Buddhist monasteries · The Jin empire of Zhangzong · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Longxing and Linji temples

Zhending has two famous temples.

The Longxing temple, a Song foundation as we recall, holds the great bronze Guanyin and is the sacred centre of the plain. The Linji temple, in the north-east of the town, is the house associated with Linji Yixuan, the ninth-century Chan master who gave the Linji school its name; a Jin-period brick pagoda, the Chengling pagoda, stands in it (built in the Dading years as we recall; not checked). Both live on temple estates and the gifts of the plain.

Who holds it

Title
Abbots of the Longxing and Linji temples, not named
Confidence
low

No abbot is named for 1200.

Overlord

Emperor Zhangzong, through the Jin registers of monks and Daoists

What it holds

  • The Longxing temple and its estates
  • The Linji temple and the Chengling pagoda

How it was acquired

Tang and Song foundations; the Jin repaired and added to them (not checked).

How things stand that morning

Quiet as far as we know.

Wealth

Estates and gifts. No figure.

Places of note

  • Longxing temple: The great Buddhist house of Zhending, with the bronze Guanyin (recalled).
  • Linji temple: The Chan house of Linji Yixuan with the Jin pagoda (coordinates approximate).

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The Jinshi text could not be opened in this session; the dates below come from the English Wikipedia pages named in the sources and from memory, marked where unchecked.

On the map: A marker or a small disc: the house's lands and boundaries are not known.

Primary sources for Jin empire

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

  • Annals of the Western Xia, Wu Guangcheng (吳廣成) (1825 to 1827, compiled from Song, Liao, Jin and Yuan sources). A Qing scholar's year-by-year reconstruction of Tangut history from the Chinese histories, since the Xia left no surviving annals of their own in Chinese. Read online
  • Continuation of the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government, Bi Yuan (畢沅), completed by Feng Jiwu after his death (late eighteenth century, finished after 1801, from Song and Yuan sources). A Qing scholar's continuous month-by-month chronicle of the Song and Yuan centuries, compiled from the Song shi, the Liao, Jin and Yuan histories, Li Tao, Li Xinchuan and other Song sources. Read online
  • Essentials of the History of Goryeo, Kim Jong-seo (金宗瑞) and the Joseon history office (1452). The chronological companion to the Goryeosa, finished a year after it and drawing on the same lost records, sometimes with entries the Goryeosa omits. Read online
  • Outline and Details of Two Reigns (thirteenth century, after 1224). A Song outline-and-detail chronicle of exactly the two reigns around 1200, drawn from the court's daily records. Read online
  • Record of the Personal Campaigns of the Holy Warrior (Chinggis Khan) (presented to Khubilai in 1288, finished in Mongolian in 1290; the surviving Chinese version dates from 1369). A year-by-year Chinese account of Temujin's wars, drawn from the lost Altan Debter (the same source behind the Yuan shi's first chapter and Rashid al-Din). Read online
  • The Secret History of the Mongols (1228 or 1240 (the colophon's Year of the Rat is disputed), with later additions; the surviving Chinese transcription and gloss were made under the Ming in the 1380s). The only Mongol account of Temujin's rise, written within living memory. Read online
  • History of the Jin, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office, with Ouyang Xuan among the chief compilers (1343 to 1344, from the Jin veritable records and the Jin national history). The official history of the Jurchen empire that ruled north China and Manchuria in 1200. Read online
  • Record of the Great Jin State, Attributed to Yuwen Maozhao (宇文懋昭); the attribution is doubtful (preface dated 1234; probably assembled in the Southern Song from Song and Jin material, with later accretions). A Song-side history of the Jin, with annals for each emperor and chapters on institutions, customs, the capitals and the Jurchen way of life. Read online

14 more in the sources library for North China and Manchuria.

Sources and studies

  1. Jin dynasty (1115-1234) (English Wikipedia)
  2. Jinshi (History of the Jin), Benji of Zhangzong, Dili zhi, Hequ zhi, Shihuo zhi and Bing zhi (recalled from memory and the secondary literature; the text itself could not be opened in this session)
  3. OMNIA board places for nch (lead only)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.