Gaoping Kaihuasi Temple

　　Kaihuasi Temple (fifth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units)

　　Era: Northern Song to Qing Dynasties

　　Address: Mid-slope of Sheli Mountain, Wangcun Village, Chen? Town, 20 km northeast of Gaoping City

　　According to the “Inscription on the Stupa of the Chan Master of Sheli Mountain of the Great Tang,” erected in the third year of Tongguang during the Later Tang Dynasty (925 AD), the temple was originally built during the Tianhua period (904–907 AD) at the end of the Tang Dynasty and was first named Qingliang Temple. It was renamed Kaihuayuan (Kaifu Monastery) during the Song Dynasty and later changed to Kaihuasi Temple. The temple has undergone renovations in the Song, Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The main surviving structures include: the front Dabeige Pavilion from the Ming Dynasty, the central Mahavira Hall from the Song Dynasty, the eastern Guanyin Pavilion dating back to the Jin Dynasty, as well as the eastern side hall and east-west corner towers in the rear courtyard from the Yuan Dynasty. The rest are Ming and Qing buildings.

　　The temple faces south and is laid out along a north-south central axis that includes the Dabeige Pavilion, Mahavira Hall, and Yanfatang (Dharma-Preaching Hall), extending longitudinally through two courtyards. The front courtyard features ten East and West side corridors each, while the rear courtyard contains East and West side halls, the Wenchang Dijun Pavilion, and the Shengxian Hall. On either side of the Yanfatang are the Guanyin Pavilion to the east and the Weimo Jing Room to the west.

　　The Guanyin Pavilion is a Jin Dynasty structure, three bays wide with a single-eave hanging hip roof. The Dabeige Pavilion is a two-story building, three bays wide and deep, square in plan, with a double-eave hip-and-gable roof.

　　The Mahavira Hall was constructed in the sixth year of the Xining reign during the Song Dynasty (1073 AD). It stands on a stone-paved platform, is square with three bays per side, has a six-rafter frame, and features a single-eave hip-and-gable roof. The main bays on both the front and rear eaves have doors, while the secondary bays on the front eave have pierced lattice windows. The eave pillars bear inscriptions indicating they were donated in the sixth year of the Xining reign (1073 AD), which confirms the exact year the hall was built. The bracket sets under the eave pillars are elaborately crafted; the front eave pillar caps feature single-tier bracket arms, while those on the rear eave extend upward. The lower bracket arms are placed atop the capitals, a method commonly used in later architecture. The space above the brackets is fully exposed (cheshang liming zao), with four crossbeams supporting the upper structure. Most of the beams and brackets are visible, except for a few areas. The painted murals inside the hall include lotus flowers, tales of the Buddha’s previous lives, Buddhist stories, and depictions of daily life at the time. The murals’ composition is rigorous, the brushwork vigorous and smooth, providing valuable material for the study of Song Dynasty painting.

　　The interior walls of the hall are entirely covered with murals, totaling 96 square meters. According to inscriptions on plaques and steles, these murals, along with the painted beams, date to the third year of the Shaosheng reign of the Song Dynasty (1096 AD). The artist was Guo Fa, and the content mainly depicts Buddhist jataka tales, sutra stories, and scenes of secular life at the time. The overall composition is rigorous, the brushwork powerful and fluid, offering important insights into the art of painting in the Song Dynasty.