JinShanSi, 金山寺, was built over 1600 years ago. It was incorporated into an ageless Chinese fable, Legends of the White Snake some times ago.
A White Snake spirit benefited greatly through an accidental and innocent act of a boy called Xu. Eighteen years later while in her human guise, fate brings them together and they fell in love, married and had a son. A jealous Turtle spirit witnessed and plotted his sabotage. While in human guise this Turtle spirit impersonated a JinShanSi Buddhist monk, revealed the true nature of the White Snake to her husband Xu and then eventually imprisoned her in a pagoda in JinShanSi. But love and perseverance prevailed, White Snake was freed and reunited with her family; the Turtle spirit fled.
But more importantly, 1500 years ago Emperor Wu Di of Liang (considered by some as the Ashoka of China) helped to establish an annual prayer that is called The Grand Prayer (and many variant names like Liberation of Rite of Water and Land), which is practiced today and it all started at JinShanSi. This prayer is considered as one of the greatest and most powerful and its goal is to invite sentient beings to help other sentient beings less fortunate, from across the realms.
No.62 Jinshan Rd, Runzhou, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China
