Brick hall without beams

Brick hall without beams

Wuliang brick hall, located in Wannian temple, Emeishan, Sichuan, is the second Hall of Wannian temple, also known as Puxian hall.

Brief introduction to the palace

Wuliang brick hall, located in Wannian temple, Emeishan, Sichuan, is the second Hall of Wannian temple, also known as Puxian hall. The hall, built in the Ming Dynasty, is made of bricks, with no wood, one pillar and one tile.

Architectural features

In the 28th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1600), the imperial court granted a large sum of money to Baishui temple in Emei Mountain. Taiquan monk used the money to build a brick hall without beams. In July of the 29th year of Wanli (1601), the brick hall was completed. It coincided with the 70th Christmas of the mother of Shenzong in the Ming Dynasty. In order to celebrate the Empress Dowager's birthday, Shenzong granted Baishui Puxian temple as "Shengshou Wannian Temple".

The structure of the brick hall without beams is ingenious, which imitates the architecture of the Hindu temple of geno. It is a square dome tower structure, implying the meaning of "the sky is round and the place is round". The hall is 18.22 meters in height, 16.02 meters in length and 16.02 meters in width, with a construction area of 257 square meters. It is completely built with bricks. In front of and behind the hall, there are doors opposite each other. On the forehead of the front door of the brick hall, there are five words of "Shengshou Wannian Temple" inscribed by mingshenzong.

On the top of the hall, there are five towers, which are divided into southeast, northwest and middle. There are lion, deer, elephant and auspicious beast in the four corners. The door forehead, Dou Gong, Chui Zhu and Chuanru are all in the French style of Ming Dynasty. It is said that in the past 400 years, the building has experienced 18 earthquakes of magnitude 5-7.9, and has been safe and sound. It is known as a miracle in the history of ancient architecture in China. On August 16, 1956, with the approval of Sichuan Provincial People's Committee, Wuliang brick hall is a key cultural relic protection unit in Sichuan Province. In May 2006, it was listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit.

Bronze statue of Puxian

The bronze and iron Buddha statue of Mt. Emei Shengshou Wannian temple in the brick hall without beam was cast in the Song Dynasty. In 980, Taizong of the Song Dynasty wanted to revitalize Buddhism. He ordered Maozhen, a monk of Baishui temple in Emei Mountain, to enter the court. He gave three thousand taels of gold and ordered him to cast a bronze statue of Puxian to worship in the temple, which was changed to Baishui Puxian temple. Zhang renzan was also sent to assist the foundry.

After casting, the bronze statue is 7.38 meters high and weighs about 62 tons. The Buddha is 3.64 meters high and sits on the lotus seat on the back of the elephant. The rosette is 1.39 m high and 2.22 m in diameter. Six teeth white elephant, four feet each step on a lotus Deng. The Bodhisattva is covered with gold, wears a golden crown of five Buddhas, wears cassock, and holds Ruyi in his hand. The six toothed white elephant carries a lotus stand. It is kind-hearted in shape and steady in steps. It seems that it wants to move forward. The body of the bronze statue is hollow, which is welded by blocks. The body of Puxian Bodhisattva is plump, kind and dignified, with smooth clothing lines and rich texture; the white elephant has a smooth nose and curly tail, powerful four hooves, ready to move. The overall shape is symmetrical, vivid and exquisite, which is rare in China. As early as 1961, this bronze and iron Buddha statue was listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit.

When the bronze statue of Puxian was cast, there was no brick hall, only the wood structure of the great statue Pavilion. In 1599, the statue of Puxian was destroyed by fire. In 1600, temple monk Tai Quan was rebuilt by Emperor Wanli of Ming Dynasty, and the brick and stone structure was changed.

The top of the brick hall without beams is decorated with a flying caisson. There are seven circular niches around it. There were 3000 iron Buddha statues, but there are still 328.

Address: Wannian temple, Mount Emei Scenic Area, Leshan City

Longitude: 103.375872612

Latitude: 29.590654366684

Tel: Emeishan scenic area Tel: 400-8196-333

Ticket information: no ticket required. Included in the ticket of Wannian Temple

Chinese PinYin : Wu Liang Zhuan Dian