The Kaihua Temple murals, predating the Yongle Palace murals, are a scroll of Song Dynasty customs!

Located in Gaoping, Shanxi, Kaihua Temple, originally named Qingliang Lanruo, was established in the second year of Wu Ping during the Northern Qi Dynasty (571), situated on the northern foothills of the Taihang Mountains at the waist of Sheli Mountain. Kaihua Temple faces north and south, with the existing buildings including the Mahavira Hall, which is an original Song Dynasty structure, the Guanyin Hall as a Jin Dynasty relic, and the rest are buildings from the Ming and Qing periods. The Mahavira Hall, also known as the central hall, is a relic from the Northern Song Dynasty, originally built in the sixth year of Xi Ning of the Northern Song Dynasty, 1073 AD. The murals began in the seventh year of Yuan You of the Northern Song Dynasty (1092 AD) and were completed over five years by the folk painter Guo Fa. The murals of Kaihua Temple are colorful and rich in content, a rare treasure even earlier than the Yongle Palace murals, and they are also the largest preserved Song Dynasty temple murals in China. They are acclaimed as an encyclopedia of Song Dynasty architectural types for outlining a picture of Song Dynasty architecture and life. Among them, the three-dimensional restoration of the image of the Tushita Heaven official city tower in the 'Maitreya Ascending Ascending Sutra Transformation' mural on the north wall of the eastern side of the great hall is just too beautiful! The architecture and decoration of the Mahavira Hall were influenced by both local traditions and the official system, making it the only complete surviving relic from the Central Plains cultural area of the Northern Song period that still exists above ground.