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HOW OLD IS SHANGHAI'S LONGHUA TEMPLE?
ERIC N. DANIELSON ·
Shanghai's Longhua Temple (Longhua Si) is a functioning Buddhist temple with a large resident monk population belonging to the Chan sect (Chan zong) of Mahayana Buddhism. It is by far the largest one in Shanghai, and probably counts among the largest in China. Located southwest of the Xujiahui shopping district, the main temple complex sits on the north side of Longhua Lu, while its seven-story pagoda stands by itself across the street on the south side. Although it has often been said by many authors that this is supposedly the only pagoda in Shanghai, that is true only if one has a very narrow definition of what Shanghai is. Within the Shanghai Municipality (Shanghai Shi) there are a total of 16 historic pagodas, the other 15 being of equal age and historical authenticity but located out in the surrounding counties of Songjiang, Qingpu, and Jiading.
The temple's long history
Longhua Si undoubtedly has a long history, but the question is how long? The answer is debatable. In all likelihood, it is about 900 years old, rather than the 1800 years sometimes claimed for it. Very little evidence exists to support the often heard claims that the temple and pagoda were supposedly first built in 242 A.D. and 247 A.D. by Sun Quan, the King of Wu, during the Three Kingdoms (San Guo). Furthermore, maps of Shanghai's geological history contained in Zhou Zhen He's 1999 Shanghai Lishi Ditu Ji show that most of this area was underwater until the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Some sources also make vague claims that the temple was built by the Tang Dynasty Empress Wu Ze Tian sometime during her reign (690-705 A.D.), but later destroyed at some unspecified date during the rebellion of Huang Zhao (879-884 A.D.) against the Tang Xi Zong Emperor (873-888). The first specific year to appear in most accounts is a supposed rebuilding of a new temple on the same site as the earlier San Guo and Tang temples by the Wu Yue regional kingdom in 977 A.D. If these earlier versions of Longhua Temple did in fact exist, they were ephemeral and have left no lasting traces.
Substantial documented evidence of the temple's origins begins to