一切得从一千多年前说起...
公元247年，东吴大帝孙权在南京兴建了江南第一座寺庙——建初寺，以及阿育王塔，从此江南大地佛法大兴。
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."
大报恩寺
论资历，我只甘居洛阳白马寺之后！
从孙吴开始，建初寺多次重修、几度易名：晋太康年间（280─289年）复建，更名长干寺；南朝陈为报恩寺；宋改天禧寺，建圣感塔；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.
明永乐六年（1408年），佛寺毁于火灾。永乐十年（1412年）明成祖朱棣让工部在原址上重建一座举世无双的寺院——大报恩寺，以及九层琉璃宝塔，以纪念他逝去的父母——朱元璋与马皇后。
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.
大报恩寺
记住了，从此我的大名就叫大报恩寺！
郑和受命，担任南京守备，督造寺院的建设。按照宫阙规制，大报恩寺可没少花人力物力。
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.
至于寺内的九层琉璃宝塔，郑和用从西洋带回的钴料"苏麻离青"，烧制出流光溢彩的五色琉璃，用以建塔。塔高78.2米，通体用琉璃烧制，塔内外置长明灯一百四十四盏，"她昼则金碧照耀天际，夜则如火龙腾焰数十里"。
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.
“中国之大古董，永乐之大窑器”、“中古世界七大奇观之一”，这个名头这么多的九层琉璃宝塔到底有多精美？
寺塔虽美，但岁月无情。建好之后，大报恩寺和琉璃塔经历了一段坎坷的岁月。嘉靖四十五年（1566年），寺院遭雷火袭击，天王殿，大殿、观音殿、画廓一百四十余间焚为灰烬。后面又经过重修，咸丰年间再次被毁。
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.
一图看懂这座寺院辉煌而又坎坷的前生
2004年后，南京市开始筹划复建大报恩寺事宜。2007年，大报恩寺遗址公园正式启动建设。大报恩寺遗址也开始全面发掘。
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.
挖掘的过程充满惊喜~2008年考古人员在挖掘遗址的地宫时，发现了唐宋年间的石函（碑），还有一个半米见方、1.3米高"神秘铁函"，据石函碑文记载，铁函里面装着不少稀世珍宝，真的是这样吗？这个我们留到下期讲。
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，大报恩寺重建工程被列为南京市2010年城市建设"十六个重大项目"之一，同年大连万达集团董事长王健林向该工程捐赠10亿元人民币。 那建好了吗？
先来看看大报恩寺复建的情况。
2015年，报恩寺复建完成。备受瞩目的九层琉璃宝塔，也以轻质钢架玻璃保护塔的形式重现在我们面前，虽然当年郑和用五色琉璃所造的金碧辉煌的琉璃塔，我们已经不得见了。
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，南京市秦淮区中华门外的大报恩寺遗址公园开馆运营。它是中国规格最高、规模最大、保存最完整的寺庙遗址，保护展示了大报恩寺遗址中的千年地宫和珍贵画廊，以及从地宫中出土的石函、铁函、七宝阿育王塔、金棺银椁等世界级国宝。
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.
俯瞰大报恩寺遗址公园
走过路过，别忘了去南京大报恩寺遗址公园转转。作为中国寺庙之首，千年来起起落落的大报恩寺，有太多故事。
Source: WeChat（丝路云帆）
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