Golden Hall Temple on Mount Wutai

Golden Hall Temple on Mount Wutai

The Golden Hall Temple on Mount Wutai is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Shanxi Province.

Golden Hall Temple (Second Batch of Provincial-Level Protected Sites)

Era: Ming and Qing Dynasties

Location: 15 km northwest of Taihuai Town, Mount Wutai

According to the "Zizhi Tongjian · Tang Annals," in the fifth year of the Dali era (770 AD) during the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Daizong (Li Yu) decreed that the eminent Indian monk and Tripitaka Master Amoghavajra come to Mount Wutai to perform meritorious deeds. A temple was built with copper tiles, gilded on the surface, and the Buddhist pavilion was adorned as a Golden Hall, hence the name Golden Hall Temple. The temple underwent several renovations in the Five Dynasties period, and although its foundation remained unchanged, the architectural style had deviated from the original. It was renovated again in the fourth year of the Jiajing era (1525 AD) during the Ming Dynasty, and repaired multiple times between the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, with the current structures being remnants from the Ming and Qing periods.

The temple faces south and covers an area of 21,100 square meters, with over 160 halls and rooms. The layout consists of two courtyards. Along the central axis of the front courtyard are the Heavenly King Hall, flanked by the Bell Tower and Drum Tower on either side. At the center of the courtyard is the Guanyin Pavilion, which is seven bays wide and six bays deep, surrounded by corridors and featuring a double-eaved hip-and-gable roof. At the center of the pavilion stands a 17.7-meter-tall bronze statue of the Thousand-Armed Guanyin. Later, a layer of clay was applied over the bronze statue, concealing it within the clay. In the southwest corner of the Guanyin statue, there is a statue of Emperor Daizong (Li Yu) of the Tang Dynasty, who ordered the construction of the temple.

Between the front and rear courtyards, there is a two-story building complex with 19 connected rooms. The lower level houses monks' quarters, while the upper level includes various halls such as the Bodhisattva Hall, Arhat Hall, Kṣitigarbha Hall, Medicine King Hall, Jade Emperor Hall, Three Sovereigns Hall, and Child-Giving Guanyin Hall. These halls contain a complex array of statues, totaling nearly a thousand figures. Behind this building complex is the Mahavira Hall, the main hall of the rear courtyard. It is five bays wide and houses the Buddhas of the Three Ages, with the Eighteen Arhats arranged on both sides, all well-preserved.

The temple houses two stone steles from the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty and one from the Republic of China.

Taihuai Town: Originally located in the central part of Mount Wutai, by the Qingshui River, the town got its name from being surrounded by five peaks. Nearby lies the famous Mount Wutai temple complex. During the early Qing Dynasty, Taihuai served as an imperial retreat, where Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong visited and stayed multiple times. Taihuai is a local market town that receives countless tourists and merchants every year. …… More details about Taihuai Town++