Welcome to Jing'an Temple of Shanghai

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Jing'an Temple

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Jing'an Temple (Chinese: 静安寺; pinyin: Jìng'ān Sì; literally: "Temple of Peace and Tranquility") is a Buddhist temple on the West Nanjing Road in Shanghai, China. Jing'an District, where it is located, is named after the temple. The temple was first built in 247 AD in the Wu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period of ancient China. Originally located beside the Suzhou Creek, it was relocated to its current site in 1216 during the Song Dynasty. The current temple was rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty but, during the Cultural Revolution, the temple was converted into a plastic factory. In 1983, it was returned to its original purpose and renovated with the Jing'An Pagoda completed in 2010.

Courtyard

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The temple, which is mainly made of Burmese teak, has 3 main halls from the 1880s: the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Hall of the Three Saints and the Hall of Virtuous Works. There is a large tripod pagoda-shaped shrine in a court area where worshippers burn inciense sticks and throw coins to the windows of the shrine, as high as possible, for good luck. They seem to do the same to the dragon carving in the main stairway.

Prayer

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Incense use in religious ritual was either further or simultaneously developed in China, and eventually transmitted to Korea, Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines. Incense holds an invaluable role in East Asian Buddhist ceremonies and rites as well as in those of Chinese Taoist and Japanese Shinto shrines. It is reputed to be a method of purifying the surroundings, bringing forth an assembly of buddhas, bodhisattvas, gods, demons, and the like. First, light your three incense sticks. Every stick must be lit, but make sure the flames go out. Once your incense is safely burning, hold the sticks between your palms and against your forehead, face the temple and start praying. Be warned; it is very important that you hold the incense high up against your head, and not at chest height or lower. It is very disrespectful toward Buddha to hold your incense low. Bow three times in the direction of the temple, then turn to your right and repeat this pattern until you have bowed in all four directions. When you’ve finished, throw your incense in the heavily smoking, bronze bathtub on legs located in the courtyard.

Welcome to Jing'an Temple of Shanghai

Jing'an Temple

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Courtyard

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Prayer

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Precious Hall of the Great Hero

Hall of the Three Saints