Ashoka Temple

Ashoka Temple

Ashoka Temple is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Ashoka Temple is the only surviving ancient temple in China named after King Ashoka that dates back a thousand years. It is located 20 kilometers east of present-day Ningbo City, in Baodong Village, Wuxiang Town, Yinxian County. The temple sits at the western foot of Mount Yuwang, a branch of Mount Mao. It faces Mount Yujishan, bordered on the left by Mount Yuwangling and on the right by the valley of Mount Chiyingshan. Nestled among these three mountains, the site is surrounded by towering pines and shady bamboos. Viewed from the west, the temple lies deep within the mountain, and when glimpsed from the south, it appears embraced by peaks and ridges, evoking the feeling of a hidden paradise. Moreover, the surrounding green hills twist and turn, with undulating mounds, making the claim of it being a “land of six unique wonders and eight auspicious sites” no exaggeration. As early as the first year of Jiari during the Southern Song Dynasty (1237), Emperor Lizong of Song listed it as the “Second of the Five Great Mountains of the Realm.” In the 15th year of the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty (1382), it was decreed as the “Fifth of the Five Great Chan Buddhist Mountains of the Realm.”

Ashoka Temple is situated on Mount Ashoka in Yinzhou District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province. In 1983, it was designated by the State Council as a National Key Buddhist Temple in the Han Chinese Region. Founded in the third year of the Taikang era of the Western Jin Dynasty (282), it boasts a history of over 1,700 years. Ashoka Temple is renowned both domestically and internationally not only for its picturesque landscape and majestic halls but also for its world-famous Relic Pagoda. The current main structures date back to the Qing Dynasty. Covering an area of 124,100 square meters, the temple faces south and is aligned along a north-south central axis, which sequentially features the Mountain Gate, the Heavenly King Hall, the Mahavira Hall, the Relic Hall, the Dharma Hall (with the Scripture Depository on the upper floor). On the east and west sides are side rooms and auxiliary buildings. The Heavenly King Hall has seven bays, with a total width of 30.36 meters and a depth of 18.20 meters. All three main halls feature double-eaved hip-and-gable roofs and post-and-lintel construction. The roof of the Relic Hall is covered with golden glazed tiles and houses a Relic Stupa. There are two stupas in the temple: one built on the mountain, commonly known as the Upper Stupa, and one at the foot of the mountain, known as the Lower Stupa. The Upper Stupa is now in ruins. The Lower Stupa was built in the 25th year of the Zhiyuan era of the Yuan Dynasty (1365), with a brick-and-wood structure imitating a pavilion-style tower. It is hexagonal with seven levels and stands about 36 meters tall. The temple also preserves stone tablets from the Tang and Song dynasties, Tang Dynasty stone carvings, and houses a Religious Relics Exhibition Room. It was renovated in 1980.

There are over 600 existing halls, chambers, towers, and pavilions, built along the mountainside. Along the central axis are the Mountain Gate, the Second Mountain Gate, the Liberation Pond, the Heavenly King Hall, the Mahavira Hall, the Relic Hall, the Dharma Hall, and the Scripture Depository. To the right are 361 rooms including the Cloud Water Chamber, Maofeng Thatched Cottage, Jade-Gathering Tower, Patriarch Hall, Cheng’en Hall, Abbot Hall, Chenkui Pavilion, and monks’ quarters. To the left are 264 rooms including the Pine Light Dining Hall, Bell Tower, Relic Chamber, Enlightened Forehall, and Great Mercy Pavilion.

The Mahavira Hall was rebuilt during the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty, featuring a plaque inscribed with “Enlightenment and Practice Both Complete” written by Emperor Qianlong. The Relic Hall was first built in 1678, with a double-eaved roof and a yellow glazed tile covering. It houses a stone-carved Relic Stupa containing a seven-treasure inlaid stupa pavilion. The stupa itself is blue, five-tiered with four corners, featuring windows on all sides. Each tier is carved with images of bodhisattvas and deities, and a precious bell hangs from the inner ceiling, with the relic pearl suspended inside. The temple also contains the only two surviving Yuan Dynasty stupas in the province, both with brick-and-wood structures imitating pavilion-style towers. They are hexagonal with seven levels, each level featuring a waist eave and terrace, and the ground floor is surrounded by corridors. Ashoka Temple currently preserves 58 stone tablets from the Tang, Song, Ming, Qing, Republic of China, and modern periods. Among them, the “Ashoka Temple Permanent Fields Stele,” “Chenkui Pavilion Stele Inscription,” and “Miaoxi Spring Inscription” are the most precious.

Legend has it that during the reign of King Ashoka of the Maurya Dynasty in India (2nd century BCE), the Third Buddhist Council—the largest in Buddhist history—was held in Pataliputra. This council compiled and organized the Tripitaka (the Three Baskets of scriptures: Sutras, Vinaya, and Abhidharma), and monks were dispatched in all directions to spread Buddhism, establishing it as a global religion.

He also took the Buddha’s relics distributed by King Ajatasatru of the Great Stupa in Rajagriha and divided them into 84,000 portions, instructing “winged spirits and ghosts to erect a stupa at the end of each beam of light.” In China, 19 such relic stupas were built.

Of these 19 relic stupas, the only one that has survived is the Huji County Pagoda in Kuaiji from the Western Jin Dynasty, which is the Relic Stupa of Ashoka Temple on Mount Mao in Yinzhou District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province today. Many miraculous legends surround the construction of this stupa.

Historical records state that in the first year of the Yixi era of the Jin Dynasty (405), a stupa pavilion was initially built to protect this Buddhist treasure. Some later sources regard the year 405 as the founding year of Ashoka Temple. In the second year of the Yuanjia era of the Liu Song Dynasty during the Southern and Northern Dynasties (425), a three-story wooden pagoda was built, along with initial halls, forming the rudiments of a temple. In the third year of the Putong era of Emperor Wu of Liang (522), more halls and pavilions were constructed, and the temple was officially named “Ashoka Temple,” from which its name derives.

Address: Wuxiang Town, Yinzhou District, Ningbo City

Type: Historic Temple

Recommended Visit Duration: 1–2 hours

Phone: 0574-88488998; 0574-88383421

Official Website: http://www.nbayws.com/

Opening Hours:

7:00-17:00

Ticket Information:

Free admission.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units