Gaoping Travel Recommendations for 2024 (Updated in Jun)
Kaihua Temple Travel Recommendations for 2024 (Updated in Jun)
The Kaihua Temple murals, predating the Yongle Palace murals, are a scroll of Song Dynasty customs!
Located in Gaoping, Shanxi, Kaihua Temple, originally named Qingliang Lanruo, was established in the second year of Wu Ping during the Northern Qi Dynasty (571), situated on the northern foothills of the Taihang Mountains at the waist of Sheli Mountain.
Kaihua Temple faces north and south, with the existing buildings including the Mahavira Hall, which is an original Song Dynasty structure, the Guanyin Hall as a Jin Dynasty relic, and the rest are buildings from the Ming and Qing periods.
The Mahavira Hall, also known as the central hall, is a relic from the Northern Song Dynasty, originally built in the sixth year of Xi Ning of the Northern Song Dynasty, 1073 AD. The murals began in the seventh year of Yuan You of the Northern Song Dynasty (1092 AD) and were completed over five years by the folk painter Guo Fa.
The murals of Kaihua Temple are colorful and rich in content, a rare treasure even earlier than the Yongle Palace murals, and they are also the largest preserved Song Dynasty temple murals in China. They are acclaimed as an encyclopedia of Song Dynasty architectural types for outlining a picture of Song Dynasty architecture and life.
Among them, the three-dimensional restoration of the image of the Tushita Heaven official city tower in the 'Maitreya Ascending Ascending Sutra Transformation' mural on the north wall of the eastern side of the great hall is just too beautiful!
The architecture and decoration of the Mahavira Hall were influenced by both local traditions and the official system, making it the only complete surviving relic from the Central Plains cultural area of the Northern Song period that still exists above ground.
Kaihua Temple Hiking||Exploring the First Temple of Southern Buddhism in China
||Exploring the First Temple of Southern Buddhism in China. Dayi Wuzhong Mountain, named for being covered by clouds and mist all year round, hides the Kaihua Temple deep within. Founded in the 16th year of Yongping during the Eastern Han Dynasty (73 AD), it is only six years younger than China's first Buddhist temple, the White Horse Temple in Luoyang, and is truly the first temple of Southern Buddhism!!!
Unfortunately, it was destroyed during the chaos caused by Zhang Xianzhong at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and further damaged over time. Now, only the stone screen, stele, and beasts in front of the main hall remain as a glimpse of the ancient site. In front of the main hall stand three stone steles, among which the most famous is titled 'Kaihua Temple Inscription,' written by the Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu. It not only records the architectural style and Buddha statues of the temple at that time but also describes the commerce and cultural-religious exchanges on the Southern Silk Road, making it extremely precious. Sadly, the back has been worn down to serve as steps for a farmhouse.
The other two ancient steles have inscriptions that are eroded and difficult to discern, and experts speculate that they are from before the Ming Dynasty. The Kaihua Temple we see today is a modern temple built on the original ruins, with temple halls constructed in recent years using cement in imitation of the Tang style.
❄️In winter, this place becomes a popular spot for snow hiking and checking in among the locals around Chengdu. The overall difficulty is not high, and the route is beautiful with white rime and thick snow. For navigation, search directly for Dayi Kaihua Temple.
🚗The overall road condition is good, but upon entering Wuzhong Mountain, the roads become rugged, narrow, and difficult for vehicles to pass each other.
🅿️The temple is currently under renovation, and there is a farmhouse nearby where you can park. Starting from Kaihua Temple, follow the road to the end, turn right onto a small path up the mountain 30min-Mingyue Temple-90min-Mitu Temple-10min-Yinghua Summit (also called Guangming Summit), and descend for 90min (return the same way). The overall difficulty of the hike is not high, with the path mainly consisting of stone steps and only a small section of dirt road in the middle, but it is still recommended to bring ice grips.
Journey to Shanxi - Kaifah Temple in Gaoping
Kaifah Temple, originally named Qingliang Ruolan, was established in the second year of Wuping in the Northern Qi Dynasty (571 AD). The temple faces south with two courtyards, composed of Dabeige (i.e., the mountain gate), Bell and Drum Tower, Daxiong Baodian, Yanfatang, Yanbin House, Weimo Clean Room, Guanyin Pavilion, East and West Peidian and two sides. Dabeige is a Ming Dynasty building, Daxiong Baodian is a Song Dynasty building, the Guanyin Pavilion in the east corner is a Jin Dynasty relic, the East Peidian in the backyard and the east and west corner towers are Yuan Dynasty buildings, and the rest are Ming and Qing Dynasty buildings. The temple has well-preserved Song Dynasty murals in ancient Chinese architecture, which can be called the 'Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival' in the mural world.
