Where is Shuilu'an Temple?
Shuilu'an Temple is located at the foot of Wangshun moutain which is 10 kilometers away from Lantian county, Xi'an city, Shaanxi province.
Why Shuilu'an Temple is famous?
The temple structure dates from the Tang Dynasty (c. 1000 CE) and the site is famous for its Ming Dynasty (c. 1500 CE) painted sculpture. The entire decorative program includes approximately 3,500 separate figures, representing many different forms of the Buddha, as well as scenes of the Buddha's life. For this reason, Shuilu'an Temple is often referred to as "Little Dunhuang," as if the two-dimensional murals painted in the Mogao caves in Dunhuang, Gansu Province, had been realized in three-dimensional sculpture.
The painted scripture of Shuilu'an Temple
The highlight of the Shuilu'an Temple is its painted sculpture on the wall. Painted scripture is a combination of Chinese painting and Chinese sculpture with most subjects on mountains and flowers.
The History of Shuilu'an Temple
Shuilu'an Temple was called Shuilu Hall and it was part of the original temple. After the temple was destroyed, it was renamed by the locals as Shuilu’an Temple. According to the local archives, Shuilu'an Temple was the temple first built during the South and North dynasties (220AD-265AD). And it formed a Buddhist temples complex during the Tang dynasty with Upper and Lower Wuzhan Temples. It had been rebuilt many times during the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties.
What does the Shuilu'an Temple look like?
Shuilu'an Temple is now like a quadrangle courtyard, there is an mountain gate in the front of the temple, and there are 13 rooms on both southern and northern side of the temple respectively. It composes a complete Buddhist temple together with five major halls. You will see total 3,700 painted scriptures in the temple.
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