Shanxi's famous scenic spot, the Shanhua Temple in Datong

The mountain gate, also known as the Hall of Heavenly Kings, is the main entrance to Shanhua Temple and a remnant of Jin Dynasty architecture. It is five bays wide and two bays deep, with a single-eave pent roof and houses four Heavenly Kings inside. The Three Saints Hall houses the statues of the Huayan Three Saints, and thus the hall is named after them. Inside the hall, there are two golden steles, one of which, the 'Record of the Reconstruction of the Great Hall of the Dajin Xijing Dapu'en Temple,' was written by Zhu Bian, the Deputy Envoy of the Song Dynasty. It is the earliest existing stele about the history of Shanhua Temple. This golden stele is not only a precious cultural relic but also a rare calligraphic masterpiece. The text on the stele, which mentions 'the main hall and the eastern and western cluster halls, the Arhat Cave, the halls of Manjusri and Samantabhadra, as well as the front hall's main gate and the left and right slanting corridors, totaling more than eighty columns,' also reflects the scale of the temple complex as seen today. The Southern Song envoy Zhu Bian was sent to the Jin Dynasty and stayed in Datong, the Western Capital of Jin, for sixteen years. He spent most of his time living in the Dapu'en Temple, refusing to serve the Jin Dynasty, but he opened a school to teach the Jurchen nobility Han culture, demonstrating his staunch patriotic spirit.