Donglin Temple (Jiujiang)

Donglin Temple
东林寺
Mahavira Hall at Donglin Temple.
Religion
Affiliation	Buddhism
Sect	Pure Land Buddhism
Leadership	Shi Da'an (释大安)
Location
Location	Mount Lu, Jiujiang
Country	China
Geographic coordinates	29°36′16″N 115°57′20″E / 29.604479°N 115.955644°E / 29.604479; 115.955644
Architecture
Style	Chinese architecture
Founder	Huiyuan
Date established	386
Website
lsdls.cn

Donglin Temple (simplified Chinese: 东林寺; traditional Chinese: 東林寺; pinyin: Dōnglín sì; lit. 'Eastern Forest Temple') is a Buddhist temple approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Jiujiang, in the north of Jiangxi province, China. Built in 386 CE at the foot of Mount Lu by Huiyuan, founder of the Pure Land Buddhism, it is well known for how long it has stood without collapsing.^[1][2]

In the Tang dynasty, Jianzhen made several trips to Japan for the mission of preaching Buddhism. As a result, Huiyuan and the doctrine of Donglin Temple began to spread in Japan. Donglin Temple made contributions to improve cultural exchanges and friendly visits between China and Nepal, India, Japan.^[3]

The monastery reached its peak of influence during the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), but was severely damaged during the Taiping Rebellion and was almost destroyed during the Republican period (1912–1949) of Chinese history.^[2]