View source for Dharma Gate Monastery

*''Chinese/Japanese'': 法門寺 ''(Famensi / Houmonji)''

The Dharma Gate Monastery is a prominent and ancient Buddhist temple in China.

It is sometimes purported to have been founded in the 3rd century BCE, around the time of the Indian king & great patron of Buddhism [[Ashoka]], though the earliest records of the temple date to [[555]]; texts indicate that a regional ruler worshiped at the temple at that time.

The temple is famous for its possession of a supposed relic of the [[Shakyamuni|historical Buddha]], a finger bone exhibited in procession once every thirty years.

An earthquake in 1981 caused half of the temple's stone pagoda to fall away, revealing a hidden storage area containing various treasures from the [[Silk Road]] trade. The pagoda has since been restored.

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==References==
*Valerie Hansen, ''The Open Empire'', New York: W.W. Norton & Company (2000), 238, 243.

[[Category:Temples]]
[[Category:Asuka Period]]