Daxiong Baodian is a Song Dynasty building, with a large broken window in the front eaves. The names and dates of the donors are carved on the eaves pillars, providing the exact date of the temple's construction and clearly demonstrating the cultural value of this building. The beam and frame structure, douqi, etc., are all Song Dynasty regulations. The painted patterns on the beams and douqi inside the temple are very exquisite, and Daxiong Baodian is extremely consistent with the painted patterns in the Song 'Construction Method'.
The temple houses murals painted from the seventh year of Yuanhua in the Northern Song Dynasty (1092 AD) to the second year of Shaosheng in the Northern Song Dynasty (1096 AD), with a total area of 88.2 square meters. The east wall is a change of the Huayan Sutra, a total of four volumes: the west wall and the west side of the north wall are a change of the Baoen Sutra, a total of four volumes: the east side of the north wall is a change of the Shangsheng Sutra, one volume. Overall, the murals have many characters and exquisite techniques, making them rare treasures.
You cannot enter Daxiong Baodian, but the digital results displayed in the side halls on both sides have restored the murals inside the temple, which can be viewed up close.
Travel tips:
1. Address: Sheli Mountain, Chenqu Town, Gaoping City
2. Tickets: Free
3. Parking: 10 yuan
Travel Recommendations for 2024 (Updated in Jun)
The iron Buddha temple in Gaoping, Shanxi, has unveiled its stunning statues, which are unparalleled in the world
The founding date of the Iron Buddha Temple is unknown. According to the inscription carved on the bluestone door pier of the main hall, 'The Iron Buddha was cast and the Iron Buddha Temple was repaired on the 13th of July in the seventh year of Dading in the Jin Dynasty (1167)', it is known that the main hall was built in the Jin Dynasty. Although it has been repaired many times in the past dynasties, it still retains the techniques of the Jin Dynasty. The main hall is a wooden structure, with three bays wide and six trusses deep. It is rectangular in plan, with a hanging mountain-style roof, and features such as ridge decorations, brackets, eaves corners, and straight windows. The statues of Sakyamuni Buddha, Guanyin, Manjusri, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, and the twenty-four heavens that were sculpted inside the hall have gone through hundreds of years of history. What we see now are the damaged and worn-out Ming Dynasty statues, which are heartbreaking and awe-inspiring. These statues must have originated from some artists with great artistic talent and imagination, and they are unique in the entire Ming Dynasty. Visitors who come and go are all shocked.
Sakyamuni Buddha sits in the center of the hall, sitting high on the Sumeru seat, with backlit hanging sculptures, golden and brilliant, and the gold foil on the Buddha's face has been scraped off by the ignorant. Manjusri and Samantabhadra Bodhisattvas stand on the lotus throne on both sides of the Buddha, but unfortunately their heads are lost and severely damaged. Behind Sakyamuni Buddha is Guanyin Bodhisattva, who is also only a remnant. On the east, north, and west sides of the main hall, twenty-four heavens are sculpted. These statues are taller than real people, some with protruding eyeballs, some with hair standing upside down, some with toes gripping the ground, and some with armor protecting their bodies. Their shapes are vivid and peculiar, their forms are different, and they are lifelike.
The Iron Buddha Temple is hidden in a farmhouse, and it is currently not open to the public, so it is generally impossible to see the statues inside.
Travel Recommendations for 2024 (Updated in Jun)
Xili Men Erxian Temple in Gaoping, Shanxi
Xili Men Erxian Temple, located to the north of Lingpo Natural Village, Xili Men Village, Hexi Town, Gaoping City, Jincheng, Shanxi Province, was founded during the Tang Dynasty. It was repaired in the second year of Jin Zhenglong (1157), the second year of Dading (1162), and during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The temple is rectangular, facing south with the back to the north, and consists of two courtyards. It is 32.85 meters wide from east to west, and 84.76 meters long in the south. Along the central axis, there are the mountain gate, the front hall, and the rear hall, with corridors and side halls on both sides. Outside the mountain gate, there is an inverted stage.
Travel Recommendations for 2024 (Updated in Jun)
Honestly, no city can beat Shanxi in this hall of colored sculptures
Such destructiveness, immense oppression, and extremely mutated limbs, overturn the traditional pursuit of beautifully detailed statues.
