Tianning Temple at Guashan Mountain

Guashan Mountain is named for its landform resembling the Eight Diagrams.The area is a famous scenic spot which combines natural scenery and ancient temple. It is a national key cultural relics protection unit and a national 4A-level tourist attraction.It had gained its fame as early as in the Tang Dynasty for its ancient cypress, exquisite architectures and holy Buddhist remains. Mi Fu, a famous calligrapher and painter in the Northern Song Dynasty, spoke highly of Guashan Mountain and praised it as “the First Mountain” in China.The scenic spot covers an area of 1,400 mu, with 800 mu being forest.Together with the Pine of Huangshan Mountain and Bamboo of Yunqi Lake, the Cypress of Guanshan Mountain is honored as the wonders of Chinese trees.The cypresses are rooted in the cliff or grow with rocks,all taking diversified forms and carrying mysterious legends since ancient times.

Tianning Temple was founded in the first year of Zhenguan Reign in the Tang Dynasty (627). It is said that Master Fashun, the progenitor of Huayan Zong of Chinese Buddhism, once expounded the texts of Buddhism here and people built the temple to propagate Dharma.After the Middle Tang Dynasty, Tianning Temple became the main ashram of Huayan Zong of Chinese Buddhism. Li Shangyin, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty,visited Guashan Mountain and wrote a famous poem in the year 844.In the Song and Jin Dynasty, Tianning Temple became the  Dharma of Zen school of Buddhism. In the early years of the Yuan Dynasty,the Temple became even more flourishing because a prime minister served as its patron.Tianning Temple, together with the Stone Buddha Hall, built in the early Tang Dynasty, and those structures built in the Ming and Qing dynasties such as the Goddess Temple, Guanshan Academy, Zhu Gong Temple, and Wenchang Palace, are beautifully laid out on the mountain, forming a group of magnificent classic structures,which are classified as architectures of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, as well as gardens and memoria hall.