Dharma Gate Monastery
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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 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.
References
- Valerie Hansen, The Open Empire, New York: W.W. Norton & Company (2000), 238, 243.
