Linhai Longxing Temple - the ancestral temple of the Japanese Tendai sect

Longxing Temple is close to the Jiangnan Great Wall, located on the western foot of Jinshan Mountain and the southern end of Ziyang Street. It is a temple built in the first year of Shenlong in the Tang Dynasty. It has a history of more than 1,300 years and is the most famous thousand-year-old temple in Linhai City. Longxing Temple was first built in the first year of the Shenlong period of the Tang Dynasty (705 AD) and was originally named "Shenlong Temple". In the second year (706), it was renamed "Zhongxing". In 709, the third year of Jinglong's reign, it was renamed "Longxing". In the 26th year of Kaiyuan (738), it was renamed "Kaiyuan". The words "Shenlong Ancient Temple" are written on the archway at the entrance of Longxing Temple, which means this. Counting the history, Longxing Temple has a history of nearly 1,300 years. Longxing Temple was destroyed during the Anti-Japanese War, leaving only the Thousand Buddha Pagoda, which was built in the Tang Dynasty and is a national cultural relic protection unit. Linhai Longxing Temple played an extremely important role in promoting the Tiantai Sect of Chinese Buddhism. During the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty, Master Jianzhen traveled to Japan six times to preach Buddhism. Before his fourth trip to Japan, he lived here. The eminent monk Situo of Longxing Temple followed Master Jianzhen, "built boats four times and went into the sea five times", "crossed the sea six times in total, and it took more than twelve years", and became the first eminent monk from Taizhou to go to Japan. After accompanying Monk Jianzhen on his sixth voyage to Kyushu, Japan, Situo assisted Master Jianzhen in establishing the world-famous Toshodaiji Temple in Japan, and personally wrote "The Biography of Great Monk Jianzhen". After Jianzhen passed away, Situo also made a dry lacquer statue of Jianzhen on a seat. While spreading the Vinaya school in Japan, Sito actively promoted the teachings of the Tiantai sect founded in Taizhou, and ordained 40 people including the Emperor, which opened the door for Japanese monks to enter Tang Dynasty to seek Dharma. In the 20th year of the Zhenyuan Period of the Tang Dynasty (804), with the permission of the Japanese Emperor, the Japanese monk Saicho led his disciple, the translator monk Yizhen, and arrived in Ningbo, China along with Ishikawa Michiyoshi, the deputy envoy of the 12th Japanese mission to the Tang Dynasty. On September 20, they came to Linhai, Taizhou, to pay homage to Lu Chun, the governor of Taizhou. The other side of the entrance archway, "Zhenyuan Style", means this. In the 20th year of the Zhenyuan period (804), Saichō, the founder of the Tendai sect in Japan, received the Bodhisattva precepts at the Pure Land Temple of the temple. When Saichō arrived in Linhai, he happened to meet Master Daosui, the abbot of Xiuchan Temple in Tiantai Mountain, who was invited by Lu Chun to lecture on "Mahasamadhi and Prajna" at Longxing Temple. Saichō learned the Dharma from him and studied the doctrines. Saichō went to Tiantai Mountain on October 7 and returned to Longxing Temple in Linhai on November 5. At 11:00 p.m. on the first night of March 2 of the following year, Master Daosui received the Bodhisattva precepts in the western wing of Longxing Temple, the "Jiuluo Jingtuyuan", for Saichō, Gishin, and 27 other Chinese monks. On March 25, Saichō left Taizhou with Lu Chun's seal. After returning to Japan, Saichō actively promoted Chinese culture and founded the earliest sect in Japanese Buddhism - Tentai Sect. He was also conferred a title by the Emperor, becoming the first Buddhist sect in Japan. Afterwards, many Japanese monks passed through Linhai, studied at Longxing Temple, or climbed Mount Tiantai to seek Dharma, and became eminent monks of the Tiantai sect. Among them were Cheon Kōei-sai, who founded the Rinzai school, and Dogen, who founded the Soto school. The Japanese Tentai Sect later gave rise to the Nichiren Sect, the Pure Land Sect, the Nembutsu Sect, and other sects. All of the derived sects regarded it as their ancestral temple, and the Tentai Sect became the "mother sect" of Japanese Buddhism. After Saichō passed away, Ennin, Enzai, Enchin, Hui'e and others inherited Saichō's mantle and went to Tang Dynasty to seek Dharma. They made great contributions to the development of Japan's Tendai sect and the promotion of cultural exchanges between China and Japan. In order to commemorate Master Saichō's contribution to the cultural exchange of Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, in 864 AD, Saichō was conferred the title of "Master of Missionary Teaching", the first title bestowed by the Emperor on a Buddhist master. Linhai Longxing Temple is worthy of being a famous temple in the exchange of Sino-Japanese Buddhism and an important birthplace of Tendai Sect in Japan.