The Jianzhen Memorial Hall, located in the eastern section of the Great Buddha's Hall attached to the Daming Temple, was built in memory of Jianzhen, a senior monk of Tang Dynasty, who made an outstanding contribution to the friendly contacts and cultural exchanges between the Chinese and Japanese people.
Jianzhen, at the age of 55, made six attempts to visit Japan in 12 years and won success at last. While staying in Japan for a decade, he had not only built a temple in Japan while lecturing the religious disciplines for local people, but also introduced the essence of culture in the prime of the Tang Dynasty to Japan, including calligraphy, painting, sculpture, building, medicine, art workmanship.
He won a high reputation among the Japanese people, who crowned him as "benefactor of Japanese culture", "ancestor of the Japanese religious circle", "forefather of Japanese medicine" and "Holy Monk".
The Hall, designed by famous Chinese architect Liang Sicheng, adopted the architectural specifications of the Tang Dynasty. The bold lines and its well-knitted structure fully epitomize the simple architectural characteristics of the Tang Dynasty.
