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Tanhua Temple
 Tanhua
Temple, also called Taohu Nunnery, was built in
1634, the seventh year in the reign of Chongzhen
of the Ming Dynasty. It is located at the foot
of Mt. Tuiying of the Jinma Mountain range in
the eastern outskirts of Kunming City, about 4
kUometres away from the city centre. According
to historical records, before the temple was erected,
there had been a thatched shack where Shi Shiqiao,
a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, buried himself
in books. During the reign of Chongzhen, Shi Tai,
grandson of Shi Shiqiao, donated the estate for
the shack whereon tanhua Temple was built. In
the backyard there was an epiphyllum tree, which
is called "tanhua" in Chinese and honoured
as "Buddha's Flower", hence the name
"Tanhua Temple".
Tanhua Temple was built by the
end of the Ming Dynasty. It went through many
renovations during the reigns of Kangxi (1662-1722)
and Qianlong (1736-1795) in the Qing Dynasty.
It has been well-known for its flowers and plants
ever since Yingding, the abbot, took charge of
this temple. It has been a scenic spot for more
than three hundred years, and an epitome of Kunming,
"the Flower City of the Southern Frontier."
Yingding (1864- 1922), a native of Kunming came
to the temple in his childhood, and studied Buddish
sutras under Xuliang, the abbot. Xuliang loved
the boy very much because he was clever and could
memorize every word he had learned. He was later
sent to study Confucian doctrines under Wang Zhongyu,
a Confucian scholar. He attained great achievement
in poetry. After the death of Xuliang, Yingding
inherited the abbotship. His diligence changed
the bleak temple into a garden "full of fragrance
from flowers." His gardening skills were
well known in the city.
 The
epiphyllum tree was planted in the side court
of the depository of Buddhist Scriptures. There
is a stone tablet on which four characters are
carved: "The Epiphyllum Brings Luck."
After the erection of the temple, the original
epiphyllum withered and died. The epiphyllum nowstanding
taller than the eaves of the temple sprang from
the root of the original one at the beginning
of the Qing Dynasty, and is about three hundred
years old. The epiphyllum's leaves are broad and
its twigs supple. It stands slim and graceful.
When it bursts into flowers in mid-summer, the
strong fragrance greets your nose, gladdens your
heart and refreshes your mind. This epiphyllum
is, in fact, a unique Yunnan magnolia, belonging
to the lily magnolia family. It is an evergreen
ornamental plant suitable for gardening. The big
loquat tree in the backyard is said to have been
planted in the early Ming Dynasty by Lan Mao (1397-1476),
a famous doctor and the author of the book Meteria
Medica of Yunnan.
In recent years, the old temple
has resumed its original grandeur and achieved
great development. It has become one of the most
famous scenic spots in Kunming. When you enter
the gate, coming into view are flowers alongside
the road and the wall which embraces a rockery
studded with flowers. You seem to have come to
a world of flowers.
In this south of the temple,
there is the Southern Garden with flowers and
rockeries. The peaks of the rockeries look like
a forest, each having its own style. The exuberant
azalea, cypress, magnolia and bamboo vie with
the rockeries for beauty and gracefulness. The
winding paths among the flowers and the zigzagging
corridor surround the Lotus Pond, where you can
watch fish. You are delighted to see fishjumping
out of the water, and feel fascinated with the
blooming of flowers.
 In
the east of the temple there is a the East Garden,
covering about fifty mu shaded by tall cedars
and cypresses. Within the garden there are seven
small gardens, namely, Yi Jian Xuan, Peony Garden,
Magnolia Garden, Azalea Garden, Camellia Garden,
Chinese Flowering Crabapple and Cheery Garden,
and Children's Playground. They are ingeniously
connected by foot-paths and corridors. The beauty
of these gardens lies not only in the matching
of the flowers with plants, but also in the interior
layout of each garden. You will be greeted by
picturesque scenes wherever you rove in these
gardens, which combine the classical architectural
style with that of the minority nationalities
in Yunnan. Tanhua Temple, though occupying a small
area of less than a hundred mu, is so enchanting
that visitors will linger on without any thought
of leaving.
When he was in Yunnan, Zhu De
(1886-1976), Commander-in-Chief of the People's
Liberation Army, admired very much Monk Yingding's
skills of cultivating magnolias and other flowers.
He often went to see the flowers and enjoy a cup
of tea together with Yingding, whose style of
coriversation and calligraphy he more than admired.
Soon they became close friends. In the early spring
of 1922 when he visited the temple, Zhu De wrote
a poem for Yingding, who carved it on a stone
tablet to commemorate the event. On March 9th
of the same year, Moon Yingding passed away but
the stone tablet remains.
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