Thousand Buddha Nunnery

Thousand Buddha Nunnery

Thousand Buddha Nunnery is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Thousand Buddha Nunnery

Thousand Buddha Nunnery (Fourth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units)

Era: Ming Dynasty

Address: At the summit of Phoenix Mountain, about one li west of Xixian County

Also known as Little Western Paradise. The nunnery was first built in the seventh year of the Chongzhen reign during the Ming Dynasty (1634), under the supervision of Master Dongming, and underwent multiple restorations throughout the Qing Dynasty. Most of the existing structures date back to the late Ming period.

The Thousand Buddha Nunnery faces east and has two layers of mountain gates. Its layout is divided into an upper and a lower courtyard. The main buildings in the upper courtyard include the Mahavira Hall, flanked by the side halls of Manjushri and Samantabhadra, with the North Pole Hall and the Horse King Shrine on either side. The lower courtyard mainly features the Hall of Boundless Life, the Veda Hall, the Moyun Pavilion, the Eight Trigrams Pavilion, and the bell and drum towers above the Veda Hall.

The Hall of Boundless Life is the main hall of the lower courtyard, five bays wide with a front eave corridor. Inside, it houses the statue of the Buddha of Boundless Life. The Mahavira Hall is the highlight of the nunnery, five bays wide and six rafters deep, with a front eave corridor, a single-eave hanging hip roof, and a roof covered with tubular tiles and trimmed with glazed tiles, featuring a central square glazed medallion. The interior beam frame is fully exposed, using four pillars for the six-rafter, seven-purlin, front and rear single-step beams. The beams and brackets are exquisitely crafted, showcasing the high level of wooden structural artistry in Shanxi architecture, which is not commonly seen in civil buildings and is thus extremely precious. The ceiling paintings are also remarkably well-preserved, created around the year 1644.

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units