In Western Liaoning, Yixian Fengguo Temple
Why Fengguo Temple?
Fengguo Temple was first built in the ninth year of the Liao Kaitai period (1020 AD), covering an area of 60,000 square meters. It houses the world's largest and oldest group of painted clay sculptures, having endured through the Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, and remains well-preserved after a full thousand years. In 1961, it was designated by the State Council as one of the first national key cultural relics protection units, and in 2012, it was added to China's tentative list for World Cultural Heritage.
The main hall of Yixian Fengguo Temple symbolizes the most meaningful period in the history of the Liao, Song, Jin, and Yuan dynasties: the cessation of war leading to reconciliation and cultural tolerance. It was during this time that the multi-ethnic Chinese nation created one of the greatest architectural achievements in Chinese history.
Wong Kar-wai’s film "The Grandmaster," which won multiple awards at home and abroad, was filmed at Fengguo Temple. The opening background of the film features the temple’s murals, and there is a sequence where the camera slowly pans across the seven Buddha statues in the main hall, capturing an artful beauty that is dizzying and a grandeur that deeply moves the audience.
How to appreciate Fengguo Temple?
Architectural scale
Along the central axis of Fengguo Temple, there are several buildings, with the main hall (Daxiong Hall) located at the rear, representing Liao dynasty wooden architecture.
This hall is the largest existing nine-bay main hall in China. (What is a nine-bay? Please look it up on Baidu.)
Its structure is a five-ridge, single-eave, hip-and-gable roof style. The Daxiong Hall is built on a 3-meter-high platform, nine bays wide, 55 meters long, five bays deep, 33 meters wide, with a terrace height reaching 24 meters, and a single building area of 1,800 square meters. Viewing it from behind the hall better conveys its massive scale.
Sculptures
Entering the main hall, its vastness is somewhat obscured by a row of seven large Buddha statues placed tightly at the front.
In front of each Buddha are two attendant Bodhisattvas, one on the east and one on the west, and on each side, there is also a Vajra warrior.
The seven Buddhas on the tall lotus pedestals represent the "Seven Past Buddhas." Their massive bodies require worshippers to look up with great effort. Therefore, besides the kneeling carpets on the floor in front of the statues, each Buddha has two levels of platforms and tall incense burners to facilitate worshippers climbing up to pay respects.
The Buddha faces are full and plump, with lowered brows and smiling lips, combining the grandeur and strength of masculinity with the compassion and gentleness of femininity, representing the pinnacle of Liao dynasty Buddhist art’s "Sanskrit-Han fusion."
Behind them, large flaming halos soar with intricate and delicate patterns, creating a strong dynamic contrast with the serene Buddha figures.
Despite a thousand years of dust and fading paint, the tranquility and majesty that transcend time instantly captivate viewers, inspiring awe.
Paintings
The architectural paintings inside the Daxiong Hall cover about 4,000 square meters, mainly painted on the beams and brackets inside the hall, all original works from the Liao dynasty.
These paintings are not only early in date but also numerous, well-preserved, and of extremely high artistic value. The content includes 42 flying apsaras, lotus (water lily), peony, pomegranate, and other motifs.
Look closely to see if you can find the male flying apsara with a small mustache.
Murals
On the four walls, the large murals added during the Yuan dynasty, though slightly later than the building itself, blend seamlessly with it. The murals depict ten Buddhas, eight Bodhisattvas, Arhats, flying apsaras, and more, forming a magnificent and grand Buddhist world.
Wood
Liao dynasty main halls generally used the column reduction method. The wood for the Daxiong Hall came from the oil pines of nearby Yiwulü Mountain. When it was built, oil pines that had already grown for 1,000 years were selected. Now, the Daxiong Hall has stood for 1,005 years, so each column is over 2,000 years old.
The most amazing thing is that these oil pines are still secreting pine resin. I actually went under the western column and touched it with my own hands—the vitality of a thousand years is still flowing.