[2024 Jishan Attraction] Travel Guide for Qinglong Temple (South Gate) (Updated Nov)
Temples
Address:
Jishan, Yuncheng, Shanxi, China
Opening times:
Opening hours TBDTemporarily Closed
Recommended sightseeing time:
1-2 hours
Inheriting the same style as Yongle Palace, the Jishan Qinglong Temple mural guide is a must-have.
📸When it comes to murals in Shanxi, many people think of the Yuan Dynasty mural "Chao Yuan Tu" in Yongle Palace, Yuncheng. However, not far from Yongle Palace, there are murals of the same style in Jishan, Shanxi, which are located in Qinglong Temple, Ma Village, Jishan County.
📸Although Qinglong Temple is not well-known, it is actually not difficult to get there. You can take a taxi from Jishan City, and the city view pass opened in Yuncheng City also has a station at Qinglong Temple. It is also next to the famous Ma Village brick carving tomb, and the two ancient sites can be played together.
✅Qinglong Temple has a look at the Yuan Dynasty wooden buildings. The three wide halls in the front yard (now the mountain gate), the middle hall and the main hall in the back yard are all wooden buildings of the Yuan Dynasty.
✅Qinglong Temple has two views of the Yuan Dynasty inscriptions "Yao Zhongsu Gong Shendao Stele", written by the famous minister Yu Ji and Jishan County people Yao Tianfu in the early Yuan Dynasty. This monument is the most famous monument of the Yuan Dynasty in Shanxi. There is also a Tang Dynasty square secret eaves stone pagoda in the monument pavilion.
✅Qinglong Temple has three views of murals. The murals of Qinglong Temple are mainly distributed in the Daxiong Hall and the Waist Hall Buddha Hall. These murals are mainly relics of the Yuan Dynasty, with a total of more than 180 square meters of Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian murals. It can be said that these murals have experienced a period of vicissitudes. During the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese cut the murals and took them to Japan. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, these murals were returned under various efforts and returned to their homeland.
📸In addition, on the side of the door lintel of the gate, you can also see the characteristic "Journey to the West". The 8-meter-long and 0.6-meter-wide mural depicts Xuanzang, Sha Monk, and Sun Wukong. The front side is Xuanzang, followed by Sha Monk, and Sun Wukong is leading the white horse carrying the scriptures.
📸From the murals, you can see that Wukong is a monkey-shaped human body, wearing short clothes, leggings, and a tight hoop, and the white horse behind him is carrying the scriptures.
📸Let's take a look at the murals in the Buddha Hall, which are a fusion of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. The theme is the six reincarnations, cause and effect, etc., which are also the essence of Qinglong Temple murals.
📸The upper part of the west wall is painted with three Buddhas, the middle one is Sakyamuni, and the two sides are Rendeng Buddha and Maitreya Buddha. Below the three Buddhas is a picture of worshiping the Buddha. There are many characters in the murals, including emperors, princes, kings, civil and military officials, queens, and female officials.
📸Below the Buddha's picture is a group of gods, left and right protectors, ghost mothers, five emperors, five gods, and five immortals.
📸There are ten great Ming kings on the south side of the Buddha Hall. Below the ten great Ming kings are the four envoys of the year, month, day, and time. There are many characters in the lower part of the four envoys, including Confucius of Confucianism, famous ministers of the Three Kingdoms Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Liu Bei, etc., and Tang Taizong Li Shimin, Tang Guifei, Yang Yuhuan, etc.
📸The north side of the Buddha Hall is the nine horizontal death beings in Buddhism, as well as Anan and Yan Kou.
📸It can be said that the murals of Qinglong Temple and Yongle Palace are of the same origin, all are heavy color outlines, and they are all dominated by green and blue. The style and image of the characters are also of the same origin, and they are also the best in Chinese Yuan Dynasty murals.
quill_3142
Cultural Relics on the Ground: Shanxi | Yuncheng | Qinglong Temple
| Yuncheng | Qinglong Temple. Cultural Relics on the Ground: Shanxi | Yuncheng | Qinglong Temple.
🕍 Qinglong Temple in Jishan County is next to the Duan family tombs. It was originally built during the Tang Dynasty, but unfortunately, the Tang Dynasty buildings were destroyed by an earthquake. The current structures were rebuilt during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, and more than a dozen buildings in the front and rear courtyards are relatively well-preserved.
The main hall, waist hall, and Jialan hall of Qinglong Temple all have murals, among which the waist hall is considered the essence, depicting monks worshipping the Buddhas of the three realms and conducting water and land rituals for the salvation of souls. The entire composition of the hall contains more than 300 figures, spread over 130 square meters of wall space. The west wall features the Buddhas of the Three Worlds and worship scenes, below which is a Taoist pantheon; the north wall features the Eighteen Arhats, below which are the Ten Kings of Hell and the Six Paths of Reincarnation, as well as scenes of the underworld's execution grounds; the east wall murals have been weathered by sun and rain, making the features difficult to discern.
🛕 The murals of Qinglong Temple inherit the painting techniques developed since the Tang and Song dynasties and are considered masterpieces of Yuan and Ming dynasty painting. The style and details of the murals show a lineage with the murals of Yongle Palace, characterized by layering numerous figures vertically, but with less grandeur than those of Yongle Palace, and they have suffered more damage.
🛕 The famous 'Holding a Scepter Taiyi' on the west wall of the Sanqing Hall of Yongle Palace, and a figure in the western wall of Qinglong Temple among the great Yaksha group holding a scepter dressed as an emperor (cover image), are extremely similar in terms of clothing, headgear, and brushwork. A peculiar rock in the murals of the Sanqing Hall, resembling a bull's head, is the unique signature of Zhu Haogu, a folk painter from southern Shanxi during the Yuan Dynasty. Similar rocks can be found in the murals of Xinghua Temple and Qinglong Temple, suggesting a lineage among the three.
💡Tips:
On June 25, 2001, the State Council announced it as the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.