#Lantianshui Lu'an Bisu Museum Travel Recommendations for 2024 (Updated in May)
With each glance, we see less of China's second Dunhuang, the past and present of Shuilu'an Temple
When it comes to Lantian, most people's first reaction is to think of the well-known Lantian Man or Lantian jade. However, there is also a temple known as 'China's second Dunhuang' on this auspicious land—Shuilu'an Temple. And the most famous feature of Shuilu'an is the Shuilu'an colored sculpture group!
The Shuilu'an colored sculptures integrate painting, round carving, relief, and engraving techniques, and the walls, beams, and columns are inlaid with more than 3,700 statues of figures and natural beings. In the figure sculptures, the expressions, eyes, movements, and storylines of the characters are vividly depicted in a comic-strip style. Such well-preserved and exquisitely rich sculptures are few and far between in the whole country.
Originally built during the Sui and Tang dynasties, Shuilu'an was initially the Shuilu Hall within the Wuzhen Temple. After ups and downs, during the Jiajing era of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Huaipei, the Prince of Qin, spent five years on a major construction project to renovate and finely carve the wall sculptures. He dedicated Shuilu'an as the family's Buddhist hall. Later, in memory of his deceased mother, he renamed Shuilu Hall to Shuilu'an.
The colored clay sculptures of Shuilu'an possess high artistic and historical value. These sculptures are important materials for studying the Ming dynasty's Shuilu'an, and in the main hall, Sakyamuni, the Medicine Buddha, and Amitabha are all seated on Sumeru thrones. Behind the three Buddha statues are bodhisattva figures, but unlike the compassionate female images in the minds of the Chinese people, these are all bearded male figures. The mountain wall contains Buddhist story content, showing that the craftsmen considered the psychology of the viewers when depicting the characters, using color matching and reasonable layout. Therefore, whether it is the layout, color, or the combination of individual and whole, all constitute the artistic value of Shuilu'an. At the same time, through the research and analysis of the art of Shuilu'an's colored sculptures, it is easier for people to understand the culture of the Ming dynasty, and it can also showcase architectural styles, folk customs, clothing, spatial layout, social life, and more, all of which have great historical value.
In contemporary times, to better protect the sculptures, the Xi'an Cultural Heritage Restoration Center applied to the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau for cooperation with the United States to use '3D scanning and digital image production technology.' In 2004, they completed the book 'Images of Shuilu'an,' which is printed in color and uses a series of exquisite scanned images to 'permanently' present the sculptures of Shuilu'an.
Although the reputation of being 'China's second Dunhuang' may seem a bit exaggerated, it is indeed worth a look. Moreover, due to changes in climate and environment, it is said that the sculptures suffer different degrees of peeling and cracking each year, or they could be destroyed by an earthquake, so it really is a case of 'with each glance, we see less'!
📍Yangxia Village, Pu Hua Town, Lantian County, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province
🚗Recommended to drive
💰Free, no reservation required
⏰️9:00-17:00, subject to adjustment on special holidays
fane_9405
Xi'an·Lantian Shuilu Temple｜This is actually free to see!|
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So far, I have seen 👇four relatively famous suspended sculptures:
👉 Lantian Shuilu Temple, Xi'an, Shaanxi
👉 Xixian Xiaoxitian, Linfen, Shanxi
👉 Pingyao Shuanglin Temple, Jinzhong, Shanxi
👉 Changzhi Guanyin Hall, Changzhi, Shanxi
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Among these four suspended sculptures, I personally think that if we talk about the overall sculpture, the best one is Shuilu Temple; if we talk about the most touching scene, it is Xiaoxitian; the most unique ones in Shuanglin Temple are still Weituo, the Four Great Vajras, and that hall of Arhats. So if you go to Xi'an, I highly recommend going to see Shuilu Temple.
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🌈 Lantian Shuilu Temple, Ming Dynasty
📝 Fourth batch of national key cultural relics protection units
📍 Lantian County, Xi'an, Shaanxi
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Shuilu Temple was originally a part of Wuzhen Temple in the Sui Dynasty. The Guanzhong earthquake in December of the 34th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1556) caused Zhongnan Mountain to move several miles to the south, and the lower temple of Wuzhen Temple at the foot of the mountain was destroyed.
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In the 42nd year of Jiajing (1563), Zhu Huaipei, the ninth grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang and the King of Qin Fan, invited craftsmen from Shanxi such as Qiao Zhongjie to rebuild Shuilu Temple as a Buddhist hall for his mother to worship Buddha, hence we have the suspended sculptures we see today.
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There are twelve colored sculptures under the south and north mountain walls in the Shuilu Temple. Some people think they are twenty-four deities, some say they are two groups of twelve medicine generals, and some say they are two groups of ten great Ming kings plus folk gods. But no matter who they are, we can see the shadow of the twenty-four deities of the Tiefo Temple in Gaoping, Shanxi, which we posted before, on these twenty-four colored sculptures. Considering that the statues in this hall of Shuilu Temple also came from the hands of craftsmen from Shanxi in the Ming Dynasty, it can be said to be a continuation of the same lineage.
BEAU SALAZAR
The ancient temple of the Six Dynasties, known as the second Dunhuang of China, has a group of more than 3700 Buddha statues in relief
The ancient temple of the Six Dynasties ~ Shuilu Temple, known as the second Dunhuang of China. It is located at the foot of Wang Shun Mountain in Puhua Town, Lantian, Shaanxi, surrounded by water on three sides, resembling a lying fish's small island, hence the name Shuilu Temple.
