Shuiliansi

Shuilian Temple is located in a mountain gorge six kilometers west of Tongbai County. Behind the hall, there is a 100-meter cliff, Yihong Mountain Spring pours down from the top of the cliff, like a crystal curtain hanging in the air, covering a natural grotto on the upper part of the cliff behind the curtain, called Shuilian Cave. Hence the name of the temple. This place was originally a part of the Taoist resort of Tongbai Mountain, which was listed at the forty-first among the seventy-two Taoist blessed places. The Shuilian Temple was built before 1088 in the third year of Yuanyou in the Song Dynasty, in the twenty-seventh year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, and during the Qianlong and Jiaqing years of the Qing Dynasty. There is one original mountain gate, three in the middle hall and three in the rear hall, and ten accompanying rooms. It was not until 1956 that the house was completely destroyed and Taoist activities ceased. There were 5 mountain gates, 5 halls and 16 wing rooms in total; another 15 rooms were built in the north, including the staff, reception rooms, and monks' quarters. Since then, it has been officially changed to a Buddhist temple. In 1983, the national religious policy was fully implemented, and the government approved the opening of Shuilian Temple as a place for Buddhist activities. Under the concern and attention of governments at all levels, Shuilian Temple has been completely restored, and successively built Daxiong Hall, Pilu Hall, Jade Buddha Hall, Tianwang Hall, Shanmen, Monk's House, Gongde Hall, Chanlin Temple, Luohan Hall, and Huazang Library. There are more than 120 buildings in the hall, and more than 120 statues of various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Among them, the large-scale finely carved Burmese white jade Buddha statue is a masterpiece in the Central Plains. There are 12 large-scale wood carvings of King Kong, a collection of Pinga Tibetans inherited and preserved by the monks of the past dynasties, and the Japanese version of the Taisho Collection. There are more than 20,000 volumes of the two classics.