Guangyun Monastery

　　    Guangyun Monastery is also known as the "School Monastery" (a monastery being a Buddhist temple), and is a structure of Theravada Buddhism. It was first built in the early years of the Daoguang reign during the Qing Dynasty. The monastery covers an area of 2,200 square meters. The existing main hall is built on a base that is 0.5 to 1.5 meters high, measuring 14.8 meters in width and 24.4 meters in depth. It features a post-and-lintel wooden frame structure, combining a surrounding corridor-style hip-and-gable roofed hall with three tiers of eaves and a square five-tiered eave pavilion. The pavilion has a double-eaved hip-and-gable roof, with bracket sets (dougong) decorating the eaves. The bracket sets rise in five tiers, with the arch sections carved with cloud motifs. The main hall is a three-tiered eave wooden structure with a hip-and-gable roof, where the third tier’s eaves on the sides and rear form a surrounding corridor around the hall. The doors and windows of the hall are adorned with openwork carvings, and the beams, brackets, doors, and pillars are covered with “gold water patterns,” showcasing exquisite craftsmanship—a traditional art of the Dai people. Inside the hall, six golden pillars stand in parallel, and the front beams and pillars are decorated with two upside-down carved wooden dragons coiled around the left and right pillars at the entrance of the hallway, adding to the hall’s splendor and magnificence. The interior and exterior walls of the hall are painted with murals, with the ten murals on the inner walls being relatively well-preserved. These span 48 square meters and depict Buddhist stories as well as local social customs and figure paintings. Most are outlined in ink and then filled with color, with styles and techniques similar to Ming and Qing dynasty artworks from inland China.

　　    It is said that Guangyun Monastery was first built in the eighth year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty (1828), during the period when the Qing government mediated a conflict among the local chieftains of Gengma and conferred the title of chieftain upon Han Ronggao. It has a history of about 170 years. The architectural style is heavily influenced by Han Chinese architecture while retaining the fundamental form of a Theravada Buddhist monastery. It represents an organic combination of Han-style exteriors and Dai-style interiors, serving as evidence of cultural exchange between the Han and Dai peoples. (National Cultural Heritage Administration)