The area of Shuilu Temple is not large, but it contains the largest group of colored reliefs in China, with more than 3700 Buddha statues, using the method of comic strip, and the exquisite technique of relief, vividly interpreting the legendary story of Sakyamuni Buddha's life.
The colored three-dimensional relief group sculpture looks very spectacular, with vivid character images, carved beams and painted buildings, superb and extraordinarily exquisite.
Several Guanyin Bodhisattva statues in Shuilu Temple have beards, which is a very rare male appearance. It is said that Guanyin itself is male, and when Buddhism was introduced to China from the Western Han Dynasty, Guanyin gradually became female. The Guanyin we see in Lantian Shuilu Temple are all male.
Shuilu Temple is relatively close to Xi'an, about an hour's drive, with good surrounding scenery, plus the attraction of Lantian's food, so it is often visited. If you often come to Shuilu Temple, you will find that, for the protection of cultural relics and colored reliefs, several main halls are often closed for maintenance. This Qingming Festival, I came to Shuilu Temple again with my family, and was delighted to see the colored reliefs again, to see the wisdom and exquisite carving skills of the ancients, and couldn't help but sigh at the wisdom of the ancients from the bottom of my heart.
WanderlustSafari
Pathfinder Episode 12: The Hanging Sculptures of Shuiliu Temple in Shaanxi
Shuiliu Temple in Lantian, Xi'an, Shaanxi, was built during the Sui Dynasty, 1500 years ago...
It is one of the three classic hanging sculptures in China, and it is breathtaking to appreciate it on site! Personally, I think it is the most wonderful one among the three major hanging sculptures in China.
Among the three major hanging sculptures, the Xixitian in Xixian is somewhat dazzlingly rich, the Guanyin Hall in Changzhi seems to be a bit small in scale, and the Shuiliu Temple in Lantian is full of various expressions, smooth and delicate, and the most flavorful after time precipitation.
Although it is a one-way self-driving trip of more than a thousand kilometers, it is worth the trip.
NADIA AGUILAR
Lantian Shuilu Temple Clay Sculpture: Large in quantity, average in quality
Lantian Shuilu Temple Clay Sculpture, quite famous, initially astonishing, but ordinary upon closer inspection. The existing sculptures are only concentrated in one hall, numerous in number, but the modeling and color painting techniques are quite ordinary, focusing on quantity rather than quality, which also conforms to the impetuous, noisy, and unsteady social atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty. If you have been to the ancient temples in Shanxi, Hebei, and Liaoning, such as Shuanglin Temple, Zhenguo Temple, Foguang Temple, Longxing Temple, Fengguo Temple, etc., and have seen the murals and clay sculptures left from the Song Dynasty and before, then there is no need to make a special trip to Lantian Shuilu Temple.
In addition, I have to complain about the rule that does not allow photography in the main hall. You say it is to protect the cultural relics, but now mobile phone photography does not require a flash, there is no light damage, not to mention the saturation and brightness of the lights in the main hall are high, such light actually has a greater impact on the cultural relics.
Speaking of cultural relic protection, the protection work of the Shuilu Temple for the main hall is not very good. The back wall is visibly tilted, the wooden beams are crooked, supported by a few large pieces of wood, and some wooden stakes are directly stuck on the statue. I just happened to be revisiting 'The Call of the River' these days, and this scene immediately reminded me of the crooked and broken houses in Xiao Hong's writings - 'The main beam on the ridge of the house is moving north day by day. It has pulled out the tenon and is free from others' control, and it is acting on its own. Those rafters nailed to the ridge of the house, if they can run with it, they will follow it and run down to the north; if they can't run with it, they will break the nails and hang down, because the other end is pressed outside the eaves, so they can't fall down, just hanging down.' It can only be said that the local management is a bit sloppy, but also petty towards outsiders. After all, they only have this one place to see the clay sculptures. They dare not compare with the ancient relics of Jin and Ji that are often over a thousand years old. Although it is only over 500 years old, it is also rare. They let you see it with your own eyes, and you still want to take photos and take them back. You are so beautiful!
So if you really want to take pictures, be a little thicker-skinned, take a few shots quickly and leave, after all, you have come a long way, you have to fill up the nine squares.
WandererDiaries
Journey of Blessings~~~
Shuilu An, located in Hewankou Village, Puhua Town, Lantian County, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, is a famous temple of the Six Dynasties. The temple has ancient colored sculptures and is a treasure trove of ancient Chinese sculpture art. It is known as the 'second Dunhuang of China'. Shuilu An was originally the Shuilu Hall of Wuzhen Temple, which was an important place for holding 'Shuilu Fasting' and 'Shuilu Daochang'.
During the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Huaibian, the prince of Qin, spent more than five years building it as a family temple. The 3700 clay sculptures preserved in the Daxiong Hall of Shuilu An are hailed as 'wall sculpture treasures'. It is surrounded by water on three sides, resembling an isolated island, with green mountains standing tall and rivers flowing around, hence the name Shuilu An.
The colored clay wall sculptures of Shuilu An are all in the main hall of the temple, divided into four parts: the south and north mountain walls, the two walls of the central partition in the hall, and the eaves wall.