Menglongsha (Wuyun Temple)

Menglongsha (Wuyun Temple)

Menglongsha (Wuyun Temple) is a cultural heritage site protected at the Dehong Prefecture level.

Wuyun Temple is located on the west side of the northern section of Hongqi Street in Mangshi, Luxi, and is a municipal-level cultural heritage site. In front of the temple’s main gate stand five large camphor trees, which are home to many egrets year-round. From a distance, the birds look like five white clouds hovering above the trees—hence the name “Wuyun Temple” (Temple of Five Clouds). In the Dai language, it is called “Zhanhan,” meaning “Golden Temple.”

The temple currently houses a wooden plaque inscribed in both Chinese and Dai scripts. The plaque measures 177 cm in length, 49 cm in width, and 3.35 cm in thickness. The Chinese inscription is centered and reads vertically: “In the fourth year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1665), Fang Changsiming (also known as Fang Tingbi), the Magistrate of Mangshi, established Zhanhan (Mangshi) in Menghuan (Mangshi).” The Dai script, slightly smaller, is engraved on either side of the Chinese text. Its inscription roughly means: “Wuyun Temple is the first Buddhist temple built in Mangshi by the local chieftain Fang Tingbi in the fourth year of the Kangxi reign. It was originally named Zhanhan. The temple was relocated from Jiebiesai (now Xinzhai Village in Fapa Township) to Jiemu (near Mangshi), originally situated east of the city (now the area around the Mangshi Town Dongli Prefectural Epidemic Prevention Station). The presiding elder monk was Zuomimi, a native of Chiang Mai (a famous city in northern Thailand). In the seventh year of the Jiaqing reign (1802), the chieftain (Fang Zezhong) moved the temple to its current location (near the Menghuan Cinema in Mangshi Town). The main hall enshrines the first Buddha statue, ‘Palaguomeng,’ brought into the Mangshi region from Myanmar by the local chieftain Fang Dingzheng, and it is regarded as a precious treasure. The temple also features a golden stupa, called ‘Gongmuhan’ in the Dai language. During the Anti-Japanese War, the temple and the golden stupa were destroyed by fire but have since been fully restored. At the front of the main hall stands a tall, solemn Buddha statue. The beams and pillars of the hall are adorned with numerous Buddhist banners and parasols, decorated with intricate embroidery and beaded tassels—exquisite works of folk art by the Dai people. With various ornaments and the addition of chandeliers and ceiling fans, the shrine appears magnificent and splendid. The golden stupa in the temple consists of a main stupa surrounded by eight smaller stupas. Each small stupa has a niche housing a small Buddha statue, and the top of each stupa is hung with brass filigree tassel ornaments that shimmer golden.”

The temple covers an area of 2,663 square meters, with a construction area of 427.9 square meters. It is enclosed by walls on all sides, with the main gate located in the center of the eastern wall. The main hall faces east and is situated to the west. The original foundation structure was of the stilt-style ganlan design, but it was changed to a platform-style base during the 1984 restoration. The base is rectangular, 70 cm high, and constructed of brick and stone. In front of the main hall is a small gate pavilion with several steps leading down. The main hall is three bays wide and six bays deep, featuring a longitudinal floor plan. It is built with a post-and-lintel wooden structure, with a three-tiered hip-and-gable roof. The roof ridges are adorned with animal-shaped chiwen ornaments. The roof extends outward on all sides, with upturned eaves and tiled roofing. The beam connections are exquisitely crafted, and the brackets are made with openwork carvings of fine detail. A horizontal corridor runs in front of the hall, featuring wooden railings, lattice windows, and a central sun-door. The Buddha shrine houses a statue of Sakyamuni, with the head, hands, and feet carved from white marble. The seated statue is 3.6 meters tall.

This temple is the oldest, largest, and best-preserved Buddhist temple of the Gengrun sect in Dehong Prefecture. It is also one of the earliest-built Theravada Buddhist temples on the Mangshi Plain and remains well-preserved to this day.