 in memory of eminent Buddhist monk Xuanzang of the Tang dynasty. , a leader of

Qixia Temple Qixia Temple () is a Buddhist temple located on Qixia Mountain in the suburban Qixia District of Nanjing, Jiangsu, northeast of downtown Nanjing. It is one of Nanjing's most important Buddhist monasteries. The temple is the cradle of East Asia ...

, was proposed as abbot of the temple. In 2004, Xuanzang Temple was designated as a National Patriotism Education Demonstration Base by the Nanjing Municipal People's Government. In July 2022, memorial tablets of war criminals of the

, including ,

Iwane Matsui was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and the commander of the expeditionary force sent to China in 1937. He was convicted of war crimes and executed by the Allies for his involvement in the Nanjing Massacre. Born in Nagoya, Matsui chose ...

Hisao Tani was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War who was convicted of war crimes. Forces under his command committed the 1937 Nanjing Massacre. Tani was tried in the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal and executed. ...

and , were found in Xuanzang Temple, which caused the dismissal of the abbot and the punishment of local officials.

Gallery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xuanzang Temple Buddhist temples in Nanjing Tourist attractions in Nanjing 2003 establishments in China 21st-century Buddhist temples Religious buildings and structures completed in 2003