Gilded Bronze Statue of Hanshan

　　The gilded bronze statue of Hanshan stands 55 cm tall, 26 cm wide at the front, 21.5 cm wide at the side, and weighs 16.4 kg net. It was unearthed in 1986 on Xinhua Street, Yinchuan, Ningxia, and is now housed in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Museum.

　　The statue depicts the figure standing on a double-layered hexagonal Sumeru pedestal. With black hair hanging to the shoulders, delicate eyebrows, long eyes, and a smiling face, the figure wears a tight-sleeved, loose-fitting kasaya with a waist belt. The robe appears tattered, with five gourds strung together on a rope slung diagonally over the left shoulder, and a brocade pouch hanging from the right hip. Both hands rest at the sides, empty. The expression is humorous and whimsical, the demeanor calm and composed, and the likeness strikingly lifelike.

　　Hanshan, also known as Hanshanzi, was a poet-monk of the Tang Dynasty. His poetry is simple and natural, profound in Zen meaning, and uniquely styled, with over 300 poems included in the Complete Tang Poems. The Five Lamps Merged at the Source records that he was unconventional and uninhibited in lifestyle, truly a worldly-renouncing sage in the style of Vimalakirti, holding a significant place in the history of Buddhist Chan (Zen) and Chinese literature. Hanshan Temple outside Suzhou city is named after the monk Hanshan who once resided there.

　　Source: Yinchuan Municipal Government Portal Website