White Horse Temple - Background, Legends and Importance

Background, Legends and Importance

Here are several forms of the legends relating to the foundation and naming of the temple:

Following Emperor Ming's dream vision about a Buddha who established Buddhism in India, two of Ming's emissaries departed to search for Buddhist scriptures. They encountered two Indian Buddhist monks in Afghanistan, and persuaded them to join them and return to China, bringing their book of Buddhist scriptures, relics and statues of Buddha with them on two white horses. Pleased with their arrival in China, the king built a temple in their honour and named it the White Horse Temple or Baima Temple, as an appreciation of the two white horses that had carried the two monks. The monks resided at the new temple and here they translated the Buddhist scriptures into the Chinese language. The Buddhist religion prospered from here and with the arrival of Bodhidarma, another monk from India in the 5th century, Chinese Buddhism evolved, spreading to other countries.

At the invitation of the Chinese Emperor Ming Di, two Indian monks named Matanga and Gobharana, translated the Buddhist classics at the Baimai Temple at Luo Yang, which was then the nation’s capital. They translated many scriptures, the notable of these was the Sutra of Forty-two Chapters (四十二章經), which was translated by Matanga. This was the first Buddhist sutra in Chinese language and has the pride of place in the history of Chinese Buddhism. Gobharana translated the 'Dasa Bhumi' or the 'Ten stages of Perfection', apart from five others. The temple then increased in importance as Buddhism grew within China, and spread to Korea, Japan and Vietnam. The introduction of Buddhism in China was also a significant influence on Chinese morals, thought and ethics.

The temple's story begins with the dream of Emperor Mingdi and his establishing the temple in 68 AD honouring the two Indian monks and the white horses that brought them to China with Buddhist scriptures. The two monks translated many scriptures while living in the temple, which was named as White Horse Temple. They also died in the temple precincts and are buried in the first courtyard of the temple. Following the establishment of the temple, 1000 monks lived here practicing Buddhism.

According to 'The Chapter on the Western Regions' of the Hou Hanshu (Book of Later Han), which was based on a report to the Emperor c. 125, but was not compiled until the 5th century:

"There is a current tradition that Emperor Ming dreamt that he saw a tall golden man the top of whose head was glowing. He questioned his group of advisers and one of them said: "In the West there is a god called Buddha. His body is sixteen chi tall, and is the colour of gold." That is why the Emperor sent envoys to Tianzhu to inquire about the Buddha’s doctrine, after which paintings and statues appeared in the Middle Kingdom."

There are numerous differing accounts explaining how the temple was established. Yang Hsüan-chih says in the preface to his book, A Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Lo-yang (completed c. 547 CE), that, after his dream, Emperor Ming ordered that statues of the Buddha be erected at the yang Gate (Opening to the Morning Sun Gate) of the Southern Palace and on near the yeh Terrace (The Eternal Night Terrace). He, however, makes no mention of the temple.

The Emperor is said to have sent a monk or monks to India or Scythia who returned carrying the Sutra of Forty-two Chapters on a white horse. The Sutra was received by the Emperor and housed in a temple built outside the walls of Luo Yang. It was China's first Buddhist temple.

Other versions mentioned in the book Indian Pandits in the Land of Snow by Sri Sarat Chandra give the following legendary versions:

The legends related to this temple have direct link to the emergence and spread of Buddhism in China. Two visions are stated in this context. The first vision was witnessed by Chow Wang, the fifth ruler of the Tang dynasty. The Emperor saw, in the southwestern region of China, a very bright light in the sky, like a halo or aureola from the west which lit the whole space. The astrologers of his court predicted that a saint was born in that quarter of the world where he saw the bright halo light. It was also prophesied that the religion practised by the saintly person, would spread to China. This was recorded by the King in his royal register. This year happened to be the year when Gautam Buddha was born in India.

The second vision happened at Luo Yang during the reign of Mingdi, the second Emperor of the Han Dynasty. In 60 CE, on an auspicious day, the Emperor had a vision (dream) of a saintly person of golden complexion with the Sun and the Moon shining behind his back came near his throne from the heavens and then circled his palace. This incident was correlated with the ancient recorded version and the events were interpreted to mean that the period prophesied in the past, of Buddhism coming to China, was now. History chronicler Fu Hi interpreted this vision as that of the divine person known as Buddha who was born in a place to the west of China in India. Emperor Mingdi forthwith selected emissaries named Taai Yin, Tain King, Wangtrun and others, in all totaling 18 people, to go towards the west to India in search of the religion practiced by Buddha. After travelling through several countries bordering India such as Getse and Yuchi (the Saka Tartars), and the Bactrian Greece they reached Afghanistan (Gandhara country) where they met two Buddhist monks (Arhats) named Kasyapa Pandita (a Brahmin from Central India) and Bharana Pandita. They accepted the invitation of the emissaries to go to China. They then proceeded to China on two white horses accompanied by the emissaries. They carried with them a few sacred texts of Sutras - the Sutra of Forty-two Chapters- statues of Buddha, portraits and also sacred relics. They reached Lou Yang where they were put up in a temple. The King met them in 67 CE, with due reverence and was pleased with the presents the monks had brought for him. It was the 30th day in the 12th month of Chinese calendar. The Emperor was particularly happy with the Buddha image which had striking similarity to the one he had seen in his dream vision. At this time, the monks also performed some miracles, which further strengthened the belief of the Emperor in Buddhism.

However, some Taoist priests protested and wanted the Emperor to test the merits of both parties. The Emperor agreed to test the merits of both parties and convened a meeting at the southern gate of the White Horse Temple. He ordered that the sacred texts and religious paraphernalia of the Taoist be placed on the eastern gate and the sacred texts, relics and Buddha image of the westerners in the hall of seven gems on the west. He then ordered that the objects be thrown into the fire, and whichever documents survived the fire then that religion would receive his patronage. The Taoists expected that their texts would survive the fire test. This did not happen as all the texts of Taoists were burnt and that of the Buddhists from the west survived. With this test, the Emperor was convinced of the Buddhist religion and he with all his entourage of Ministers and kinsmen embraced Buddhism. He built several temples, which included 'Pai-masai', the White Horse Temple and three convents for nuns. The two Taoist priests who had challenged Buddhism were put to death by fire.

Now that there are many contradictory versions of this story that most modern scholars accept it only as a Buddhist fable, and not a valid historical event. The White Horse Temple is, in fact, not recorded in contemporary sources before 289. However, there is a Poma si mentioned in Chang'an in 266, and another of the same name at Jingcheng in central Hubei at about the same date.

It is said that the next year, the Emperor ordered the construction of the White Horse Temple on the south side of the Imperial Drive three li outside the Hsi-yang Gate of the capital Luoyang, to remember the horse that carried back the sutras. After the death of the Emperor a meditation hall was built on his tomb. In front of the stupa luxuriant pomegranate and grape vines were grown which were said to be larger than those grown elsewhere.

Buddhism evolved in China after arriving from India, as a blend of Chinese beliefs and needs, particularly in respect of its folk heritage. It is Mahayana Buddhism practice, which is widely followed even though the Theravada or Hinayana came to China first.