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Located on a hillslope in the northwestern suburb of Yangzhou, an ancient city in Jiangsu province, Daming Temple boasts a 1,500-year history. (Xinhua File Photo)

BEIJING, May. 12 -- Located on a hillslope in the northwestern suburb of Yangzhou, an ancient city in Jiangsu province, Daming Temple boasts a 1,500-year history.

The temple is equally renowned in Japan due to monk Jianzhen, a name familiar to many Chinese and Japanese.

From AD 742 (in the Tang Dynasty), at the invitation of the Japanese, the superior of Daming Temple began venturing across the sea to Japan in a bid to spread Buddhism. After five failures, he finally reached Nara, then the capital of Japan.

Jianzhen spent his last years in Nara, devoting all his energy to promoting Buddhism, medicine and technology.

In AD 759, he presided over the building of Toshidai-ji temple by applying the most advanced construction techniques he brought from China.

And more than 1,200 years ...

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