Kang Senghui and Jianchu Temple
In the tenth year under the reign of Chiwu of the Wu (247 A.D.), monk Kang Senghui left Jiaozhi (present-day Hanoi in Vietnam) for Jianye (present-day Nanjing in China) as the capital of the Wu to engage in translation of Buddhist scripts and activities of preaching religion. Sun Quan, the emperor of the Wu had a temple built at Xiaochanggan for him, the first Buddhist temple in the area to the south of the Yangtze River. Named as “Jianchu”, this temple was the the beginning of temple-oriented culture in the Six Dynasties.
According to a saying among common folks, Kang Senghui came to Jianye, the capital of the Wu, setting up thatched huts at Xiaochanggan on the southern bank of the Qinhuai River to preach Buddhism. Sun Quan summoned him, asking: “What is the efficacy of Buddha? ” Kang Senghui replied: “Tathagata passed away over 1000 years ago, his sarira still makes his presence and power felt. King A Yuwang built 84000 pagodas for his sarira in order to demonstrate Buddhist influence.” Sun Quan, who did not believe such efficacy, said: “The pagoda should be built if sarira can be obtained.” Then, he asked Kang Senghui to set up a sacrificial altar in the imperial palace to burn incense and worship Buddha, praying for the presence of sarira. Seven days passed and another seven seven days passed, but there was no presence of sarira. Just before dawn on the 21th day, a copper vase on the table with sacrificial objects sounded sonorously, finally with sarira in five colors appearing in the vase. Early in the morning, Kang Senghui presented sarira to Sun Quan who took sarira out of the vase and put it on a copper plate which broke at once. Sun Quan was so amazed at seeing this. Kang Senghui said: “The sarira is free from the damage by burning and hammering.” Upon hearing it, Sun Quan asked a strong man to use an iron hammer to hit it which remained intact. For this, Sun Quan was completely convinced by the magic power of Buddha. Then, he had a temple with a pagoda built at Xiaochanggan for worshipping Buddha.
According to a saying among common folks, Kang Senghui came to Jianye, the capital of the Wu, setting up thatched huts at Xiaochanggan on the southern bank of the Qinhuai River to preach Buddhism. Sun Quan summoned him, asking: “What is the efficacy of Buddha? ” Kang Senghui replied: “Tathagata passed away over 1000 years ago, his sarira still makes his presence and power felt. King A Yuwang built 84000 pagodas for his sarira in order to demonstrate Buddhist influence.” Sun Quan, who did not believe such efficacy, said: “The pagoda should be built if sarira can be obtained.” Then, he asked Kang Senghui to set up a sacrificial altar in the imperial palace to burn incense and worship Buddha, praying for the presence of sarira. Seven days passed and another seven seven days passed, but there was no presence of sarira. Just before dawn on the 21th day, a copper vase on the table with sacrificial objects sounded sonorously, finally with sarira in five colors appearing in the vase. Early in the morning, Kang Senghui presented sarira to Sun Quan who took sarira out of the vase and put it on a copper plate which broke at once. Sun Quan was so amazed at seeing this. Kang Senghui said: “The sarira is free from the damage by burning and hammering.” Upon hearing it, Sun Quan asked a strong man to use an iron hammer to hit it which remained intact. For this, Sun Quan was completely convinced by the magic power of Buddha. Then, he had a temple with a pagoda built at Xiaochanggan for worshipping Buddha.
PHONE：86-025-5265 1345 qhqlyj@126.com COPYRIGHT©2016Qinhuai Scenic area Technology：EPSO