Commemorating the historical feat of Jianzhen’s journey to Japan to spread Buddhism, Jianzhen (688-763 AD), a native of Yangzhou, whose secular surname was Chunyu, was a prominent monk of the Tang Dynasty. In the first year of the Tianbao era (742 AD), he was invited by the Emperor of Japan to preach Buddhism in Japan. He attempted to cross the sea six times, with the first five attempts failing. In June of the seventh year of the Tianbao era (748 AD), Jianzhen and his disciples, a group of 35, embarked on their fifth voyage from Yangzhou but encountered a hurricane, which led them to drift thousands of miles and land at Zhenzhou (present-day Sanya City) near the Ningyuan River mouth (now the Daxiaodongtian Scenic Area). During his residence in Zhenzhou, Jianzhen constructed the Dayun Temple and disseminated culture. Unwavering in his determination to propagate the Dharma in Japan, he finally succeeded in his sixth attempt to cross the sea in the twelfth year of the Tianbao era (753 AD). The site is open all year round, with full-day accessibility.
