What is the origin of Tiantong Temple in Ningbo?

Tiantong Temple in Ningbo belongs to the third of "Five Mountains in Southern Song Dynasty". This temple is located at the foot of Taibai Mountain, about 30 kilometers east of Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province. Founded in the Jin Dynasty, it has a history of 1700 years. In the first year of Yongkang in the Western Jin Dynasty (300 years), a monk Yixing traveled to Huiji and came to Yinxian today. Because he loves the scenery here, he settled and practiced here. According to legend, the place was sparsely populated at that time, but it was strange that a boy was paid to deliver water every day. The young man told Yixing that he was a white Venus. Because of the piety of Zen master Yixing, the Jade Emperor was moved, so he was asked to turn into a boy to help him. Now that the hospital has been built, he will leave at once. After that, the boy disappeared. So I later named this mountain Taibai Mountain and this temple Tiantong Temple.

The environment of Tiantong Temple is very good. As the saying goes, "There are green mountains and green peaks outside the mountain, and the jungle temple is in Kyushu." . There are countless halls and pavilions, and there are thousands of buildings in Guangsha, which is the sky. "From Taibai Mountain to Tiantong Temple, there is the Python Tower in the town of Wufo first, and then Wansongguan. This is a tree-lined avenue, more than ten miles long, with towering ancient trees on both sides and pine trees on the screen, which is extraordinary. It is one of the "Ten Scenes of Heaven" and "Deep Path and Loose Back". There is also a scene called "Fenggang Xiuzhu", which is a beautiful bamboo forest in full of green. Further ahead is the "Wangong Pool" in front of Tiantong Temple. This is a release pond, so it is named because of the huge project of digging the pond, which has been dug by more than 20 thousand people. At one end of the pool, there is a huge screen wall with the words "Haitian Buddha Country" written on it, and the religious atmosphere suddenly comes. Facing the Dawang Temple, Zhaobi is a magnificent building with seven rooms wide and six rooms deep, and the height is 18m. According to the traditional layout, the front of the temple is Maitreya Buddha, the back is Wei Tuo, and there are four heavenly kings on both sides. King Jing Temple is a large courtyard, and the main temple of the temple-Daxiong Hall is in the north of the courtyard. Today's Buddhist temple was rebuilt by Zen master Miyun in the eighth year of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty (1635). The temple is 20 meters high, seven rooms wide, six rooms deep and 27 meters high. In the center of the main hall is the third Buddha, including Sakyamuni Buddha in the female world, Pharmacist Buddha in the pure glass world in the east and Amitabha Buddha in the western paradise, all of which are 13 meters high. There are eighteen arhats on both sides of the temple; The back hall is 500 arhats with different postures, which are very vivid.

There is also the abbot hall, also known as the "Dajiantang", for the abbot to ascend the throne and set up a big Buddhist altar. The Dharma Hall is a place for preaching, with nine rooms wide and six rooms deep. In the 21st year of the Republic of China (1932), it was converted into a building, and the upper floor was the Tibetan Scripture Building.