Quanzhou Buddhist Museum

Quanzhou Buddhist Museum

The Quanzhou Buddhist Museum has a total investment of over six million RMB, with a construction area of more than 3,700 square meters. The museum complex includes dozens of halls, chambers, rooms, and buildings, all constructed with wooden facades. There are five layers of halls, with the middle three sections built in the蜡角-style architecture, among which the ordination platform features a double-eave roof. The five main halls are arranged in sequence along a central axis directly opposite the mountain gate, connected seamlessly with the bell towers and stone-carved corridor buildings on the east and west sides. The layout is integrated, rigorous, solemn, simple yet majestic. The five main halls are supported by dozens of massive stone pillars, exquisitely carved, with delicately ornamented brackets. The hollow-carved lattice windows in each hall come in a wide variety of styles and innovative patterns, making it the finest among Buddhist museums on the mainland.

“This place was anciently known as the Land of the Buddha, with saints on every street” — this was the historical evaluation of Quanzhou, this cultural ancient city, by Zhu Xi, the great Neo-Confucian scholar of the Song Dynasty. Known as the “Buddhist Land South of Quanzhou,” the city houses countless Buddhist cultural and artistic treasures. Encouraged by the Party and government’s policy of religious freedom, and with the direct care, support, and advocacy of the Quanzhou Municipal Party Committee, Municipal Government, municipal departments, and religious authorities, the Quanzhou Buddhist Museum was successfully established. Zhao Puchu, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and President of the Buddhist Association of China, personally inscribed the plaque for the Quanzhou Buddhist Museum.

The museum covers a construction area of over 3,200 square meters, with dozens of halls, chambers, rooms, and buildings, all built with wooden facades. There are five layers of halls, with the middle three sections built in the蜡角-style architecture, among which the ordination platform features a double-eave roof. The five main halls are arranged in sequence along a central axis directly opposite the mountain gate, connected seamlessly with the bell towers and stone-carved corridor buildings on the east and west sides. The layout is integrated, rigorous, solemn, simple yet majestic. The open spaces around the halls are paved with stone slabs, neat and clean—dust-free on sunny days and mud-free on rainy days. The five main halls are supported by dozens of massive stone pillars, exquisitely carved, with delicately ornamented brackets. The hollow-carved lattice windows in each hall come in a wide variety of styles and innovative patterns, numbering dozens of types, making it the finest among domestic Buddhist museums. The museum currently houses: over fifty Buddhist statues, bodhisattvas, arhats, heavenly kings, and warrior deities in various sizes made of bronze, iron, painted sculpture, wood carving, stone carving, porcelain, and wood. In addition to an extensive collection of Buddhist scriptures, it also preserves cultural relics from the Tang Dynasty to the Republic of China, including a 35-cm-tall bronze statue of Sakyamuni Buddha cast in the second year of the Kaiyuan era of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (714 AD). The most recent relic is a 55-cm-tall jade-carved seated statue of Sakyamuni Buddha brought from India in the 25th year of the Republic of China (1936 AD). The largest item is a 2.6-meter-tall, five-headed, eleven-faced bronze riveted Thousand-Armed Guanyin from the Qing Dynasty; the smallest is a mere thumb-sized bronze statue of Sakyamuni seeking the Dharma through ascetic practice; the most precious are three 30-cm-tall jade-carved statues of Sakyamuni Buddha, Bhaisajyaguru (Medicine Buddha), and Amitabha Buddha gifted by Sri Lanka. There are also two 10-cm-tall seven-treasure gilded small arhats taken from the copper gourd atop the East and West Pagodas in 1955, as well as calligraphy and wooden couplets by famous Ming Dynasty figures such as Zhang Ruitu and Muyan.

The first exhibition room houses nine bronze bells from various dynasties, among which the oldest is the one cast in the second year of the Shaoxing era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1132 AD), and the largest is the one cast in the 20th year of the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty (1387 AD). Particularly noteworthy is the iron bell cast in the 17th year of the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty (1837 AD), inscribed with text documenting the economic exchanges between Quanzhou and Taiwan, which holds significant historical value. These artistic treasures from various dynasties are dazzling and truly awe-inspiring.

The second exhibition room displays stone carvings of Buddhist statues from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The third exhibition room, which is the main hall, houses authentic calligraphy and paintings by famous calligraphers and artists from the Ming, Yuan, Song, and Qing dynasties, as well as porcelain vases. There are over ten types of vases from the Tang and Ming dynasties.

The fourth exhibition room, which is the ordination platform, contains a Tang Dynasty bronze “Sea Beast Grape Mirror,” four Ming Dynasty Buddhist statues, over thirty Qing Dynasty bronze Buddha statues, and over thirty incense burners from both the Ming and Qing dynasties. Notable items in the room include the Song edition Yuan publication of the “Chongning Wanshou Zang” and the province’s only surviving fragment of the “Pilu Zang.” There is also a remnant of the “Jinyin Zang” handwritten by the Five Dynasties monk Yiying, a complete copy of the “Lotus Sutra” written in blood by the Yuan Dynasty monk Ruzhao, the “Brahma Net Sutra” personally inscribed by the Ming Dynasty monk Ouyi, and the Ming Dynasty printed version of the “Avatamsaka Sutra.” Additionally, there is a set of woodblock-printed “Kaiyuan Temple Annals.” The fifth exhibition room has two floors and serves as the “Master Hongyi Memorial Hall.” The first floor is the Master Hongyi Art Exhibition Room, where displayed photos vividly depict the life story of Master Hongyi. The second floor showcases his personal belongings, calligraphy, paintings, authentic works, and related cultural relics, all of which are breathtaking—including an oil painting portrait of Master Hongyi by the famed painter Xu Beihong and works by Feng Zikai.

Layout Features

The museum covers a construction area of over 3,200 square meters, with dozens of halls, chambers, rooms, and buildings, all built with wooden facades. There are five layers of halls, with the middle three sections built in the蜡角-style architecture, among which the ordination platform features a double-eave roof. The five main halls are arranged in sequence along a central axis directly opposite the mountain gate, connected seamlessly with the bell towers and stone-carved corridor buildings on the east and west sides. The layout is integrated, rigorous, solemn, simple yet majestic. The open spaces around the halls are paved with stone slabs, neat and clean—dust-free on sunny days and mud-free on rainy days.

Source: Phoenix Net Chinese Buddhism Comprehensive

Attraction Location

No. 176, West Street, Licheng District, Quanzhou City, Fujian Province, China