Xiangyan Temple in Taizhou

Xiangyan Temple is located near Lotus Mountain in Fengjiang Town. In the fourth year of the Tianbao era of the Tang Dynasty (745 AD), Jianzhen stayed at the temple for over ten days with more than 20 disciples during his fourth attempt to sail eastward to Japan, but later had to return to Yangzhou due to obstruction by government authorities. To this day, Japan preserves the "Illustrated Route Map of Monk Jianzhen’s Journey to Japan," on which the only temple depicted is Chanlin Temple (i.e., Xiangyan Temple).…