Among the Ten Scenes of West Lake, the only landscape featuring a Buddhist temple’s ritual instrument is the ‘Nanping Evening Bell’ located in Jingci Temple. The term ‘Nanping’ refers to the Nanping Mountain behind Jingci Temple, while ‘Evening Bell’ refers to the bronze Dhvana bell housed within the temple. Jingci Temple is situated at the foot of Huiri Peak on Nanping Mountain, south of West Lake, and was originally established during the Wuyue period, previously known as ‘Yongming Zen Temple’, making it one of the four ancient monasteries in the history of West Lake.
There is a pond for releasing animals in front of the temple’s gate, and within the temple complex, there are ancient relics such as Zongjing Hall, Huiri Pavilion, Jizu Hall, and Yunmu Well. It is said that the living Buddha, Ji Gong, once practiced here and used divine power to transport timber from the well to build Jingci Temple. The newly cast bronze bell stands 3 meters tall and weighs more than 10 tons, inscribed with over 68,000 characters of the ‘Lotus Sutra’. On New Year’s Eve, many citizens and tourists gather inside and outside the bell tower of Jingci Temple to participate in the New Year’s bell-striking ceremony to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new. When the 108th bell tolls, it marks the beginning of the New Year. This activity, symbolizing peace, joy, stability, and unity, has infused new meaning and charm into the ancient Nanping Evening Bell. The temple is open all year round from 06:30 to 17:00.Nanping Evening Bell
Among the Ten Scenes of West Lake, the only landscape featuring a Buddhist temple’s ritual instrument is the ‘Nanping Evening […]
