Jan Zhen Memorial Hall in Yangzhou

The Jan Zhen Memorial Hall is near the Daming Temple. It was built in 1973to commemorate the 1, 200th birthday of Monk Jian Zhen. It, too, is lovely in spite of its youth, it is a copy of the Toshodai Temple in Nara, Japan. Jian Zhen of the Daming Temple persisted in going to Japan to teach Buddhism in spite of five unsuccessful efforts and his blindness. He succeeded at the age 66. Because he and his disciples also introduced Tang literature, medicine, architecture, sculpture, and other arts to Japan, he is highly honored in Japan where he died and is buried. A 1000-year-old statue of Jian Zhen, now a national Japanese treasure, was brought back for a visit "because it looked homesick."