Jiangyou Wanshou Temple

Jiangyou Wanshou Temple

Jiangyou Wanshou Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Mianyang City.

Wanshou Temple

Wanshou Temple is located at No. 95 Wanshou Street, Baita Community, Houba Town. The Mahavira Hall faces southeast from the northwest and covers an area of 160 square meters. It has a rectangular floor plan and is a hip-and-gable roof building with a front-covered corridor. The hall spans five bays totaling 18.1 meters in width and is 8.5 meters deep. The wooden framework combines mortise-and-tenon and raised-beam construction, with stone bases beneath the wooden columns. Wooden beams pass through the golden columns to form the front-eave corridor. The gable and rear eaves are enclosed with earthen adobe walls, while the roof is covered with blue tiles laid directly over rafters. At the eaves, the tiles form a drip edge. The well was built during the Qing Dynasty and covers an area of 4 square meters. The well opening is circular with a diameter of 0.67 meters; the well casing consists of two rings of bluish sandstone, each with a diameter of 0.97 meters; the well curb is made of cobblestones mixed with lime and compacted soil, forming a diameter of 1.37 meters. The well is 12 meters deep, with the water surface 0.6 meters below the well opening. The murals are distributed across the walls of the Mahavira Hall, totaling six pieces. The central bay and side bays share an uninterrupted space, with an altar in the middle bearing a statue of Sakyamuni. On the surrounding walls, there are two murals on each side—each measuring 6.5 meters in length and 3.6 meters in width—depicting Taoist and Buddhist figures, illustrating the Twenty-Four Heavens and the Eighteen Arhats. Each mural features the Twenty-Four Heavens above, and the Eighteen Arhats below. On the left side chamber, there are two murals on either side, each measuring 3.78 meters long and 2.2 meters wide, illustrating the Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars. On the right side chamber, there is one mural on each side—measuring 3.3 meters long and 1.8 meters wide—depicting theatrical characters from “Passing Through the Huarong Road” and “The Flood of Xuzhou.” This collection represents the most concentrated surviving examples of Qing Dynasty murals in our city. They employ traditional techniques such as line drawing and flat coloring, featuring bright colors using mineral pigments. Despite being over two hundred years old, the murals remain vivid and well-preserved. Wanshou Temple holds certain value for the study of religious art and culture in the region during the Qing Dynasty.