China Travel Guide

Jiming Temple is located in the northeast of Nanjing. It was first built in the Southern Tang (937-975) and again in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The surviving temple was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). With Xuanwu Lake on the back, Jiming Temple faces Purple Mountain to the east. The Guanyin Building, Huomeng Building, Jingyang Building and the Rouge are inside the temple ground. There still remains a section of the old palace wall called Taicheng behind the temple.

The temple is especially lively around festivals such as the Lunar New Year, with a steady stream of incense-burning worshippers. Native parents pass down ancient customs to their children mixed with a more recent phenomenon – Buddhist pilgrims on bus tours. The temple has a long history and existed on this site since 300 A.D. Although the temple has changed names almost as many times as Nanjing has changed rulers, the name Ji Ming (Rooster Crowing) has stuck since its last name change in 1387 (during the early Ming Dynasty). Legend has it that when the emperor of the Southern Tang and his concubines hid in the well in order to escape from the enemy, the stains of rouge were left on the wall of the well, and hence its name. Name: Nanjing Jiming Temple (Jiming Si)
City: Nanjing
Address: North of Nanjing
Admission: CNY5