Fuxin Pu'an Temple

Fuxin Pu'an Temple

Fuxin Pu'an Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Liaoning Province.

Pu'an Temple is located in a mountain valley on the southern slopes of Haitang Mountain within Daban Township, southern Fuxin Mongolian Autonomous County. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides, with the Nu'an River flowing past the plains in front of the temple. According to the Fuxin County Annals, Pu'an Temple was first built in the 22nd year of the Kangxi reign (1683) by Zhangjia—along with his disciples. After six generations of construction, it was completed in the 9th year of the Guangxu reign (1883), covering an area of over 47,000 square meters. It is a complex of ancient Tibetan-style Buddhist buildings. The main structures include 26 components, with more than 1,500 halls, towers, and pavilions, such as the Tsogchen Hall (Great Buddha’s Hall), the Dharma Appearance Monastery, the Esoteric Buddhism Monastery, the Kalachakra Monastery, the Mani Temple, the Living Buddha’s Palace, the Dragon King Temple, the Relic Temple, the Guan Yu Temple, and the White Pagoda. The temple was once a place of reverence for the local Mongolian people, but unfortunately, it was largely destroyed, leaving only ruins for later generations to admire. After the restoration of the Party's religious policies, the temple was rebuilt and monks returned. From October 2 to 4, 2006, a grand consecration ceremony for the Tsogchen Hall was held at Pu'an Temple.

On the granite cliffs of Haitang Mountain, there are over 200 stone carvings, concentrated across an area of 2 square kilometers of exposed rock. These carvings were created around the same time as the construction of Pu'an Temple. The cliff sculptures come in forms such as raised reliefs and niche reliefs. The figures are diverse in posture, vividly realistic, with graceful forms and lifelike expressions. The sizes vary, with the largest reaching up to 5 meters and the smallest just 30 centimeters. The carving techniques are exquisite, with full and lifelike figures that give a soft, clay-like impression. They inherit and carry forward the style of the late Tang Dynasty, while also incorporating the sculptural art of ancient Greece and Rome, creating a unique Buddhist sculpture style with ethnic characteristics. Some of the relief carvings and niche statues are inscribed with couplets and texts in Mongolian, Manchu, and Tibetan on their left, right, top, and bottom sides, along with colored paintings that have remained unfaded and unpeeled for two to three hundred years. The statues vary widely in type—there are group statues, single statues, primary and secondary figures, standing and seated poses, as well as serene and peaceful images, and fierce, wrathful expressions with glaring eyes and grotesque faces that inspire awe. The figures include Sakyamuni, Guanyin Bodhisattva, Maitreya Buddha, Vajra Guardians, Heavenly Kings, Tara, and Medicine Buddha. The Haitang Mountain cliff carvings are the only surviving cultural treasure of Tibetan Buddhism’s Gelug school in China’s eastern regions. These vivid and diverse cliff sculptures, whether in terms of carving technique, craftsmanship, form, or color painting, are extremely valuable artistic masterpieces and can be regarded as outstanding works of Chinese folk art. At the same time, they hold significant research and historical value, providing detailed material for the study of the emergence and development of Lamaism in the Fuxin region. They have been designated as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit.