Daming Rare Rocks Museum

Daming temple was initially erected in 457 to 464 A.D of the Southern Song Dynasty. During the changes of dynasties, the temple had several name changes and were demolished at least three times by fire or by political chaos. In 1979, the temple had a major renovation sponsored by two levels of authority: municipal and provincial governments.

The most glorious time for Daming was the Tang Dynasty during which one of the greatest Buddhists in China’s history, Jian Zhen, was a monk of the temple. He was one of the most respected Buddhist monks in Japan as well. During 742 – 748 A.D., after numerous failing attempts to navigate across the East China Sea to Japan to disseminate Buddhism, the monk was blinded by an infection. In 753 A.D., the blind Jian Zhen finally landed at Kagoshima, a city of Japan. In the subsequent 15 years, the monk traveled in many cities of Japan, introduced Chinese religious sculpture and founded a school and a private temple until his death in 763 A.D.