一切得從一千多年前說起...
公元247年，東吳大帝孫權在南京興建了江南第一座寺廟——建初寺，以及阿育王塔，從此江南大地佛法大興。
Over 1700 years ago in the Three Kingdom Period, Sun Quan, head of the Kingdom Wu, built a Buddhist Temple called "Jianchu Temple" in Nanjing. This temple was the very predecessor of Da Bao'en Temple, or "Temple of Gratitude."
大報恩寺
論資歷，我只甘居洛陽白馬寺之後！
從孫吳開始，建初寺多次重修、幾度易名：晉太康年間（280─289年）復建，更名長幹寺；南朝陳為報恩寺；宋改天禧寺，建聖感塔；元改慈恩旌忠教寺。
With the change of dynasties, Jianchu Temple was destroyed, rebuilt and given different names time and again, until Ming dynasty.
明永樂六年（1408年），佛寺毀於火災。永樂十年（1412年）明成祖朱棣讓工部在原址上重建一座舉世無雙的寺院——大報恩寺，以及九層琉璃寶塔，以紀念他逝去的父母——朱元璋與馬皇后。
In 1408 in Ming dynasty, the temple was destroyed by a fire. Emperor Chengzu ordered a new and grand temple and a splendid nine-story pagoda be built on the same site, on the south bank of the Yangtze River. The construction of the temple was entrusted to Zheng He. The temple took 19 years' hard work of over 100,000 workers and artisans and huge amount of silver to complete.
大報恩寺
記住了，從此我的大名就叫大報恩寺！
鄭和受命，擔任南京守備，督造寺院的建設。按照宮闕規制，大報恩寺可沒少花人力物力。
The new temple was named "Da Bao'en Temple" (the Temple of Gratitude). It was known for its grand scale and the coloured glazed nine-story pagoda. The pagoda was built with five-color glass, which was made with the smalt Zheng He brought back from foreign countries from his voyages.
至於寺內的九層琉璃寶塔，鄭和用從西洋帶回的鈷料"蘇麻離青"，燒製出流光溢彩的五色琉璃，用以建塔。塔高78.2米，通體用琉璃燒製，塔內外置長明燈一百四十四盞，"她晝則金碧照耀天際，夜則如火龍騰焰數十里"。
17th-Century Copperplate Engraving of the Tower.
It stood 78.2 meters and was said to be decorated with 146 oil lamps, which burned day and night, illuminating kilometers around the pagoda. Considered the icon and landmark for Nanjing, it is so splendid that it was hailed as one of the Seven Wonders of the Medieval World.
“中國之大古董，永樂之大窯器”、“中古世界七大奇觀之一”，這個名頭這麼多的九層琉璃寶塔到底有多精美？
寺塔雖美，但歲月無情。建好之後，大報恩寺和琉璃塔經歷了一段坎坷的歲月。嘉靖四十五年（1566年），寺院遭雷火襲擊，天王殿，大殿、觀音殿、畫廓一百四十餘間焚為灰燼。後面又經過重修，咸豐年間再次被毀。
In the following centuries, the temple and its pagoda repeated its previous experiences of calamity and rebuilding. And finally in 2004, the government of Nanjing decided to restore the grand temple on its former site and build a ruins park there.
一圖看懂這座寺院輝煌而又坎坷的前生
2004年後，南京市開始籌劃復建大報恩寺事宜。2007年，大報恩寺遺址公園正式啟動建設。大報恩寺遺址也開始全面發掘。
In 2007, an archaeological excavation was conducted on the site. Archaeologists found a basement under the site of the glass pagoda, where a stone tablet from Song dynasty and a big cast-iron box were found.
挖掘的過程充滿驚喜~2008年考古人員在挖掘遺址的地宮時，發現了唐宋年間的石函（碑），還有一個半米見方、1.3米高"神秘鐵函"，據石函碑文記載，鐵函裡面裝著不少稀世珍寶，真的是這樣嗎？這個我們留到下期講。
Just as the inscriptions on the stone tablet describe, the box was found to contain precious Buddhist holy articles including a rare piece of parietal-bone relic of Sakyamuni, an Ashoka Tower and sarira of senior monks. The discovery made the List of Top 10 New Archaeological Discoveries in China in 2010.
2010年，大報恩寺重建工程被列為南京市2010年城市建設"十六個重大項目"之一，同年大連萬達集團董事長王健林向該工程捐贈10億元人民幣。 那建好了嗎？
先來看看大報恩寺復建的情況。
2015年，報恩寺復建完成。備受矚目的九層琉璃寶塔，也以輕質鋼架玻璃保護塔的形式重現在我們面前，雖然當年鄭和用五色琉璃所造的金碧輝煌的琉璃塔，我們已經不得見了。
In 2015, Da Bao'en Temple Ruins Park in Qinhuai district of Nanjing was completed and opened to the public. The most-focused glass pagoda of Ming dynasty was also rebuilt, though not with the same type of glass used about 600 years ago.
15年年底，南京市秦淮區中華門外的大報恩寺遺址公園開館運營。它是中國規格最高、規模最大、保存最完整的寺廟遺址，保護展示了大報恩寺遺址中的千年地宮和珍貴畫廊，以及從地宮中出土的石函、鐵函、七寶阿育王塔、金棺銀槨等世界級國寶。
The Ruins Park consists of the new Da Bao'en Temple, the new pagoda, an art gallery and an archaeological site museum and other rebuilt facilities. Relics unearthed from the pagoda's basement are also exhibited.
俯瞰大報恩寺遺址公園
走過路過，別忘了去南京大報恩寺遺址公園轉轉。作為中國寺廟之首，千年來起起落落的大報恩寺，有太多故事。
Source: WeChat（絲路雲帆）
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