Badachu monastic cluster, (near) Mentougou, Beijing Shi, CN

Raw data

“[T]he famous Badachu (八大处), (Eight Great Sites) at the foot of Beijing's Western Hills, features eight Buddhist temples and monasteries scattered across the slopes.
Badachu  Park is notable for its eight ancient temples,  nunneries and a cave set amidst beautiful scenery on the southern slopes of the Western Hills. The eight ancient sites are Changan Temple (长安寺) (Temple of Eternal Peace), Dabei Temple (大悲寺)(Temple of Great Mercy), Dragon Spring Nunnery (龙泉庵), Xiangjie Temple (香界寺) (The Temple of the Fragrant World), Pearl Cave (宝珠洞) (The Cave of the Precious Pearl), Zhengguo Temple (证果寺) and Sanshan Nunnery (三山庵). All the sites were built at the end of the Sui Dynasty (581-618) and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and were renovated during the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. The Lingguang Temple, famous for housing the Buddha tooth relic, was built in the Tang Dynasty and  is now opened to the public.
[…]
After Buddha Sakyamuni passed away, the cremation left two tooth relics, one of which was brought to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) by his disciples, with the other first brought to Uddiyana (now in Pakistan), and then to Yu Wen (today’s Hotan County in Xinjiang, China). In the middle of the 5th century, the prominent monk Fa Xian (法显) traveled here and took the tooth relic back to the capital of the Qi Dynasty, Jian Kang (now Nanjing). After the Sui Dynasty was established, the tooth relic was sent to Chang'an and later was moved to the capital (now Beijing) of the North Liao Dynasty (907-1125). Finally, it was preserved in the Zhao Xian Ta (Immortal-Solicited  Pagoda, 招仙塔) of Lingguang temple in 1071.
[…]
The octagonal Buddha Tooth Relic Stupa is up to 51 meters high and has thirteen layers. Its base was constructed with white  marble, reaching 2.7 m above the ground. Within the hall of the temple is a seven-story structure, and the Buddha tooth relic is now preserved in a one-meter-high pure gold pagoda inside. […] “ - http://www.chinahighlights.com/beijing/attraction/lingguang-temple.htm

Input by: tmciolek, May 01, 2013

Final data (and their sources)

Last updated: 07 Aug 2014

Lat/Long coordinates' accuracy:
The monastery in question is assumed to be situated actually no farther than 200 m from the point defined by the coordinates below.

Location of Badachu monastic cluster, CN.

General location of the Badachu monastic cluster, CN.
Lat 39.95252 Long 116.18161
Mapping & images: Falling Rain Genomics (http://www.fallingrain.com), 2013.


Google Map link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=39.95252+116.18161+(Approx.%20loc.%20of%20the%20Badachu%20monastic%20cluster,%20CN)&ll=39.95252,116.18161&spn=05.0,05.0&t=k&hl=en


Final data - explanatory notes

1. Monastery's name


2. Monastery's modern country & province

  • China: Beijing Shi

3. Monastery's alternative/historical names

  • [missing data]

4. Monastery's lat/long coordinates

  • Approx. Lat 39.95252 Long 116.18161 - based on visual identification of the Lingguang temple, Badachu in maps, maps.google.com - tmciolek, 01 May 2013.

5. Buddhist monasteries comprising the Badachu site

Constructed in 1504 during the Ming Dynasty - http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/beijing/31172.htm

"The Temple of Fragrant World (Xiangjiesi) Also known as the Pingpo Temple, the Temple of the Fragrant World is the largest temple complex in the entire area. In the past, it served as the summer villa of Chinese emperors. […] The Pingpo Temple, named after the hill on which it was built, has a history traceable back to the Tang Dynasty. In the 15th century, when a Ming princess named Cuiwei was buried here, the hill was named after her. The temple was rebuilt and renamed three times, its present name being bequeathed in 1748 by Emperor Qianlong. The extant buildings all date from the Ming and Qing dynasties." - http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/beijing/31172.htm

Lingguang Temple was built between 766-779 AD during the Tang Dynasty - http://www.chinahighlights.com/beijing/attraction/lingguang-temple.htm
The Temple of Divine Light (Lingguangsi) "Originally called the Dragon Spring Temple, its name was changed to the Mountain of Awakening Temple in 1162. In 1428, during the Ming Dynasty, it was restored and resumed its old name, and in 1478, it was finally given its present name. […] The Temple of Divine Light originally contained a number of fine old buildings, carvings and statues, but the Eight-Power Allied Forces destroyed all these when they occupied Beijing in 1900. One notable structure was a large octagonal Liao Dynasty pagoda constructed in 1071 of carved bricks. Originally situated to the east of the goldfish pond, it was called the Pagoda for Entertaining Immortals. All that remains now is its foundation. The pagoda is important in the history of Buddhism in China since, according to the records, when Buddha was cremated all that remained in his ashes were four teeth, one of which was brought to China in the 11th century and placed here. The Liao dynastic history records that Emperor Daozong (reigned 1055-1100) placed the tooth in a pagoda here. After the destruction of the pagoda in 1900, monks searching through the rubble found a stone chest containing a wooden box in which they discovered the Buddha' s tooth. In 855-108 years before the building of the pagoda in 963-the monk Shan Hui carved the words "The Tooth of Sakyamuni,"the date and some Buddhist incantations in Sanskrit on the inner and outer surfaces of the stone chest. The tooth remained in the temple until 1955 when it was removed to the Guangji Temple by the Chinese Buddhist Association and placed in the Hall of Buddhist Relics."

http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/beijing/31172.htm


6. Modern name of the known nearest city, town, or village


7. The settlement's alternative/historical names


8. The settlement's coordinates


9. Monastery's major Buddhist tradition

  • Mahayana

10. Monastery's Buddhist sub-tradition

  • [missing data]

11. Date-early

  • MBM chrono-tag 0567-99p 0600-32c - tmciolek 01 May 2013
  • 0567-99p 0600-32c 0633-66c 0667-99c 0700-32c 0733-66c 0767-99c 0800-32c 0833-66c 0867-99c 0900-32c 0933-66c 0967-99c 1000-32c 1033-66c 1067-99c 1100-32c 1133-66c 1167-99c 1200=> dated-el

12. Date-intermediate

  • [missing data]

13. Date-late

  • MBM chrono-tag 1200=> - tmciolek 01 May 2013

14. Details of contacts with other monasteries

  • [missing data]

15. Type of evidence regarding the monastery

  • [missing data]

16. Additional notes

  • [missing data] (incl. details of the size of the monastic population)

17. Corrections & addenda to this page were kindly provided by

  • [missing data]

18. Known monks and nuns associated with this monastery


19. Available Printed Literature

  • [bibliographical details of the Book/Article 1]
  • [bibliographical details of the Book/Article 2]
  • [bibliographical details of the Book/Article 3]

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