Statues of Xitian Temple

Statues of Xitian Temple

The statue of Xitian temple is located in Zibo City, Shandong Province. Xitian temple was built by Shi Hu, the later emperor of Zhao Dynasty in the northern and Southern Dynasties. It was originally named Xingguo temple, but later changed to Guanghua temple, which was revived and abandoned several times. The temple reached its peak in the Northern Wei Dynasty, with a span of 1.5 km from north to south. It was one of the largest temples in China at that time, with a large number of Buddha statues and incense. In the early Ming Dynasty, the temple was rebuilt on the site of Guanghua temple and renamed Xitian temple. The 5.6-meter statue of Xitian temple is the largest existing single stone Buddha statue in East China, commonly known as "Zhangba Buddha" and "wuliangshou Buddha". There are nine main halls in the temple, with brick and wood structure, red brick and green tile eaves and Dou tip. On the front is a bronze statue of Sakyamuni with a height of more than Zhang. On the side are statues of Bodhisattvas of Buddhists. On both sides are statues of eighteen Arhats. On the front hall are statues of Maitreya Buddha. On the two verandahs are deacons' rooms, and there are many monastic courtyards.

Other introductions

In the bell tower of the courtyard, a 2-meter-high iron bell is suspended. When dawn breaks, the heavy and thick bell rings through the sky, more than ten miles away. This is the sentence "listen to the bell at the head of the West Temple Tower" in Linzi's eight scenic poems. Beside the bell tower in the temple, there are two steles, which are more than two Zhang high, describing the construction process of the temple. In the courtyard to the east of the main hall, there are six parallel circular towers, commonly known as Bangchui tower, which used to be the burial ground for the ashes of famous monks in the temple. In addition, there are six stone towers about 1500 meters south of the temple. The six towers are arranged from east to west. Except for the two smaller ones, the other four towers are more than 30 meters long and more than 30 meters high. They are pure stone structures with eight edges and seven levels. They are exquisitely carved and have vivid figures, birds and animals. The temple is rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty, with a suspended mountain style wooden structure. The main building is 25.5 meters long, 19.9 meters long and covers an area of 505.46 square meters. In the temple, there is an iron bell donated and cast by Li Daotai and his sons, grandsons and resident monks in the second year of Kangxi reign (1663 A.D.), a plaque in the 10th year of Yongzheng reign (1732 A.D.), Zeng Guansheng and Zeng Naisheng in Tianshun reign (1453-1464 A.D.), Zeng Xiyuan in dingchouke reign of Qianlong reign of Qing Dynasty, Zeng chongdeng in renxu reign of Qianlong reign and Zeng Qingyang in Tianshun reign of Ming Dynasty, and seven pairs of inscribed wooden couplets Ancient sandalwood, the ancestor of the pure land in the west, a king Buddha in the Qing Dynasty and a bronze censer donated by Xu Guangdong in the eighth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty.

Address: North of Xiguan village, Qidu Town, Linzi District, Zibo City, Shandong Province

Longitude: 118.34296655463

Latitude: 36.856706335783

Chinese PinYin : Xi Tian Si Zao Xiang