Asoka Temple

Asoka Temple is situated at the foot of Taibai Mountain, 5 kilometers from Tiantong Temple in the southeast and 16 kilometers away from downtown of Ningbo. As a famous temple of Zen Sect of Buddhism in China，Asoka Temple has an important role in the history of Buddhism in China.It is has high prestage less because of its beautiful scenery but more because of its Sarira pagoda. The legend goes that during the 3rd Century B.C., King Asaka of India, the first man who unified India, built 84000 pagodas with the ash bones of Shakya Muni. He distributed and hid the pogodas all over the world at the places with 8 auspiciousness and six differences. In the the year of 282 A.D. and during the Western Jin Dynasty, Monk Huida was instructed in his dream when he was ill to look for Sarira Pagoda. Once day when he came to the foot of Mountai Taibai, he heard bell rang underground. There he prayed wholeheartedly for three days before a pagoda sprung up from the underground with shining light. In 405 A.D. the first year of Emperor Yixi of the Easten Jin Dynasty, to protect this Buddist treasure, a pavilion and a Buddhist meditation hall were built. In 522 A.D. and during the Liang Dynasty, the Buddhist Temple was built and Experor Wudi named it Asaka Temple. 

The temple is large in size and symmetrical in layout.  Along the central line there are the front gate of the temple, Free Life Pond, Devaraja Hall, Mahavira Hall, Sarira Hall, Preaching Hall, and Scripture Repository. Along the left lie the Yunshui Hall, Maofengcao Hall, Shicuilou, the Founder ’ s Hall, Cheng’ en Hall, Abbot Hall, Chenkui Building, and Monks’ Cell. Along the right lie the Songguang Room, Bell Building, Sarira Room, Xianjue Hall, and Dabei Room. All together there are 660 rooms covering 11.7 square meters of florage. The Sarira Hall, which houses the Sarira Pagodas for worshipers, is the most solomn place of the temple. It was build in 1909 modeling after the imperial palaces of Beijing. It is covered with yello glazed tiles which make the hall  magnificent. The Srrira Pagoda is unique in the county. It is about 48 cm in hight, and 24 cm in width, with five layers and four corners, and with windows on four sides and Bodhisattva statues on each layer. A chime is hung on inside top of the pagoda, which contains the sarira. Worshippers have to be attentive to catch sight of the sarira. As people view the sarira from different angles, they can see different colors. It is said that red color means good luck and blue color is second, and black color is comes the worst.Reverand Monk Dianzhen went to Japan six times to give Buddist lectures. Before he went to Japan for the third time, he came and lived in the Asaka Temple and paid homage to the Sarira. Many important historical figures like emperors, high-level monks, literary masters left their scripts and insriptions here. Notably among them are the board scripts by two emperors and the hundred minus stone tablet inscriptions, board scripts, couplets, epitaphs by literary masters including Zhang Jiucheng and Su Dongpo of the Song Dynasty and Dong Qichang, Mei Diaoding, Zhang Binglin of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Asaka Temple has good scenery. There is an Upper Tower on the east and a Lower Tower on the west. Nearby there is a group of scenic spots including Buddhist Footprint Pavilion, Fairybook Tock, Blessing Spring, and the Seven-Buddha Pool.

Asaka Temple has big influence in Japan and Southeast Asian countries. It was involved in many international cultural exchanges in the its long history.

Out of accidence I come to the Mao Mountains,

Walking on snow and plodding along the winding trails.

Wind piercing through forest and hungry tiger roars,

Monkeys sadly cry and clouds haunt the ageless trees.

Here I see the east pagoda and west pagoda,

Here I move on from the front to back terraces.

What a Buddhist realm this is before my eyes,

Like a wintersweet tree giving off fragrance in cold winter days.