There are no Buddha statues in Baima Temple. Why can it be called the first temple in the world?

Baima Temple in Luoyang is the first Buddhist temple in Han Dynasty in China, so it is called the first temple in the world. The world was a common saying of the ancients at that time, not a global one. There are Buddha statues in Baima Temple, and it is precisely because of the three treasures of Buddha, dharma and monk that it can be called the first temple.

In the third year of Han Yongping, that is, in 60 AD, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty told his ministers about this strange dream because he dreamed of the golden god at night. A surname began to say that there is a god in the west and called it "Buddha". So Emperor Han Ming sent a mission to Tianzhu to seek the Dharma. Later, when I arrived at GuiShuang Empire, I met two Tianzhu monks who came to GuiShuang to preach Buddhism, Kashmoton and Zhu Falan. After learning of Emperor Hanming's desire to seek dharma, the two monks decided to follow the mission to the East, and the two sides hit it off.

So the two monks rode on white horses and returned to Luoyang with Buddha statues, Buddhist relics and scriptures. This year is the 10th year of Han Yongping, that is, AD 67, the year when Buddhism officially settled in China. Emperor Han Ming was very happy to see the arrival of the two eminent monks, and ordered the construction of a temple in the west of Luoyang to worship the Buddha statues and Buddhist relics carried by the two eminent monks, and also to support the two eminent monks in translating Buddhist scriptures and other related Buddhist affairs. The White Horse Temple was named "White Horse Temple" because of its meritorious service in carrying scriptures, which was the origin of the first Buddhist temple in China in the Han Dynasty.

Theoretically speaking, only Buddhist buildings with three treasures of Buddhism, Dharma and Monks can be called temples. The White Horse Temple can be called a temple, that is, there are two monks (monks), Morton and Zhu Falan, as well as the Buddha statue (the Buddha statue here is equivalent to the presence of the Buddha) and the Buddhist scriptures (Buddhism). Due to the long distance and other reasons, the Buddha statues carried by the two eminent monks are all plane Buddha statues, but for Buddhism, no matter what form the Buddha statue is, it is regarded as the Buddha itself.

After Buddhism was widely spread in China, monasteries began to be built in various places. Sculptures (clay) and sculptures (wood) were often used to represent the main Buddha of a monastery, such as Sakyamuni, Guanyin Bodhisattva or Manjusri Bodhisattva. At the same time, in China, large Buddha statues were excavated in rocks and cliffs to promote Buddhism. It is this large-scale three-dimensional sculpture and Buddha sculpture that gives us a "one-sided" understanding of Buddha statues.

At the beginning of the construction of Baima Temple, only the Buddha statues brought by two Tianzhu monks were dedicated, and no large Buddha statues were carved or carved, but the Buddha statues did exist. Today, apart from Chinese academies, Baima Temple is the only international temple with Buddhist temples in China, India, Myanmar and Thailand. It is not only a key Buddhist temple in China, but also a museum of Buddhist art and culture.