Liuzhou Xilai Temple

Liuzhou Xilai Temple

Liuzhou Xilai Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Liuzhou Xilai Temple is located on the west side of Linjiang Lane, Yaru Road, facing the Liu River, and is one of the ancient temples still preserved in Liuzhou. It is a provincial-level key cultural relics protection unit.

Liuzhou Xilai Temple is located in the eastern part of Qinghai Province, more than 50 kilometers from the provincial capital Xining. Xilai Temple was built in the 34th year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty (1606), situated on Dongguan Street in the county town of Ledu. It is said that during the construction of the temple, funding became scarce and the project was about to be abandoned. The builders planned to go elsewhere to solicit donations. One morning, they found two camels carrying heavy loads lying in the courtyard, facing east. The locals thought they belonged to traveling merchants who would come back for them. But by noon, no owner had appeared, so people were sent to look around. When night fell and no one came to claim the camels, someone opened the bags and found them full of silver, totaling about 9,000 taels. With this money, construction accelerated and additional halls were built. When the temple was completed and needed a name, people believed that without the “funds from the west,” the temple could not have been finished. Its completion was thanks to the help of the “western benefactor,” hence the name “Xilai Temple” (Temple from the West). Another legend says that someone found a bronze Buddha by the river and built the temple in its honor, naming it “Xilai Temple.” The temple covers an area of 2,184 square meters. The temple complex is grand in scale, simple and elegant in style, and is a typical Chinese Buddhist temple among the well-preserved ancient temples in Qinghai. The main structures are arranged along a north-south central axis, consisting of a mountain gate, middle hall, main hall, and east and west side halls, forming two courtyards. The courtyards are shaded by green trees, complemented by the red pillars and green-painted brackets of the temple corridors. The mountain gate is three bays wide and one bay deep, with a porch in the center and clay sculptures of the Four Heavenly Kings on the east and west. Entering the mountain gate leads to the front courtyard, with the middle hall facing the gate, and side halls on the east and west. Both the hall and side rooms feature flush-gable roof architecture, with the middle hall primarily enshrining Amitabha Buddha. The main hall is five bays wide and three bays deep, with a single-eave hip-and-gable roof, standing on a raised platform. Inside the main hall are enshrined the Three Buddhas of the Past, Present, and Future — Sakyamuni in the center, with Manjushri and Maitreya on the sides, as well as Ananda, Kasyapa, disciples, and monks. The east and west walls feature four bodhisattva statues. The entire wall surface is decorated with semi-three-dimensional reliefs depicting landscapes, figures, buildings, trees, rare birds, and beasts. The temple is well-preserved and now serves as the Ledu County Historical Relics Museum, displaying precious cultural relics collected and unearthed in the Ledu area, as well as 24 Ming Dynasty scroll paintings of Buddhist figures originally housed in the temple.

Admission Fee

5 yuan

Opening Hours

8:00–18:00

Location

West side of Linjiang Lane, Yaru Road, Liuzhou City