History Dafo Temple, Zhangye

external view of temple

the temple built around beginning of 12th century, during western xia period. zhangye (then called ganzhou”) capital city of hugu. in 1028, tibeto-burman speaking tangut people took on ganzhou, , few years later western xia controlled hexi corridor. strengthen hold on area, xia built temples , ordered translation of buddhist scriptures. strong during reign of emperor li qiangshun (1086–1139), , dafo temple dates time.

the history of temple relates in 1098, monk called sineng weimie had seen numinous lights , heard heavenly sounds coming nearby hill @ foot of mountain. investigating area, sineng unearthed hoard included reclining buddha statue , set out build great temple in honour of image, believed had been revealed divine favour. nirvana image in temple has long history of patrons , visitors , has been protected centuries buddhist monks, has suffered decay , restoration. protecting difficult during cultural revolution.

there story kublai khan (1215–1294) born in temple, while mother living there, , bing, last song dynasty emperor, exiled zhangye , became monk in temple. however, ruth w. dunnell has reported has been unable find evidence support either of these claims. notes illustrate accretion of legend around particular buddhist site .

the hall of scriptures has double wall behind , forty metres long, twenty metres high. in 1996 temple added list of major national historical , cultural sites , beijing review reported 6,000 volumes of ancient buddhist scriptures survived in temple.

in 2005, temple reinstated place of worship, , next year re-opened after major restoration aimed promote tourist attraction. on 1 july 2006, dozens of buddhist masters blessed large crowd attended, in largest gathering seen @ temple more hundred years.