Qianfoan Xiaoxitian in Xixian County, Shanxi: A Yearning for the Pure Land and Nirvana

Anyone visiting the Mahavira Hall of Xiaoxitian for the first time will be stunned by the hall filled with resplendent golden murals, amazed beyond words. This hall has remained as splendid and spotless as new for over 300 years. It must be the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. I stood in front of the hall for a long time, my eyes gradually regaining focus to carefully appreciate the details. · Qianfoan in Xixian County, Shanxi, has been renowned since ancient times. The temple is arranged along an east-west central axis into three courtyards: front, lower, and upper, built tier upon tier on the mountain with ingenious design. The upper courtyard’s Mahavira Hall is the main structure of the temple, five bays wide and six purlins deep, with a single-eave hip-and-gable tiled roof. Inside the hall are wooden-frame clay painted statues filling the space, rich in content and exquisite in craftsmanship, representing an important surviving example of Buddhist temple statuary from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties in China. · Below is a detailed description of the statues inside the Mahavira Hall: 🔺Main Wall (West Wall): There are five Buddha niches separated yet interconnected by pagoda pillars, each housing a principal Buddha seated in meditation. From south to north, they are: Medicine Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, Vairocana Buddha, and Maitreya Buddha. ▪️On each side of every principal Buddha stand two attendant bodhisattvas, a standard arrangement in Buddhist statuary. The names of the attendant bodhisattvas can be identified by the principal Buddha they accompany: 🪷Medicine Buddha is accompanied by Sunlight Illumination and Moonlight Illumination 🪷Amitabha Buddha is accompanied by Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta 🪷Shakyamuni Buddha is accompanied by Manjushri and Samantabhadra 🪷Vairocana Buddha is accompanied by Manjushri and Samantabhadra 🪷Maitreya Buddha is accompanied by Dharmachakra and Great Wonderful Marks · ▪️Behind each of the five principal Buddhas are wall sculptures of heavenly palaces containing numerous small Buddhas. · 🔺Buddha Altars on the South and North Sides: Each has five statues resembling the common late-period temple Arhat statues. Although there are no inscriptions, based on number and appearance, they are inferred to be the ten principal disciples of Shakyamuni: Sariputra, Mahamoggallana, Mahakasyapa, Subhuti, Purna, Katyayana, Anuruddha, Upali, Rahula, and Ananda. · ▪️The five principal Buddhas’ statues collectively embody ordinary believers’ yearning for the Pure Land, while the statues of the ten disciples subtly reflect Buddhist practitioners’ pursuit of the Nirvana state. · 🔺On the south and north side walls and above the ten disciples’ statues, the wall sculptures are exquisitely dense. The north wall mainly depicts the deities of the Three Realms, interspersed with some stories from the Buddha’s life. The sculptor uses the heavenly palaces and celestial beings of the Three Realms to fully display the splendor of the heavens. The Buddha stories selected are three episodes from Shakyamuni’s life of practice and enlightenment: Ascetic Practice in the Forest, Bathing in the Zen River, and Meditation in the Dragon Palace. · 🔺The south wall’s murals depict the Western Ultimate Bliss World, which can be regarded as the “Transformation of the Western Pure Land.” The Western Three Saints occupy the center and are noticeably larger than the other statues. The eastern half of the south wall also features two groups of statues centered on the Three Buddhas and two seated bodhisattvas. · 🌟The entire collection of statues in Xiaoxitian’s Mahavira Hall centers on the Pure Land and Nirvana, arranged according to the internal logic of three levels of life’s final destinations: the deities of the Three Realms, the Western Pure Land, and the Nirvana realm. · 🌟Today, visitors to Xiaoxitian can glimpse ancient reflections on the ultimate meaning of life, experiencing a solemn tranquility that transcends time and space, as if briefly finding some spiritual rest and clarity. ·