The Charm of Huayan Temple Ancient Architecture

💔 Two years ago, when I visited Datong, I spent a whole day touring the Yungang Grottoes and another whole day climbing the Hanging Temple and exploring Mount Heng in the Northern Peak. Yet, I only spent 2 hours rushing through the ancient buildings inside Datong Ancient City, such as Huayan Temple and Shan Hua Temple, like a clueless passerby, failing to appreciate their unique charm.

⭐ Over the past two years, with more travel experience and deeper understanding of ancient architecture and culture, I realized I left many regrets in Datong back then. This summer vacation, on my second visit to Datong, I spent the entire morning just at Huayan Temple and still felt it wasn’t enough. This small temple actually hides treasures of Liao architecture and Jin dynasty halls! This post shares my photos and insights from Huayan Temple, and I will update later with Shan Hua Temple and Datong Ancient City, so stay tuned!

🌍【Overview】
The oldest temple in Datong Ancient City, Shanxi, divided into Upper and Lower Huayan Temples. The Upper Temple’s Mahavira Hall is a Jin dynasty building, while the Lower Temple’s Buddhist Scripture Repository is one of China’s eight major Liao structures. The rest were rebuilt during the Qing dynasty and the New China period.

🏛【Upper Temple Mahavira Hall】
Standing on a four-meter-high platform, with a single-eave hip roof, nine bays wide and five bays deep, it is the largest surviving Liao-Jin Buddhist hall.
✅ Doorway: Lotus petal-shaped Mongolian yurt outline. Above hang two plaques inscribed “Mahavira” and “Master of Regulation,” respectful titles for Shakyamuni Buddha.
✅ Chiwen (roof ornaments): 4.5 meters tall, the left side is original Jin dynasty, the right side restored in the Ming dynasty. The mouth swallows the ridge, and the tail extends forward, lifelike.
✅ Statues: All statues inside are from the Ming dynasty. The main statue is a gilded wooden Vairocana Buddha with a solemn expression; the two attendant bodhisattvas hold ritual implements and lean slightly; the twenty heavenly generals are intricately carved with distinct faces.
✅ Ceiling: A checkerboard pattern with gilded paintings of dragons, phoenixes, flowers, grass, and cranes, each unique, a masterpiece passed down through generations.

🏛【Lower Temple Buddhist Scripture Repository】
“Bojia” means Buddha, and “Jiaocang” refers to the Buddhist scripture storage. The oldest building in the temple, the only fully preserved Liao dynasty scripture hall.
✅ Liao wooden structure: Faces east, single-eave xieshan roof, five bays wide and four bays deep, with dougong brackets layered like blooming lotus flowers. The hall uses a column reduction method with only eight golden pillars, creating a spacious interior.
✅ Liao polychrome sculptures: Thirty-one Liao dynasty painted sculptures restored during the Jin and Ming dynasties, grand and imposing. The gilding has oxidized to an ancient bronze color, adding to the sense of age. The bodhisattva statue with hands joined and teeth showing is praised as the “Eastern Venus.”
✅ Unique wall storage: Thirty-eight wall cabinets surround the hall, with Buddha niches on the upper level and scripture cabinets below. The rear of the hall has windows divided by a curved arch bridge and heavenly palace pavilions, like celestial clouds, known as a “unique treasure in the world.” The temple’s heavenly palace pavilions are protected inside, but outside in Huayan Square, you can see a seven-times enlarged model of the “Heavenly Palace Pavilion.”

⚠️【Visiting Guide】
Book tickets online in advance (50 RMB). Opens at 8:30 AM, but ticket checking starts at 8:15 AM. It’s recommended to head straight to the Buddhist Scripture Repository to enjoy the eight major Liao structures alone, then visit the Upper Temple’s Jin dynasty Mahavira Hall, and finally go to the underground palace of Huayan Pagoda to see the relics of a Yuan dynasty high monk. Other buildings are newly rebuilt and can be briefly visited. Total time needed is 2-3 hours.