The Mahavira Hall of Yongquan Temple

The Mahavira Hall of Yongquan Temple

The Mahavira Hall of Yongquan Temple is a Fuzhou Municipal Cultural Heritage Site.

The Mahavira Hall of Yongquan Temple is located within Yongquan Temple on Drum Mountain in Gushan, Jin'an District. It is the core building of Yongquan Temple, enshrining the Three Ages Buddhas (clay sculptures from the Tianqi era of the Ming Dynasty), the Eighteen Arhats, and the Three Great Bodhisattvas of Guanyin (cast iron from the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty). In 1992, it was designated as a municipal cultural heritage site as part of Yongquan Temple.

The Mahavira Hall is the heart of the entire temple. The structure features a seven-bay width, nine-pillar depth, post-and-lintel construction, painted ceilings, and a double-eaved hip-and-gable roof.

The hall houses three statues of Sakyamuni Buddha, known as the “Three Ages Buddhas,” representing the Buddhas of the Past, Present, and Future. These were sculpted in the first year of the Tianqi era of the Ming Dynasty. The Buddha statues are exquisitely crafted, with kind and serene expressions, highly lifelike, dressed in attire from the Tang Dynasty, and adorned in resplendent gold. Inside the hall, there are also two over one-meter-tall small bronze celestial boys, with double knots on their heads, dimples on their cheeks, one holding a peach and the other carrying a lotus. Their innocent expressions make them masterpieces of Fuzhou’s bronze-green art from the early 20th century.

On both sides of the hall are the Eighteen Arhats, while behind the Three Ages Buddhas are the Three Great Bodhisattvas of Guanyin. The Three Great Bodhisattvas of Guanyin are cast iron from the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty, covered in gold leaf, with each statue weighing 2,300 jin.

In front of the Three Saints statues is placed an iron-wire wooden offering table, which is said to be fireproof, waterproof, and prone to dampness in humid conditions.

Gushan Town: Located at the eastern gateway of Fuzhou, Gushan Town covers an area of 50 square kilometers. It lies at the foot of the famous Drum Mountain Scenic Area, 5 kilometers west of the city center, adjacent to the Mawei Development Zone to the east, bordering the Guling Summer Resort to the north, and facing the Min River to the south. Both National Highway 104 and the Fuma Railway run through the town. The town administers one provincial-level development zone, the Gushan New District, 23 administrative villages, and 8 community neighborhood committees, with a population of 150,000. Gushan Town is an important production hub for traditional arts and crafts in Fujian Province. Products such as Shoushan stone carvings, root carvings, and wood carvings possess unique ethnic charm and strong local characteristics. Especially notable is the art of Shoushan stone carving, which has a long... More details about Gushan Town++