Study Of The Ming Dynasty Nanjing Temple

Temple is an important carrier of Buddhism. The study of temple is significant for understanding and evaluating Buddhism completely and correctly, and for deepening the historical research of Chinese society. However, few efforts have been devoted to the studies of ancient Chinese temples so far----if any, they are only limited to temple economy. In particular, there are fewer studies about the temples of Ming Dynasty(1368-1644), and no insightful study about the temples of Ming Dynasty in Nanking. This dissertation tries to probe completely and in detail the temples of Ming Dynasty in Nanking, including the background, its rise and destruction, its architecture, clerics (monks and nuns), economy, systems and influence.Chapter 1 examines the Buddhism policy of Ming Dynasty, the social conditions of Nanking in Ming Dynasty, the Buddhism and temples in Nanking from Dongwu(222-280) to Yuan Dynasty(1206-1368). In Ming Dynasty, Buddhism was rectified and restricted, but it was also greatly promoted and protected. The important political position, flourishing economy, prosperous culture of Nanking and the rich atmosphere for people to believe in Buddhism there during Ming Dynasty also greatly prompted the boom of the temples. From Dongwu to Yuan Dynasty, Nanking had been an important center of Buddhism, and it had had many temples. This lay the foundation for the boom of Nanking temples in Ming Dynasty.Chapter 2 deals with the construction, destruction, distribution and the total numbers of Nanking temples in Ming Dynasty. A number of temples were established by the order of Emperor earlier in Ming Dynasty and then Nanking temples recovered and developed; in the middle of Ming Dynasty, clerics built more temples, and the temples in Nanking grew slowly; later in Ming Dynasty, many temples were established by intellectuals and clerics, and temples in Nanking boomed. There were both artificial and natural causes for the destruction and abolition of temples. The largest artificial destruction of the temples was Huotao's dismantling of the nun temples during Jiajing years. Nanking temples densely distributed in Ming Dynasty . There were 210 temples with specific names recorded in history. Actually there were at least 300 temples totally, and perhaps more than 600 at most.Chapter 3 explores the architecture of Nanking temples in Ming Dynasty in the layout of the temples, the arrangement of the statues of deities, the improvement of building techniques, and the building of stupa.