Puguang Zen Temple
Puguang Zen Temple: Legend says there are only two Puguang Zen Temples in China—one in Nanjing and one in Zhangjiajie. Because of this Puguang Zen Temple, old Dayong was also called 'Little Nanjing.' The place where Puguang Zen Temple stands was originally called White Sheep Mountain, covered with ancient trees thick enough to wrap one's arms around. In the eleventh year of the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty, the military commander stationed at Yongding Guard, Yong Jian, took several attendants into White Sheep Mountain to hunt...
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Puguang Zen Temple
Legend has it that China has only two Puguang Zen Temples—one in Nanjing and one in Zhangjiajie. Because of this Puguang Zen Temple, old Dayong was also called "Little Nanjing."
The place where Puguang Zen Temple stands was originally called White Sheep Mountain, and the mountain was covered with ancient trees so thick that a person's arms could barely encircle them.
In the eleventh year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty, Yong Jian, a dusi (military officer) stationed at Yongding Guard, took several attendants into White Sheep Mountain to hunt. He saw a flock of white sheep and spurred his horse in pursuit, chasing them deep into the mountain. Suddenly the flock of white sheep burrowed into the earth. One sheep was slower to burrow and hurriedly rolled over, turning into a white stone. Yong Jian was greatly astonished. He lifted the white stone and dug three feet into the ground, unearthing a jar filled with silver. Yong Jian was overjoyed and made a great fortune. In the middle of the night, he dreamed that a monk told him: "General, that jar of silver you dug up cannot be kept for yourself alone—this is the land god's payment to our Buddhist order for building a temple." Having spoken, the monk walked away. Yong Jian followed him and saw him walk straight into White Sheep Mountain, and then he woke from the dream. Yong Jian thought: Is this not the Buddha Tathagata sending me a dream? It seems this silver must not be used carelessly.
That very year, Yong Jian used the silver to clear trees and level ground on White Sheep Mountain and built a temple. After the temple was completed, Yong Jian submitted a memorial to the emperor reporting the process of building it, and the emperor immediately wrote four large characters with his imperial brush: "Puguang Zen Temple." Later, the temple was restored several times, and the plaque now on the main gate is said to have been inscribed by the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty.