Let's start with an ancient Chinese monk who is famous for his strong mind. At the end of 753, Chinese monk Jianzhen, also the founder of Japanese Vinaya school of Buddhism finally crossed the sea and landed in Japan after five attempts in ten years. And now 12-hundred years later, one of the two Statues of Jianzhen in Japan is paying a visit back to his hometown of Yangzhou in eastern China.

The wooden statue of Jianzhen arrived in Yangzhou on Wednesday afternoon. To move a statue with a history of over 500 years from Japan to China is challenging for both sides. The public will be welcomed to view the statue beginning on Friday morning. It will return to Japan on December the 8th.

Before its visit to Yangzhou, the statue was displayed in Shanghai Museum for about one-and-a-half months. There it attracted nearly 360-thousand visitors.

The other statue of Jianzhen in Japan was made in dry lacquer shortly after the master died in 763 in Nara. The dry-lacquer statue of Jianzhen in Todai-ji Temple was recognized as one of the greatest of its type and was temporarily brought to Yangzhou 30 years ago. More than 500 thousand visitors paid tribute to the statue of the legendary man in Tang Dynasty.

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