All of this gives a dreamy, surreal feeling. These abnormal expressions push the majesty of the Twenty-Four Devas to the extreme of fierce beauty.
The ancient sculptors pursued the ultimate in clothing detail. Every scale on the warrior's armor, every detail of the decoration, whether interlaced or overlapping, had to be presented in detail. The head is adorned with complex stacked floral patterns, with crowns and ribbons fluttering and soaring.
Shanxi National Treasure Essence·Gaoping Iron Buddha Temple Ming Sculpture of the Twenty-Four Devas, photographed by Li Jinchun.
P1 Mahabrahma, with a highly individual image, seems tailor-made for the fierce artistic style of this colored sculpture. The figure is robust, with dark green skin and strong muscles, a large and a small head, and a six-armed warrior image. With a wide mouth and sharp teeth, glaring and roaring like a lion; hair flying in anger, flames shooting in all directions; wearing a battle skirt and barefoot on the ground; the two arms raised, the left hand holding a club, the right hand holding a ruler.
Among them, the most characteristic are three: one is the large and small heads, three faces and six arms. Coupled with the furious expression, bloodshot eyes, angry red hair, developed muscles, and exaggerated actions, it has the grandeur of a Ming King that seems to swallow mountains and rivers.
P3 Guangmu Tian's image is unique, with a frowning and fierce look at first glance, which is daunting. He wears a high crown decorated with gold dragons, red flowers, green leaves, and other exquisite ornaments, with a dragon-snake-shaped flame pattern behind the crown.
Wearing war boots; chain mail, green chest wrap, red waistband, white protective waist, with various belt ornaments hanging from the waist; shoulders, chest, abdomen, wrists, and knees are adorned with dragon-head-shaped protectors.
P4 General Sanzhi, Mr. Li Zehou once described the fierce beauty of the Shang Dynasty bronze Taotie. 'Despite being very rough and even fierce and terrifying, it still retains a great aesthetic charm. In that intimidating and mysterious fierceness, there is a deep historical force.'
The General Sanzhi statue seems to awaken this 'fierce and terrifying' from ancient times. His full and robust body, with legs apart and belly thrust forward, presents a metal tripod-like solidity and stability. In the deep and dim hall, the entire statue exudes a mysterious and oppressive coldness from ancient times. Next is the fierce facial sculpture.
The greenish-yellow, dark bronze face is an extremely strange and fierce set of features. The dark green vertical eyebrows are like the patterns on the body of a tiger or leopard, and the exaggerated open mouth reveals two rows of striking fangs. The short and thick neck, the towering brow bone, and the red hair flying like flames on the head make the statue's face bizarre and fierce, with extremely spasmodic and mutated limbs. The twisted right thumb seems to be the tendons caused by extreme anger, and the bear-paw-like fierce and wild strength of the hands and feet, with the toes spread open like eagle claws digging into the ground, gives a sense of stepping on stones and leaving marks, grabbing iron and leaving traces.
Chongming Temple Travel Recommendations for 2024 (Updated in Jun)
Chongming Temple in Gaoping City, Shanxi
Located fifteen miles southeast of the downtown area of Gaoping City, at the foot of the sacred Buddha Mountain, facing south with the back to the north. The existing buildings include the mountain gate, bell and drum towers, the central Buddha hall, the rear hall, and two side halls, forming a two-courtyard complex. According to the inscriptions from the second year of the Chunhua period of the Song Dynasty (991) found within the temple, it was established during the Kaibao period of the Northern Song Dynasty (968-975), before the promulgation of the 'Yingzao Fashi' (Building Standards). It has been repaired and maintained through successive dynasties. Except for the central Buddha hall, which is an early Song Dynasty relic, the rest of the buildings were constructed during the Qing Dynasty. The main structure, the central Buddha hall, was built in the fourth year of the Kaibao period of the Northern Song Dynasty (971) and is now in the Song style. The stone platform base is 0.5 meters high. The hall is three bays wide (16.91 meters) and two bays deep (7.61 meters), with a single-eave hipped roof, tubular tile roof surface, and ridge decorated with glazed components. The beam frame consists of six sets of rafters, and the hall originally had a flat ceiling. The 'broken beam' structure is made of two short pieces of the same cross-section and length, which are placed opposite each other. The broken beam is supported by a longitudinal purlin below the seam, and both ends are placed on the rear eave column bracket tails, evenly distributing the roof load to the eave columns. This construction method of using small materials for significant purposes and designing according to the material is a great creation of ancient craftsmen.
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