In October 1978, his beloved Kohei began to visit Japan, and on October 28, he visited nara, the ancient capital of Japan, visited Todaiji Temple in the morning, and in the afternoon, he went to Tangzhaoti Temple, where the statue and cemetery of Master Kanzen were enshrined. Since 1963, whenever Chinese leaders visited Tang Zhaoti Temple, Elder Morimoto Takashi's wish to return Jian Zhen to his hometown has not been fulfilled. On the 29th, when Mr. and Mrs. Xiaoping visited Tang Zhaoti Temple, Elder Morimoto again made a request for Jian Zhen to return to his hometown, and Xiaoping replied, "... No matter how difficult it is, we must also let the Zhen Zhen Masters and Elders come to China. During the period, Liao Chengzhi, then president of the China-Japan Friendship Association, reaffirmed it. Less than a year and a half later, on April 13, 1980, the statue of the Master of Authenticity, who had been away from his homeland for more than 1,200 years, returned home.
30 years later, in 2010, Jian Zhen sat back home again.
April 11, 1980 Photo by Yang Putao
The statue of Master Jian Zhen returned to China to tour the car and was designed and manufactured by Shanghai Transport Company Liuchang. After being escorted to Shanghai by the City of Nara in Japan, the statue of Master Jian Zhen will be transported to Yangzhou in this car.
The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications is scheduled to issue three commemorative stamps entitled "Portrait of the True Master returning to China" on April 13, 1980.
Photo by Zhang Liuren
On April 13, 1980, he arrived in Shanghai by plane under the escort of Elder Takashi Morimoto of Nara Tangzhao Tiji Temple, Japan, and other Japanese friends.
Gao Mei and photography
Ding Jun
On the afternoon of April 14, the special car escorting the statue of Master Jian Zhen crossed the river from Zhenjiang to Guazhou Gudu Wharf.
Photo by Xue Tiejun
On the afternoon of April 14, when the statue of Master Jian Zhen was transported by a special special car to Yangzhou, the hometown of Jian Zhen, it was warmly welcomed by the local people.
Japanese friends such as Elder Morimoto Takashi of Tangzhao Ti Temple in Nara, Japan, who escorted the statue of Master Jian Zhen to China, accompanied by Zhao Puchu (front left) and others, came to The Daming Temple in Yangzhou.
On April 15, Elder Morimoto Takashi (front right) of The TangZhaoTi Temple in Nara, Japan, accompanied by Master Nengqin, abbot of Daming Temple in Yangzhou, visited Daming Temple, the former residence of Jian Zhen.
On April 18th, a touring exhibition meeting of Jiangsu Province and Yangzhou City to welcome the statue of Master Jian Zhen back to China was held in Yangzhou.
The abbot of Daming Temple, Master Nengqin, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony
On April 19, the statue of Master Jian Zhen was officially exhibited in Yangzhou.
Ding Modi, a famous seal engraver in Yangzhou, used the Qin seal method to carefully carve a seal for Elder Morimoto Filial Piety - "The Seal of Morimoto Filial Piety". The seal was given to Elder Morimoto as a gift from the Yangzhou Craft Factory.