Guangsheng Temple (Lower Temple) in Linfen, 2024.

The Lower Temple of Guangsheng Temple includes the Water God Temple and the Lower Temple, which have basically retained the Yuan Dynasty architecture. Photos 2 and 3 show the mountain gate (the stage is behind the mountain gate) and the main hall of the Water God Temple, and photo 4 shows the Yuan Dynasty stone lion in front of the main hall. The murals of the Water God Temple are undoubtedly the most exquisite part of the Lower Temple. The east and west walls are the rain-seeking and rain-giving murals, respectively, and the difference can be clearly seen from the different facial expressions of the rain god sitting in the middle. The murals of the Water God Temple are wonderful because of their vivid details, such as the fish-selling mural in photo 7, where the official buying fish is pressing the scale with his little finger; the earliest coal stove in the lower right corner of photo 8; the cuju and chess murals in photo 9; the drama mural in photo 10; the mural of the Dragon King giving rain to Guangsheng Temple in photo 11, which shows the scale of Guangsheng Temple in those days; and the little maid lifting the curtain in photo 11 is also lifelike. If you can't see clearly, there is a special mural display and explanation on the west side of the main hall. The biggest highlight of the Lower Temple is the characteristics of Yuan Dynasty architecture, such as the "reduced column structure" in photo 14, the herringbone beam in photo 17, the large purlin in photo 18, the real and fake columns in photo 19, etc. The bell and drum towers on both sides of the main hall in photo 20 are also relatively rare. In fact, the Lower Temple also had very exquisite murals, but unfortunately, they were sold by the monks in the past to raise money to repair the temple, and are now preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the United States and the Kansas Museum. Now only a few corners of the murals remain in the main hall (photo 16), which is very regrettable.