Bao'en Temple ( zh, t=報恩寺, s=报恩寺, hp=Bào'ēnsì, first=t), also known as Bao'en Monastery, is a well-preserved fifteenth-century

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

complex located in Pingwu County, in northwestern

Sichuan Province Sichuan is a Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capita ...

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 ...

. It was built by Wang Xi, a local chieftain, between 1440 and 1446 during Emperor Yingzong's reign (1427–64) in the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

(1368–1644).

History

The monastery complex, which includes a main hall,

pavilions In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings; * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

, Dabei Hall (enshrining a thousand-armed image of Avalokitesvara) and Huayan Hall (containing a precious revolving

sutra ''Sutra'' ()Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a ...

cabinet, ''zhuanlun cang'') was completed by 1443. The wall paintings, sculptures and other ornamental details were finished by 1460. These ornamental additions, such as the Ming period sculpture, painting and murals, the wooden Avalokitesvara and the sutra repository are masterpieces of the period. The complex is very well preserved and a major achievement in Ming religious architecture.

Description

As is typical in Chinese Buddhist temples, the major halls were constructed along a central

axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

while the minor halls and other structures were built along

transverse Transverse may refer to: *Transverse engine, an engine in which the crankshaft is oriented side-to-side relative to the wheels of the vehicle *Transverse flute, a flute that is held horizontally * Transverse force (or ''Euler force''), the tangen ...

axes. The many galleries connecting the halls form rectangular courtyards. Numerous other buildings are part of the complex including a meditation hall, a fasting hall, and storage halls.

Stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

pavilions stand on the east and west sides. As is characteristic of the Ming style, in every hall part of the ceiling is exposed. Dabei hall has double

eave The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural sty ...

s. Under the eaves have been placed ''

dougong ''Dougong'' (Chinese language, Chinese: 斗拱; pinyin: ''dǒugǒng''; lit. 'cap ndblock') is a structural element of interlocking wooden Bracket (architecture), brackets, important in traditional Chinese architecture for both its struct ...

'', an assemblage of a number of blocks and arms ( sets of brackets) that support the hall's roof. Forty-eight different types and 2,200 sets of ''dougong'' support and ornament the structures within the Bao'en Temple complex. The main hall is the most important building; its roof is covered with black and green glazed tiles. At the centre of Dabei Hall is a golden statue of

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 ...

, the goddess of mercy, carved out of a nanmu tree. The figure is nine metres tall and has 1,004 clusters of hands and eyes. At the centre of Huayan Hall is the revolving sutra cabinet, a huge octagonal wooden structure that turns like a

lever A lever is a simple machine consisting of a beam (structure), beam or rigid rod pivoted at a fixed hinge, or '':wikt:fulcrum, fulcrum''. A lever is a rigid body capable of rotating on a point on itself. On the basis of the locations of fulcrum, l ...

and even today can still turn smoothly.

Footnotes

{{Coord, 32.4111, N, 104.5300, E, source:ruwiki_region:CN_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title Pagodas in China Buildings and structures completed in 1446 Buddhist temples in Sichuan Ming dynasty architecture 15th-century establishments in China Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Sichuan 1440s establishments in Asia Guanyin

History

Description

See also

Footnotes