Xianlin Cien Puji Teaching Monastery
In the Anguo Ward, in the thirty-second year of the Shaoxing era of the Song dynasty, the Great Master Hongji, Zhiqing, built a temple. In the first year of the Longxing era, Emperor Xiaozong granted it the name Longxing Wanshan Ordination Platform. In the third year of the Chunyou era, Emperor Lizong bestowed upon it the name Feitian Falun Treasure Repository and also composed an inscription for a bell, which was presented to the temple. The inscription reads:
The vast universe breathes and trembles, This great bell emerges from emptiness into substance. Its corners are shaped, its drum divided into ten parts— Was there ever a tripod cast to gather metal, left by Yu? Expansive and profound, thick and thin, harmoniously balanced, Above, it opens the gates of heaven; below, it penetrates the depths of earth. It awakens the deaf, it divides dawn from dusk. You who hear it—whose heart does not become clear? If you think it has sound, it rings not without being struck; If you think it has no sound, it roars like thunder. It stands guard in the temple, its Dharma sound boundless, Securing our sacred land for ten thousand generations.
During the Yuan Dynasty's Zhizheng era, Zhang Shicheng occupied the temple and turned it into an arsenal. In the fourth year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty, it was rebuilt, and the Office of Buddhist Affairs was established there. The local authorities used its bell tower to mark the city's dawn and dusk. During the Zhengde era, the bell was moved and recast, then placed at the Chaotian Gate. Each year, the Renhe County government would create a jade ox here to welcome the spring.