Life advice: Visit this royal temple before leaving Xi'an
After many visits to the Muslim Quarter, I finally made it to the West Wutai Yunju Temple hidden in the bustling city in early February. Passing through the bustling Sajinqiao, turning into a quiet alley, it's peaceful and beautiful.
This West Wutai, built by Emperor Li Shimin to spare his mother the trouble of traveling to the South Wutai to worship Buddha, is a nunnery. Facing west, one ascends from the mountain gate, with each terrace higher than the last. Although the ravages of war have erased one terrace, the remaining four are still considered sacred pilgrimage sites by the people of Xi'an.
In the past, when people in Xi'an city went to worship the mountains in the west, they would gather at West Wutai first; after the pilgrimage, they would return to West Wutai to offer incense, completing the ritual with sincerity believed to bring spiritual efficacy.
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When Sajinqiao leads to the alley and you see the tightly closed red doors, don't 🙅 rush back; turn right to see the temple's main entrance.
Due to the remnants of the Tang Dynasty city walls, every step feels especially solemn and respectful. The area currently open is the 'front terrace,' with two high terrace relics: 'Lingying Terrace' & 'Wenshu Terrace,' open to the public all year round.
'Middle Terrace': 🈶 'Dizang Terrace,' open to the public on the first and fifteenth of each month.
'Rear Terrace': 🈶 'Guanyin Terrace,' not seen.
The visiting order is:
Mountain Gate➡️➡️Hall of Heavenly Kings➡️➡️Lingying Terrace➡️➡️Mahavira Hall✅✅Wenshu Terrace➡️➡️Dizang Terrace
You can get incense at the front terrace and then kneel and worship all the way.
Hall of Heavenly Kings:
▪️Lingying Terrace: The towering brick wall is embedded with inscriptions by Zhao Puchu. Below is a statue of Guanyin, holding a purifying bottle and sprinkling sweet dew. Ladders on both sides lead up.
▪️Mahavira Hall: Encountered monks and nuns performing their practices.
▪️Wenshu Terrace: Ascend via the central pathway, feeling the solemnity of the pilgrimage.
▪️The high terrace in the back courtyard is the Ksitigarbha Hall, which also serves as an office. In front of the hall is Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, with monk's quarters on both sides.
// Tips //
❶Accessible by subway
Xi'an Subway Line 1 'Sajinqiao' station, exit at B, about 300 meters walk.
❷Accessible by bus
Get off at the 'Sajinqiao' bus stop.
❸Tickets and opening hours
The temple is free to enter, no reservation required,
open daily from 8 am to 5 pm.
The back courtyard is only open on the first and fifteenth of each month.
④Nearby attractions:
Nearby are Guangren Temple, Lianhu Park, Great Mosque, Douchenghuang Temple, Gao Family Courtyard, Xicang Flower and Bird Market... which can be connected for a tour.
⑤Food:
Located on the gourmet street Sajinqiao, you can enjoy Lao Ma's beef pancakes, Lao Jin's egg and vegetable sandwiches, Honghong's sauerkraut fried rice... After visiting the ancient temple, it's time to eat.
Xi'an traveled freely, went to Guangren Temple, saw the road sign 🪧, the West Wutai Yunju Temple (Royal Monastery) was instructed, and went by shared bicycle. As a result, the door was closed, or the two gates, leaving some regrets!
Yunju Temple is also known as Xiwutai, formerly known as Anqing Temple. It is a temple for nunseng. The existing Yunju Temple temple maintains the "hard mountain-style" architectural form of the Song Dynasty, especially the statue of the reclining Buddha in the temple is a treasure of the Ming Dynasty. Yunju Temple and the general Buddhist temple are different in orientation, it sits west to east, from the mountain gate to the upper level, one is higher than one, from the first to the fifth station is about 500 meters long, the north and south is less than 100 meters wide, of which 1,4 due to the war in the Republic of China destroyed, the remaining 3 by the impact of city construction has been divided into Three paragraphs.
West Wutai Yunju Temple is only open in the morning of the first 15th. It is 5 minutes walk from the Sajinqiao subway exit. Just on the corner of Huimin Street. You can plan a time to visit West Wutai in the morning and Muslim Street in the afternoon. West Wutai is a famous Ni Temple in Xi'an area. It is built on the site of the southern wall of the Taiji Palace Palace in Tang Chang'an City, and is also part of the Daxing City Wall. Taiji Palace can be found in the layout map of Tang Chang'an City in the last picture, at the foot of the imperial city. Unfortunately, after the chaos of the end of the Tang Dynasty, after the five generations and ten countries of the war, the Northern Song Dynasty could only build Yunju Temple on the ruins of the city wall. It is believed that the western five stations in ancient times are more majestic than the modern west five stations.
A very interesting place to learn about Chinese culture and traditions.
From the window of the south-facing room of the Old Capital New World Hotel, you can see a series of prominent temple buildings surrounded by a residential area. You can find the alley leading to Yunju Temple left or right from the hotel. The temple is very deep, and there are two places in it. It takes a few steps to get out of the temple before entering the temple. Most of the halls are built on high platforms, which are very characteristic. It's a nun's temple. It's very fragrant. It's basically a local pilgrim.
West Wutai Yunju Temple, also known as Yunju Temple or West Wutai, is located in the city wall of Xi'an, near the Sajinqiao subway station. It has a long history and is the famous Nizhong Road Field in Xi'an City. The temples usually open very few doors, only on the 15th of each month and the Buddha Bodhisattva festivals will open the temple doors for worshippers. It is rumored that Tang Taizong Li Shimin's mother believes in Buddhism, and travels to the south of the mountain several times a year to worship Buddha. The journey is very laborious. Li Shimin was his mother's filial piety, so he built five Buddhist temples near the south wall of the palace in Chang'an City for his mother to worship. Because the five Buddhist temples are located on five high platforms, they echo the south five of the mountain, commonly known as the west five. According to the "Xi'an Fuzhi" record, "its platform is based on Tang, created in Song, and repeatedly yuming." The remaining Yunju Temples maintain the "hard mountain-style" architectural form of the Song Dynasty, especially the statue of the reclining Buddha in the temple can be called the treasures of the Ming Dynasty statues.