Huayan Temple or Huayan Monastery (simplified Chinese: 华严寺; traditional Chinese: 華嚴寺; pinyin: Huáyán Sì) is a Buddhist temple located in Datong, Shanxi, China. Huayan Temple has been burned down and rebuilt several times. The Daxiongbao Hall and Cangjing Ge still preserve the architectural style of the Liao and Jin dynasties (907–1234). It is an artistic complex of ancient Chinese architecture, sculpture, frescoes and inscriptions, as well as a cultural synthesis of religion and politics.
History
Liao dynasty The temple was first established in 1038, in the 7th year of Chongxi period (1032–1055) in the Liao dynasty (907–1125). The name of "Huayan" derives from Avatamsaka Sutra, which more commonly known as "Huayan Sutra" (华严经) in China. Part of the temple was devastated in 1122, during the war between Liao and Jin dynasties.
Jin dynasty Huayan Temple was restored and redecorated in 1140, in the 3rd year of Tianjuan period (1138–1140) in the Jin dynasty (1115–1234). Abbot Tongwu (通悟) rebuilt the Daxiongbao Hall, Guanyin Hall, Shanmen, and Drum tower. In 1166, Emperor Shizong visited the temple.
Yuan dynasty During the reign of Emperor Wuzong (1308–1311) in the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), abbot Huiming (慧明) supervised the reconstruction of Huayan Temple. Daxiongbao Hall, abbot's room, and dining room were gradually renovated. In the heyday of the temple, it had hundreds of halls and rooms. After the fall of the Yuan dynasty, most of the temple buildings were destroyed in the battle between the Hongjin and Mongolian armies.
Ming dynasty In the early Ming dynasty (1368–1644), the temple was confiscated. It reactivated its religious activities in the mid-15th century, during the Xuande (1426–1435) and Jingtai periods (1450–1456).
Qing dynasty At the dawn of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), in 1648, Huayan Temple was reduced to ashes by a devastating fire, with only the Daxiongbao Hall and Buddhist Texts Library remaining. The temple declined and incredibly disappeared during the middle and later Qing dynasty.
People's Republic of China After the founding of the Communist State, the government provided great protection for the temple. Huayan Temple as inscribed among the first group of "Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Shanxi" by the State Council of China in 1961. It has been designated as a National Key Buddhist Temple in Han Chinese Area by the State Council of China in 1983.
Architecture The complex includes the following halls: Shanmen, Daxiongbao Hall, Bojia Jiaozang Hall, Mi Le Hall, Guanyin Hall, Yaoshi Hall, Wenshu Pavilion, Puxian Pavilion, Bell tower, Drum tower, Zushi Hall, Dharma Hall, Wood Pagoda, etc.
Daxiongbao Hall The current structure of the Daxiongbao Hall dates back to 1140 during the Jin dynasty (1115–1234). While the hall was originally built in 1062 under the Liao dynasty, it was destroyed by fire in 1122 during a rebellion and was rebuilt in 1140 during the succeeding Jin dynasty. The hall was built to face the east, being nine rooms wide, five rooms deep and covering an area of 1,559 square metres (16,780 sq ft). Standing on a platform more than 4 meters high, it is one of the largest extant Buddhist halls from the Liao and Jin dynasties, and one of the two largest existing historical temples in China (the other being the Daxiongbao Hall of Fengguo Temple in Liaoning). The eaves are 9.5 meters high, with a hip roof. The glazed tile roof ornaments on the ridge are very large, reaching a height of 4.5 meters, with each tile being 76 centimeters long and weighing 27 kilograms. On each end of the main ridge is giant Chiwen, a legendary animal with a dragon head and fish tail with colorful glaze and vivid style. They are relics of the Jin (1115–1234) and Ming dynasties (1368–1644). The hall employs a column-reduction technique, reducing the number of inner columns by twelve, thus expanding the front space to facilitate the arrangement of Buddha statues and performance of rituals. The center of the hall enshrines the statues of the Five Tathagathas, which were carved in the Xuande period (1426–1435) of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). The three Buddhas in the center: Piluzhena Fo (Mahāvairocana), Amituofo (Amitābha) and Achu Fo (Akshobhya), were carved from wood, while the other two Buddhas: Baosheng Fo (Ratnasambhava) and Bukong Chengjiu Fo (Amoghasiddhi), along with the attendant bodhisattvas, were sculpted from clay. Ming dynasty statues of the Twenty-Four Protective Deities are also placed on both sides of the hall flanking the central altar. Three walls of the hall are covered with murals, the paintings reaching a height of 64 meters and covering an area of 887.25 square meters in total. The murals depict various events from Buddhist scriptures and Buddhist figures, such as Sudhana's pilgrimage to find fifty-three spiritual teachers from the Avatamsaka Sutra, children worshipping the Bodhisattva Guanyin, the thousand-armed and thousand-eyed manifestation of Guanyin known as Qianyan Qianshou Guanyin, Arhats and others. The murals were painted during the Guangxu period (1875-1908) of the Qing dynasty by a group of craftsmen. The ceiling also features 73 painted panels, also mostly made during the Qing dynasty, depicting a variety of patterns including circles, loong, and fenghuang, flowers and Sanskrit. On the north wall outside the hall entrance are four steles inscribed with the Yijing by Zhu Xi, a famous Neo-Confucian scholar of the Song dynasty. Beneath the south building's corridor, a stone tablet inscribed with a poem titled "Taihu Lake" written by the renowned Ming Dynasty writer Wen Zhengming. In summer, canna lilies, passionflowers, oleanders, and red hydrangeas bloom in the courtyard, their vibrant colors and fragrant aromas filling the air.
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