Tiantong Temple
天童寺
The "Buddhist Kingdom of the Southeast" at the foot of Taibai Mountain. One of the Five Chan Mountains and the ancestral temple of Japan's Soto school, it is lined with ancient pines.
Tiantong Temple sits at the foot of Taibai Mountain in Dongwu Town, Yinzhou District. Founded in the first year of the Yongkang era of the Western Jin (300 CE), it ranked third among the Five Chan Mountains in the Southern Song. Dogen, founding patriarch of Japan's Soto school, studied Buddhism here, so the Soto school honors it as its ancestral temple, and Japanese monks and believers still visit regularly. The temple is built into the mountainside. Its entrance features a long ancient path called "Deep Path with Returning Pines," and its halls are grand. The surrounding area is Tiantong National Forest Park. Admission depends on site. It is about 30 km from the city center and can be visited together with King Ashoka Temple.
Opening hours
Approx. 06:00–17:00
Nearby sights
- King Ashoka Temple
- Ningbo Youngor Zoo
- Southern Song Stone Carvings Park
- China Port Museum
- Dongqian Lake
- Hanling Old Street
- Zhaobao Mountain & Zhenhai Coastal Defense Sites
- Qing'an Guild Hall