Linggu Monastery

To the east of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum, the monastery is on the southeastern slope of Purple Mountain.The original site was at Dulongfu. It was built in 514 AD during the Liang Dynasty and was moved to its present location in 1381 to make room for the Ming Dynasty tomb. Inside the monastery is the Beamless Hall, the only one left of the Ming structures. It is 22 meters high, 53. 8 meters wide and 37.85 meters deep and made of large blocks of brick with no pillars or beams. Behind the Beamless Hall is the Songfeng (Pine and Wind) Pavilion. Next is the octagonal Linggu Pagoda. It is nine storeys and more than 60meters high. To the west of the Songfeng Pavilion is the Zhigong Pagoda. In front of it is an ancient tablet carved with a portrait of Monk Bao Zhi by Wu Daozi and an inscription by Li Bai which was copied by Yan Zhenqing; all are famous scholars of the time. Theref ore it is known as the "Three-Perfection Tablet."The present Linggu Monastery is east of the Songfeng Pavilion. It was rebuilt from 1862 to 1874. 0n entering the gate are stands of pine trees. It is one of the 48 scenes of Nanjing-"Linggu Pine Trees."