Statues of Arhats in Baosheng Temple

Statues of Arhats in Baosheng Temple

The Statues of Arhats in Baosheng Temple are a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Statues of Arhats in Baosheng Temple Baosheng Temple is located in Luzhi (pinyin: Lù Zhí), a historic town with a 2,500-year history, situated 19 kilometers east of Suzhou City in Wuzhong District, Jiangsu Province. The temple is a thousand-year-old Buddhist site originally built in the second year of the Tianjian era during the Liang Dynasty (503 AD). It flourished most during the sixth year of the Dazhong Xiangfu era of the Northern Song Dynasty (1013 AD). At that time, it was called "Baosheng Chan Yuan" (Baosheng Zen Monastery), boasting 5,000 halls, 1,000 monks, and was as renowned as Hangzhou's Lingyin Temple. The Baosheng Temple Museum houses a national treasure — nine ancient arhat statues hand-sculpted by Yang Huizhi of the Tang Dynasty.

Gu Jiegang Saved the Statues of Arhats in Baosheng Temple

Originally, there were eighteen arhat statues sculpted by Yang Huizhi of the Tang Dynasty, but none had been maintained from the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong era (1736–1795) until the early 20th century. In 1918, Gu Jiegang visited Luzhi Town to see a friend and encountered the group of arhat statues in Baosheng Temple for the first time. A couplet in the main hall read: “A Buddhist palace decreed in the Liang Dynasty, acclaimed as the foremost Zen forest in Fuli; Arhat statues originating from Master Hui, unparalleled Buddhist images in the south of the Yangtze.” Gu Jiegang was astonished that such a small town preserved eighteen ancient arhat statues hand-crafted by Yang Huizhi of the Tang Dynasty. In 1922, when he revisited Baosheng Temple in Luzhi, he found that due to years of neglect, the main hall’s roof leaked, and several clay arhat statues had been damaged by rainwater. He immediately wrote an article titled “In Memory of Yang Huizhi’s Sculptures: A Cry for Help to Save a Thousand-Year-Old Artwork,” which was published in the magazine Effort Weekly, calling on all sectors of society to donate to rescue the sculptures — though with little effect. From 1924 onward, he continued to write a series of articles titled “In Memory of Yang Huizhi’s Sculptures,” published in issues one through five in Fiction Monthly. Toshio Watanabe, a professor of art history at the University of Tokyo, read Gu Jiegang’s series on Yang Huizhi’s sculptures and traveled specifically to Baosheng Temple in Luzhi to investigate them, concluding that they were masterpieces of consummate skill.

After returning to Japan, Toshio Watanabe published the book Remnants of the Miracle of Wu Commandery: Wall Statues in 1926. This book drew significant attention from notable figures in China’s cultural circles. In 1929, Cai Yuanpei, president of the Academia Sinica, Ma Xulun, vice minister of education, and others visited Baosheng Temple in Luzhi specifically to examine the arhat statues and formed the “Tang Dynasty Arhat Statue Preservation Committee.” By then, the original main hall of Baosheng Temple was severely damaged, and only nine of the original eighteen ancient arhat statues remained. Through extensive efforts, a new Baosheng Temple Museum was constructed to house and restore the remaining nine arhats. The new museum was completed in 1932.

On March 4, 1961, the Statues of Arhats in Baosheng Temple were included in the first group of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level, approved by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China.

Luzhi Town: Luzhi, located 25 kilometers southeast of Suzhou City, borders the Wusong River to the north, faces Chenghu Lake to the south, connects to the industrial park to the west, and links to Kunshan to the east. The town covers an area of 115 square kilometers (including 40 square kilometers of Chenghu Lake water area), governs 16 administrative villages and 2 communities, and has a total population of over 200,000. Roads such as the Suzhou-Shanghai Expressway, the Outer Ring Expressway, Luzhi Avenue, and Dongfang Avenue run through the town, giving it a superior location and convenient transportation.

Luzhi is a water town with over 2,500 years of history and profound cultural heritage. It has been called “the No. 1 Water Town in China” by Mr. Fei Xiaotong. The town features numerous cultural and historical attractions... More details about Luzhi Town++

Further Reading:

· First and Second Batches of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· First Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units