Chongqing Temple.

Chongqing Temple is located in Ju Village, Setou Town, Changzi County, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province. According to the inscriptions in the temple, the temple was founded in the ninth year of Dazhong Xiangfu of the Song Dynasty (1016), and then the Ten Emperor Hall was rebuilt in the 27th year of Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty, the Heavenly King Hall was rebuilt in the third year of Tianqi, and the Guandi Hall was rebuilt in the third year of Jiaqing of the Qing Dynasty. In 1996, it was announced by the State Council as the fourth batch of national key cultural relics protection units. The Song Dynasty statues in the Three Dashi Hall on the west side are the most exciting. In the center of the hall are Guanyin, Manjusri, and Samantabhadra, who are on their mounts, and around them are the painted sculptures of the Eighteen Arhats. The Eighteen Arhats statues were from the second year of Yuanfeng in the Northern Song Dynasty (1079), and they are the earliest known Eighteen Arhats statues with a definite year. The craftsmen combined the images of monks in reality and used their imagination to create secular and life-like Arhat images. There are more than 200 Song and Ming painted sculptures in the temple, 18 Ming painted sculptures, etc. These painted sculptures all have high artistic value and provide valuable physical materials for the study of the painted sculpture art of temple and tower buildings in China.

Post by Positivity_789_Reed | Oct 5, 2024