The temple rises from a gently sloping hill, its golden rooftops gleaming in the sunshine like beacons of serenity. From the outside, it seems strangely out of place, perched above the San Gabriel Valley 20 miles east of Los Angeles. Here, in the land of make-believe, one is likely to mistake the temple's structures for a large movie set or for part of a theme park attraction. Its ancient Chinese architecture and pristine grounds are a stark contrast to the neighborhood traffic and telephone lines.
In a sense, Buddhism never was accepted in China. At least not in its purely Indian form. Legends abound about Indians such as Bodhidharma introducing various forms of Buddhism to China, but these tales tell us little about the gradual textural changes which result when the yeast of a foreign view of being penetrates and permeates the life of a nation as already rich and diversified as medieval China.
The interweaving of Buddhism and Chinese martial arts represents one of history's most fascinating cultural syntheses, profoundly shaping both spiritual practice and physical discipline across East Asia.
Long before the word Chán (禪) entered the Chinese lexicon, the art of sitting in stillness was already practiced by sages seeking harmony with the Dào.
Fanjing Mountain (Fànjìng Shān 梵净山), rising from the mist-covered ranges of Guizhou Province, is one of China’s most extraordinary sacred landscapes and a major center of Buddhist pilgrimage.
The Giant Buddha of Leshan (乐山大佛 Lèshān Dàfó) is the largest stone Buddha statue in the world as it rises more than 70 meters (230 feet) high.
Carved into the cliffs at the edge of the Gobi Desert near Dunhuang in Gansu Province, the Mogao Caves (莫高窟 Mògāo Kū) form one of the world’s greatest repositories of Buddhist art.
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