The International Symposium on Priest Jianzhen s East Journey and Shengsi Islands was recently held in Shengsi County, Zhoushan City. Nengxiu, an 86th generation disciple of Jianzhen and the abbot of the Daming Temple in Yangzhou City, together with over 30 experts on Jianzhen s East Journey from all over the country participated in the Symposium to appreciate the master s spirits of dauntless persistence and to trace the historical and cultural origins of Shengsi Islands and Jianzhen s East Journey.
In the 12th year of the Tianbao reign of the Tang Dynasty (753 AD), in order to help Japanese people fulfill their wishes for absorbing Chinese culture, Master Jianzhen, by then 66 and blind, finally made it to Japan on his sixth attempt. According to the textual research, Jianzhen stopped by Shengsi three times during his six attempts of visiting Japan, which indicates the significant position of Shengsi Islands in the history of cultural exchanges between China and Japan.