Yunju Temple (West Wutai, Anqing Temple)

Yunju Temple, also known as Xiwutai and Anqing Temple, is the site of the former palace city of Daxing in the Sui Dynasty and Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty. It is also known as Anqing Temple. It is located on the south side of Lianhu Road inside Yuxiang Gate in Xi'an City. It is adjacent to Sajin Bridge in the east and Ming city wall in the west. It is about one li long from east to west and has a history of more than one thousand years. Yunju Temple was once a large royal temple built by Li Shimin, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, to show his filial piety to his mother. He built five high platforms to the west of Guangyun Gate in the palace city and on the ruins of the southern city wall of West Taiji Palace according to the architectural layout of the Nan Wutai in Zhongnan Mountain, for his mother to pay homage. As the largest Buddhist nunnery in Chang'an City, Yunju Temple stands side by side with the famous Bell Tower and Drum Tower in Chang'an City, facing each other from afar. Galan was originally a deity in Indian Buddhism. After Buddhism was introduced to China, it gradually acquired Chinese characteristics. By the Tang and Song dynasties, there was a custom of worshipping Galan in Zen temples. In Chinese Buddhism, Guan Gong (Guan Yu, a general of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period) is often regarded as the Galan deity.