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Baima Temple (White Horse Temple ) is located 12 km away from Luoyang City. According to historical records, Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 AD) once sent his minister on a diplomatic mission to western region to learn about Buddhism. After finished study, they came back with two eminent Indian dignitary monks - She Moteng and Zhu Falan, and a white horse carried the sutra and the figure of Buddha. In order to memorialize the white horse's contribution of taking back the sutra, Emperor Ming ordered the construction of the temple and named it White Horse Temple.
White Horse Temple was regarded as the "originating court" and the "cradle of Chinese Buddhism" by the Buddhist disciples. Since its establishment, White Horse Temple has experienced vicissitudes of centuries. It was rebuilt for several times, in which the restoration during the reign of Emperor Wu Zetian was especially notable in its large scale.
Today's White Horse Temple is a rectangle courtyard facing south. The gate of the White Horse Temple was built in Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) and it is three arches side by side. Covering a total area of 40, 000 square meters, the temple mainly consists of Tianwang Hall, Great Buddha Hall, Daxiong Hall, Jieyin Hall, Qingliang Terrace and Pilu Pavilion, which are all distributing along the north-south central axis.
Qiyun Pagoda is 25 meter in height with 13 stories and 7.8 meters on each side at the bottom. Displaying a unique style, the pagoda belongs to the style of cubic shaped, close eaves brick pagoda. The eaves are built with small, exquisite overlapping bricks. Once you clap your hands 20 meters away from the pagoda, the echo reflected from the eaves sounds like frogs croaking. Qiyun Pagoda is also one of the few ancient buildings of the Jin Dynasty (1115 - 1234) in central China.
Besides, White Horse Temple has kept more than 40 upright stone tablets through the ages since the Tang Dynasty. Among them the Notes of Luojing Baima Temple Originating Court handwritten by Zhao Mengfu, a famous calligrapher of the Yuan Dynasty, is the most precious one.
Outside of the temple there is two stone horses, all in life-size. These two horses look geniality and tractability. They are the stone-carved horses made in Song Dynasty (960 - 1279), and they are the excellent artwork.
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