Donglin Si

Donglin Si (Donglin Temple) on Mount Lushan, Jiangxi Province, was founded more than 1,600 years ago by Huiyuan (334-416), a renowned monk of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and had its heyday during the Tang Dynasty when it emerged as a colossal establishment with more than 300 halls and dormitories. The temple was ruined during the Shaoxing reign (1131-1162) of the Song Dynasty, and rebuilt once during the Ming Dynasty and twice during the Qing Dynasty. Some of the buildings on the premises were built during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the others were constructed in recent years. The Donglin Temple was converted into a cradle of the Pure Land school of Chinese Buddhism thanks to the efforts of Huiyuan, who gathered 123 disciples under him to form the White Lotus Society. During Huiyuan’s more than three decades of stay on Mount Lushan, “his person never moved from the mountain, and his footprints were never found in the mundane world.” He never went beyond the Tiger Stream in front of the temple whenever he was sending off a guest.

For his high moral integrity he was greatly esteemed. Among his friends were the famous poet Tao Yuanming, the well-known personage Liu Yiming, and the great man of letters Xie Lingyun. That’s why the Donglin Temple abounds in anecdotes about these celebrities. Once, Tao Yuanming and Lu Xiujing arrived at Mount Lushan and joined Huiyuan in a discussion about Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. The entire day passed quickly. When Huiyuan was walking with his two friends out of the temple and seeing them off, they continued their discussion. In no time they crossed the Tiger Stream, and it was not until the God of Tiger started howling that Huiyuan realized that he had violated his taboo. He could not help laughing loudly. Such is the origin of the story “Three Laughs over the Tiger Stream.”