Shanghai temple of "Conscience", free Lenten meals, courtyard is full of zen, but little known.

Although native religion of our country should be Taoism, since Buddhism was brought to our country from India after a series of integrations and localization of our own traditional culture.

Buddhism has now become one of religions with largest number of followers in our country. Even during thousand-year rule of feudal dynasty, many emperors and generals believed in Buddhism, which also made followers of Buddhism in our country. is getting wider and wider, and there are many temples belonging to Buddhism.

Shanghai, as a super-level international metropolis, has a large population and many famous temples, such as Jing'an Temple and Longhua Temple, which are full of pilgrims almost every day.

Despite fact that number of permanent residents and mobile population in Shanghai is very large every year, even in Shanghai it is inevitable that there are some temples with tourists few and few people know about them. One of them is the Tsaowang Temple, which will be introduced next.

Caowang Temple is located in Xuixing City, Jiading District, Shanghai. We can say that this is almost border of Shanghai. If it is further away, it will be considered a provincial junction, and there is no direct metro line. Perhaps this is due to relatively remote location in Shanghai.

Compared to other temples in suburbs, Caowang Temple seems abandoned. ButFor those who want to devote themselves to Zen practice and quietly experience Zen in a temple, pure Caowang Temple might be a good choice.

Although few people know about it, this does not mean that Tsaowang temple is a temple without any historical deposits. On contrary, Tsaowang Temple has over 800 years of history dating back to Southern Song Dynasty. period.

However, after so many years, as well as devastation of wars in troubled times of last century, etc., Tsaowang Temple, which we see now, was rebuilt at beginning of 21st century. But this does not affect how worthy of a visit Tsaowang Temple itself is.

And if you want to trace history of Tsaowang Temple, its predecessor is actually Tsaowang Temple. It is impossible to study specific identity of King Cao. Locals say it was founded during Han Dynasty in memory of Prime Minister Cao Cang. Later, King Cao was considered a god by locals, so Temple of King Cao was renamed Temple of King Cao.

It can be said that scale of current Tsaowang Temple is very large, covering an area of ​​30 acres. In general, Caowang Temple is majestic, with clean columns, and its architectural style is consistent with that of Ming and Qing dynasties.

You can fully feel old flavor. The whole complex of buildings consists of Yuantong Palace, Daxiong Palace and several pavilions. Daxion Palace is largest part of it, and you can feel grandeur when you enter it.

If you want to say that most important place in Tsaowang Temple that every tourist should not miss, then it should be garden courtyard behind Daxion Hall. This courtyard is not only large in size, but also has visual feel of Suzhou gardens in terms of architectural style.

In addition, many types of flowers are planted in courtyard, so visitors can enjoy seasonal flowers at any time of year. This point certainly allows every visitor who enters to experience feeling of Zen in meditation and at same time get a sense of visual beauty.

In spring, caress wisteria, enjoy pink and white lotus in summer, sit down and enjoy orange ginkgo in fall, and smell ruddy plum blossom in winter. I can't help feeling that "the landscape changes over course of four seasons, but joy is endless." Walking in long pavilion in courtyard, occasionally listening to singing and sound of bells and drums from temple, and inhaling natural and fresh fragrance of flowers is a pleasant and sincere thing.

Walking around courtyard pavilion, you can also see flowing water and happy carp swimming in pool. You can also touch realistic and beautiful rocks next to waterfront from time to time. Walking along it is elegant, yet alive, alive and zen at same time, offering a lot of fun to every pilgrim who comes here.

There is also a fancy stone bridge for traffic on small lake in yard. Willows are planted on both sides of bridge. Go there while willow leaves are still green. It should be something more poetic and picturesque.

In addition, Tsawang Temple has many exquisite and poetic attic buildings. Although these pavilions are not open every day, if you go up to second or third floor of pavilions to view entire Tsaowang Temple after opening, you will have a panoramic view of landscape, which is also a unique scenery.

In addition to aforementioned exquisite yet interesting and decorative scenery, Tsawang Temple serves every pilgrim who comes here with utmost care and humanity as well. Despite fact that this is a temple located in Shanghai, parking at Caowang Temple is free, and there is no charge even to enter the temple.

And if you've been shopping here for a long time, you're hungry, or if you've come here just in time to eat, you can also go to Zhaitang to eat vegetarian food, even vegetarian food is free . According to tourists who have been there, taste of vegetarian food served at Tsaowang Temple is very good.

However, I think that many believers who find and visit Tsaowang temple are willing to donate a piece of their heart to merit box, even if it's free. The Tsaowang Temple itself is beautifully built, scenery is elegant and cheerful, and pricing for tickets and other places is very humane.

Therefore, even though not many people go there because of location, almost every tourist who has been there has left a good review of Caowang Temple. Many Buddhist believers pay more attention to cleanliness and serenity of environment, so visiting Tsaowang Temple may be a good choice for many believers.