The Puhua Temple () is a

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhism, Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat, khurul and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in B ...

located in

Taihuai Town Taihuai () is a town in Wutai County, Xinzhou, Shanxi, China. it had a population of 10,525 and an area of . The Han, Manchu, Mongolian and Tibetan live here. Taihuai located in the northeastern Wutai County. It borders the Yedou Peak () in the ...

Wutai County Wutai County () is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xinzhou, in the northeast of Shanxi Province, China, bordering Hebei province to the east. It is named after Mount Wutai, which is located within its borders. It w ...

Xinzhou Xinzhou, ancient name Xiurong (), is a prefecture-level city occupying the north-central section of Shanxi Province in the People's Republic of China, bordering Hebei to the east, Shaanxi to the west, and Inner Mongolia to the northwest. As ...

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

History

The time for the establishment of the Puhua Temple has been unable to be verified. It is also called "Temple of

Jade Emperor In the Chinese mythology, myths and Chinese folk religion, folk religion of Chinese culture, the Jade Emperor or Yudi is one of the representations of the Primordial Divinity (Tai Di), primordial god. In Taoist theology, he is the assistant of ...

" () and "Palace of

Indra Indra (; ) is the Hindu god of weather, considered the king of the Deva (Hinduism), Devas and Svarga in Hinduism. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes Indra is the m ...

" (). The present temple was completed in 1925 during the

Republic of China (1912-1949) Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Architecture

The Puhua Temple complex is located in the east and faces the west. With a brief layout, it includes the

Hall of Four Heavenly Kings The ''Tianwang Dian'' (; lit: ”Hall of the Heavenly Kings”) is the first important hall inside a shanmen (mount gate) in Chinese Buddhist temples and is named due to the Four Heavenly Kings statues enshrined in the hall. Maitreya Buddha i ...

Mahavira Hall A Mahavira Hall, usually simply known as a Main Hall, is the main hall or building in a traditional Chinese culture, Chinese Buddhist temple, enshrining representations of Gautama Buddha and various other buddhas and bodhisattvas. It is encoun ...

, Hall of

Lü Dongbin Lü Dongbin is a legendary Chinese scholar and poet who lived during the Tang dynasty whose lifetime supposedly spanned two hundred and twenty years. Elevated to the status of an immortal in the Chinese cultural sphere by Daoists, he is one of ...

, and south and north annex halls. It has a building area of .

Zhaobi

The ''Zhaobi'' () is built by stones and bricks. The front of the ''Zhaobi'' are engraved with the

Sanxing (deities) The Sanxing ()) are the gods of the three celestial bodies considered essential in Chinese astrology and mythology: Jupiter, Ursa Major, and Canopus. Fu, Lu, and Shou (), or Cai, Zi and Shou () are also the embodiments of Fortune ( ''Fu''), pre ...

() and the back of the wall are engraved with

Guanyin Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the bodhisattva associated with Karuṇā, compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as m ...

Sudhana Sudhanakumāra (), mainly known as Sudhana and Shancai or Shancai Tongzi in Chinese, and translated as ''Child of Wealth'', along with Longnü "Dragon Girl" are considered acolytes of the bodhisattva Guanyin (Avalokiteśvara) in Chinese Buddhis ...

and

Longnü Longnü (; Sanskrit: ''nāgakanyā''; Vietnamese: ''Long nữ''), translated as ''Dragon Girl'', along with Sudhana are considered acolytes of the bodhisattva Guanyin (Avalokiteśvara) in Chinese Buddhism. Her presence in Guanyin's iconograph ...

Hall of Four Heavenly Kings

Under the eaves of the

is a plaque with the Chinese characters "". In front of the hall, a wooden plaque with a couplet is hung on the two side pillars. It says "". Maitreya is enshrined in the hall and at the back of his statue is a statue of Skanda. Unlike other temples, Statues of Nryana are also enshrined in the hall. The hall are carved with openwork patterns, which show proficient skills. The patterns are

Monkey King Sun Wukong (, Mandarin pronunciation: ), also known as the Monkey King, is a literary and religious figure best known as one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West''. In the novel, Sun Wukong is a monk ...

, human figures of cowboy, shepherd, oldman etc. The shrine of

Maitreya Maitreya (Sanskrit) or Metteyya (Pali), is a bodhisattva who is regarded as the future Buddhahood, Buddha of this world in all schools of Buddhism, prophesied to become Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha.Williams, Paul. ''Mahayana Buddhism: Th ...

are engraved with splendid and spectacular wooden dragons. In the wall of the Hall of Four Heavenly Kings are engraved with the Picture-Book of Twenty-Four Acts of Filial Piety () and the Four Natural Organs ().

Mahavira Hall

The

enshrining the Three Saints of Hua-yan (). In the middle is

Sakyamuni Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

, statues of

Manjushri Manjushri () is a ''bodhisattva'' who represents '' prajñā'' (transcendent wisdom) of the Buddhas in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The name "Mañjuśrī" is a combination of Sanskrit word " mañju" and an honorific " śrī"; it can be literally transla ...

and

Samantabhadra Samantabhadra (Lit. "All Good", or "Always Auspicious") may refer to: * Samantabhadra (Bodhisattva), a bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism associated with practice and meditation * ''Samantabhadra'' (Tibetan: ''Kuntu Zangpo''), the name of a Buddha, ...

stand on the left and right sides of Sakyamuni's statue. At the back of Sakyamuni's statue are statues of the Three Sages of the West (), namely

, Amitabha and

Mahasthamaprapta Mahāsthāmaprāpta is a bodhisattva mahāsattva who represents the power of wisdom. His name literally means "arrival of the great strength". Mahāsthāmaprāpta is one of the Eight Great Bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism, along with Mañju ...

. The statues of

Eighteen Arhats The Eighteen Arhats (or Eighteen Luohans) () are depicted in Chinese Buddhism as the original followers of Gautama Buddha ('' arhat'') who have followed the Noble Eightfold Path and attained the four stages of enlightenment. They have reached the ...

stand on both sides of the hall.

Three Buddhas Hall

Behind the Mahavira Hall is the Three Buddhas Hall enshrining the statues of Sakyamuni, Amitabha and

Bhaisajyaguru Bhaiṣajyaguru (, zh, t= , , , , ), or ''Bhaishajyaguru'', formally Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūrya-prabha-rāja ("Medicine Master and King of Lapis Lazuli Light"; zh, t=藥師琉璃光(王)如來, , , ), is the Buddha of healing and medicine i ...

. The two disciples' statues are placed in front of the statue of Sakyamuni, the older is called

Kassapa Buddha Kassapa Buddha (Pali), is one of the ancient Buddhas that are chronicled in the Pali Canon's '' Buddhavamsa'', ''Chapter 24''. He was born in Deer Park at Sarnath, where he later delivered his first teaching.Ven. Mingun Sayadaw, "Buddhavamsa Chapt ...

and the middle-aged is called Ananda. Statues of

and

Brahma Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...

are placed next to the statues of Sakyamuni, Amitabha and Bhaisajyaguru. The four pillars inside the hall are engraved with dedicate and gorgeousness karavika-bhani (). The statues of Eighteen Arhats stand on the platform of gable wall.

Gallery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puhua Temple Buddhist temples in Xinzhou Wutai County Xinzhou