Ancient Tile-Official Temple

Ancient Tile-Official Temple

The Ancient Tile-Official Temple is located on Hualugang in the southwestern corner inside Zhonghua Gate in Nanjing. The temple was first built in the second year of the Xingning era of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (364), originally as an official site for managing the pottery industry—hence the name of the temple. Its founding abbot was Master Huili. According to The Biographies of Eminent Monks of the Liang Dynasty: “Shi Huili, of unknown origin, came to the capital during the Yonghe era of the Jin Dynasty. He often begged for vegetarian meals and practiced asceticism as a dhuta monk to cultivate merit. By the time of the Xingning era, he petitioned to convert the pottery workshop into the Tile-Official Temple.” During the Liang Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties, the Tile-Official Pavilion was built on the temple grounds. It stood 240 Chinese feet tall (approximately 60 meters; according to the Jingding Jiankang Annals, it was 340 feet high), soaring into the clouds, with the great river flowing before it. “At dawn, its shadow fell upon the river, and in the evening, the sunset would reflect into the city.” It was a prime spot for enjoying the view from high ground in Jiankang at that time. A poem reads: “When the clouds disperse, a thousand-mile prospect appears; as the sun slants, it often casts shade over half the city.” One can imagine its majestic presence. Throughout the Six Dynasties period, the Tile-Official Temple underwent several expansions and grew into a grand and famous temple in the south of the Yangtze River. By the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Tile-Official Temple already housed over a thousand monks.

When the Yang Wu kingdom built Jinling City, the Tile-Official Temple was incorporated within the city walls and renamed “Wuxing Temple.” The Southern Tang Dynasty later changed its name to “Shengyuan Temple” and “Shengyuan Pavilion.” In the eighth year of the Kaibao era of the Song Dynasty (976 AD), when Southern Song forces captured the city, the Shengyuan Pavilion was burned down. In the fifth year of the Taiping Xingguo era (980 AD), the temple was rebuilt and named “Chongsheng Precept Platform Monastery,” and the “Lushena Buddha Pavilion” was also constructed, standing six or seven zhang high (about 20–23 meters). Locals still called it Shengyuan Pavilion. During the Yuan Dynasty, the Buddha pavilion was destroyed, and the temple fell into disuse.

In the early Ming Dynasty, half of the temple’s original site was converted into the Cavalry Granary, while the other half was merged into the Xu Weigong family garden. During the Jiajing era, when private temples were ordered to be destroyed, the private Jiqing Nunnery near the Xu Garden avoided demolition by hanging a sign reading “Tile-Official Temple” above its door. In the nineteenth year of the Wanli era (1591 AD), Monk Yuansi raised funds to redeem the land and rebuild the temple, which was also named “Tile-Official Temple.” The Ministry of Rites, noting that both temples were on the former site of the Tile-Official Temple, referred to the one on the hill as the “Upper Tile-Official Temple” and the one on the flatland (the private nunnery) as the “Lower Tile-Official Temple.” To the left of the hall of the Upper Tile-Official Temple stood Phoenix Terrace. Nanjing’s top imperial scholar, Jiao (surname), renamed the temple “Phoenix Tour Temple,” though locals still called it the Upper Tile-Official Temple. During the Xianfeng era of the Qing Dynasty, both the Upper and Lower Tile-Official Temples were destroyed in war. Although they were partially restored afterward, their scale was far less than before. During the Republican era, the Upper Tile-Official Temple still existed but was burned down by Japanese invaders at the start of the War of Resistance. The Lower Tile-Official Temple was abolished during the Cultural Revolution.

In 1959, the original three-courtyard, eighteen-room structure of Miaowu Nunnery was placed under the management of the Nanjing Real Estate Bureau and rented out to the Nanjing Insulation Materials Factory. In 1964, the Upper Tile-Official Temple was taken over by Nanjing No. 43 Middle School and repurposed as school buildings. In 2003, the insulation materials factory vacated the property, and the Nanjing Buddhist Association began reconstructing the Tile-Official Temple. Starting in July 2003, under the leadership of Abbot Zhenci and Managing Monk Jingquan, planning and reconstruction of the Tile-Official Temple commenced.

Scenic Area Address: Hualu North Gang, Qinhuai District, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province

Transportation: Take bus routes 14, 19, 35, 62, 63, 75, 80, 81, 85, 94, 103, 128, 301, 313, 317, or 812 in Nanjing and get off at Jiqingmen Station.

Fengyou Temple Community: Located in the old southern part of the city, Fengyou Temple Community borders Mingyang Street Scenic Boulevard to the east, Jiqing Road to the north, and is surrounded by the ancient city wall to the west and south. It covers an area of approximately 0.28 square kilometers. There are 32 residential buildings, with 2,677 registered households and a resident population of 4,960. The area includes attractions such as the Yu Garden Scenic Area, Phoenix Terrace, Apricot Blossom Village, and the Ancient Tile-Official Temple. … More details about Fengyou Temple Community ++