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

Raw data

"Zhuque Gate - Zhuque Gate is located between Wumu Gate (small South Gate) and Yongning Gate (South Gate) on Zhuque Street, connecting the inside and outside of the ancient city. [….] In the 19th year of the period of Zhenguan, 645 AD, Xuanzang returned back to Chang'an with 657 Sanskrit sutras from ancient Indian [sic!]. […]
[T]he emperor sent Fang XuanLing, the prime minister to greet monk Xuanzang, with the welcome ceremony held at Zhuque Gate. […] [T]he queue [of welcoming crowds] lined up tens of miles long from Zhuque Gate to Hongfu Temple where Xuanzang lived, burning incense and strewing flowers […] http://www.xacitywall.com/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=show&catid=100&id=298

"Zhuque Gate is located between Wumu Gate (small South Gate) and Yongning Gate (South Gate) on Zhuque Street, connecting the inside and outside of the ancient city."
http://www.xacitywall.com/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=show&catid=100&id=298

"The Emperor [Taizong (r. 627-649) of Tang dynasty - tmc] thought of a way to bridge this time gap. He decided to collect all the characters required for the [Ven. Xuan Zang's] memorial from Wang’s various calligraphic works preserved in the imperial court, and to compile these characters together to make the whole inscription. He ordered Master Huai Ren of Hongfu Monastery in Chang’an City to take up this mammoth task. It took Master Huai Ren twenty-five years (647-672) to complete the compilation." - http://www.chungtaimuseum.org/eng/exhibitions/truetreasures/selection09.htm

"In 880 of the Tang Dynasty, Monk Kegong of Guoning Temple in Mingzhouguo (the present Ningbo) was sent to Chang'an, to entreat Tang Xizong, the then Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, to have Linshan Temple restored. While in Chang'an, he lectured on Buddhist Scriptures in the Hongfu Temple, thus greatly boosting Buddhism." - http://english.ningbo.gov.cn/art/2005/3/26/art_98_25571.html

"Many translation institutes were established in Chang'an at various locations, including Hongfu Monastery, Da Ci'en Monastery, Jicui Palace, Xi Ming Monastery and Yuhua Temple. Xuanzang was in charge of all these institutes." - http://www.enlighten.org.tw/trueheart_en/9

Input by: tmciolek 14 Aug 2014

"In 634, Taizong had Hongfu Temple, once a military noble's palace, grandly refurbished in his mother memory. Additionally, he built her an enormous temple comprising a large compound with ten courtyars and 1,897 rooms to accommodate 300 monks." Eichenbaum-Karetzky 1995:21-22.

"In Chang’an, during 681 and 682, Divåkara translated three works at the Hongfusi, the same monastery where Xuanzang lived and worked upon his return to China in 645. Then, in the years 683-685, he translated ten works at the Taiyuansi in Chang’an, a monastery that had been founded by Empress Wu in 670 for the posthumous well being of her mother." http://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/65875/20/07Forte.pdf

"The second Tang Emperor Taizong (reigned 626-649) attended such a ceremony in person during the consecration of the central Buddha statue at the Xingfu monastery, the former Hongfu Temple in Chang'an, a temple that the ruler had … " Kaikodo Journal, 1997, Issue 3, Page 46, New York, N.Y.:Kaikodo Gallery.
https://books.google.com.au/books?id=UwZJAQAAIAAJ

Hongfusi - "… at a later stage the name of Taizong's temple was changed to Xingfusi." McCallum (2009:189)
https://books.google.de/books?id=OAyk-ObsD6sC&pg=PA189&dq=Hongfusi&hl=de&sa=X&ei=p19ZVYP5KYr88QXS5YGoAg&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Hongfusi&f=false
Input by: tmciolek 18 May 2015

Final data (and their sources)

Last updated: 19 May 2015

Lat/Long coordinates' accuracy:
The monastery in question is assumed to be situated actually no farther than 20 km from the point defined by the coordinates below.

Location of Hongfu monastery, CN.

General location of the Hongfu monastery, CN.
Lat 34.253389 Long 108.939220
Mapping & images: Falling Rain Genomics (http://www.fallingrain.com), 2014.


Google Map link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=34.253389+108.939220+(Approx.%20loc.%20of%20the%20Hongfu%20monastery,%20CN)&ll=34.253389,108.939220&spn=05.0,05.0&t=k&hl=en


Final data - explanatory notes

1. Monastery's name

  • Hongfu monastery

2. Monastery's modern country & province

  • China:Shaanxi Sheng

3. Monastery's alternative/historical names


4. Monastery's lat/long coordinates

  • Approx. Lat 34.253389 Long 108.939220 - based on identification of the Zhuque Gate [Zhuquemen] in satellite imagery maps.google.com . I assume that the Hongfu monastery was situated no farther than 20 km from this spot - tmciolek, 18 May 2015.

5. Other known nearby Buddhist monasteries

  • [missing data]

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

  • The monastery was established in 634 - Eichenbaum-Karetzky 1995:21-22
  • Hongfusi - established 634 in Quarter C1, Chang'an - Thilo (2006:223, 309)
  • MBM chrono-tag: 0633-66c - tmciolek 18 May 2015
  • 0633-66c 0667-99c 0700-32c 0733-66c 0767-99c 0800-32c 0833-66c 0867-99c 0900-32p dated-el

12. Date-intermediate


13. Date-late

  • MBM chrono-tag: 0867-99c - tmciolek 18 May 2015

14. Details of contacts with other monasteries

  • [missing data]

15. Type of evidence regarding the monastery

  • [missing data]

16. Additional notes

  • The monastery had ten courtyars and 1,897 rooms to accommodate 300 monks - Eichenbaum-Karetzky 1995:21-22.

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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