Daxingshan monastery, (in) Xi'an, Shaanxi, CN

Raw data

"Daxingshan Temple once was the greatest Buddhist establishment of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, but since the tenth century it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times.
The latest reconstruction was built in 1956. Today, it has been turned into a small, quiet and charming park. The main buildings have been repainted and a handful of monks live and worship there.
The history of this temple can be traced back to the third century, when its original name was Zunshan Temple. During the Sui Dynasty, it was rebuilt and was given its present name. Since then, it gradually became the headquarters of an order with a network of 45 prefectural temples, which were all established by Yang Qian, the founder of the Sui Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty, it became a great center of Buddhist art and learning. However, during the Buddhist persecution of 841-845, most of the buildings were destroyed and even ones that survived also disappeared by the end of the Tang. The temple was rebuilt in the Ming and again restored in 1785 by an expert on Tang Dynasty Chang'an called Bi Yuan (1730-97). After its reconstruction in 1956 it was used by a Community of Lamaist monks until the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). Today it houses the Xian Buddhist Association.
The temple and Xinfeng Park are located south of the Small Wild Goose Pagoda on a small street called Xingshan Si jie, behind the open market of Xiaozhai."
http://www.warriortours.com/cityguides/xian/daxingshan_temple.htm

Input by: tmciolek, Feb 24, 2013

“Situated in the suburbs south of Xian is the Daxingshan Temple; one of the oldest Buddhist temples in China. It was built during the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316). During the Sui and Tang dynasties, Buddhism prevailed widely in Chang'an, Xian City's earlier name. Many Indian monks remained there to translate the sutras and promulgate the Buddhist doctrines. Over time, the Daxingshan Temple became one of three temples especially used for translating sutras. The other two are Ci'en Temple and Jianfu Temple.”
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/daxingshan.htm

“[…] Amoghavajra [(705–774) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoghavajra] is said to have taken up residence in the Daxingshan Monastery […] The Daxingshan Monastery was one of the two main temples of Tantric Buddhism in 8th century China, the other one being the Qinglong Monastery. See also Ch'en (1973, p. 336 [= 1964:336 - tmciolek])" - Dessein (2003)
Input by: tmciolek, Feb 26, 2013

Final data (and their sources)

Last updated: 26 Feb 2013

Page under construction

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 Daxingshan monastery, CN.

General location of the Daxingshan monastery, CN.
Lat 34.2290 Long 108.9387
Mapping & images: Falling Rain Genomics (http://www.fallingrain.com), 2013.


Google Map link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=34.2290+108.9387+(Approx.%20loc.%20of%20the%20Daxingshan%20monastery,%20CN)&ll=34.2290,108.9387&spn=05.0,05.0&t=k&hl=en


Final data - explanatory notes

1. Monastery's name


2. Monastery's modern country & province

  • China:Shaanxi Sheng

3. Monastery's alternative/historical names


4. Monastery's lat/long coordinates

  • Approx. Lat 34.2290 Long 108.9387 - based on visual identification of the site in maps/satellite imagery, maps.google.com - tmciolek, 24 Feb 2013.

5. Other known nearby Buddhist monasteries


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

  • Tantric Buddhism - Dessein (2003), Ch'en (1974:336)

11. Date-early

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/daxingshan.htm

  • MBM chrono-tag 0267-99p 0300-32c - tmciolek 26 Feb 2013
  • 0267-99p 0300-32c 0333-66c 0367-99c 0400-32c 0433-66c 0467-99c 0500-32c 0533-66c 0567-99c 0600-32c 0633-66c 0667-99c 0700-32c 0733-66c 0767-99c 0800-32c 0833-66c 0867-99p dated-el

12. Date-intermediate

  • MBM chrono-tag 0567-99c 0600-32c - tmciolek 26 Feb 2013

13. Date-late

  • MBM chrono-tag 0833-66c 0867-99p - tmciolek 26 Feb 2013

14. Details of contacts with other monasteries


15. Type of evidence regarding the monastery

  • Architectural

16. Additional notes


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

  • [missing data]

18. Available Printed Literature

  • Ditter, Alexei. 2011. Conceptions of Urban Space in Duan Chengshi's "Record of Monasteries and Stupas". Tang Studies, Volume 2011, Number 29, October 2011 , pp. 62-83(22).
  • [bibliographical details of the Book/Article 2]
  • [bibliographical details of the Book/Article 3]

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