A structure built before the Tang Dynasty (618-907) was recently unearthed by archaeologists digging near downtown Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province. Fragments of a large stone carving and wall foundations, which were believed to belong to a temple of the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), were among the relics unearthed. Experts said patterns on a stone carving were similar to those common to wall paintings and buildings in grottoes like Dunhuang in the northwest, and in Buddhist pagodas before the Tang Dynasty.

(Eastday.com 02/06/2001)