Brief information on Huayan Monastery  

Located in the Daxi Street, southwest of Datong City, is the Upper Huayan Monastery (Shang Hua Yan Si) and the lower Huayan Monastery (Xia Hua Yan Si). Huayan Monastery is named after the Huayan sect of Buddhism. The Upper Huayan Monastery (Shang Hua Yan Si) is also called as the Great Buddha’s Hall (Da Xiong Bao Dian). Its architecture, sculptures, murals etc are rare forms of art known to China’s then Liao Dynasty.

The Upper Huayan Monastery, commonly referred to as the Upper Temple, is a complex of a few buildings with the Great Temple of Treasure as its main part. As you walk in through the gate you can see two phrases carved in brick on top of both doors, “Nian Hua Xiao” and “Qing Zhu Jian” originated from a Buddhist story. The Upper Temple originally built in 1062 was destroyed during a war in 1122. It was rebuilt in 1140 on its former site and followed Liao architectural style, during the Jin Dynasty.

The Upper Huayan Monastery is considered as one of the existing two biggest Buddhist halls in China. Unlike most temples which face southward, the main building knowns as the Great Temple of Treasure, faces to the east towards the rising Sun. The legend goes that Qidan, an ancient tribe in the northern China in 400 B.C., had a popular custom of worshipping the Sun. When they dominated the northern China later, this practice also influenced the Han people. There are five major Buddha statues in the centre of the hall, either side of which are the 20 celestial warriors.

The Lower Huayan Monastery is located at southeast part of the Upper Temple, with the Bhaga Repository Hall as its main hall in which Buddhist sutras are kept. Bhaga, a Sanskrit word translated as “Zhizun”, is one of the top 10 titles of the Buddha. The well structured Bhaga Repository Hall was built in 1038 during Liao Dynasty. There are 38 heavy-carved wooden sutra collections on the walls inside the hall and a palace pavilion hanging in the center of the back wall. The famous architect Liang Sicheng commented about these wooden models as “the unique one in China” because they have an important scientific value for studying the China’s ancient architectural art. There are 31 perfectly preserved sculptures in the hall of which are the two classical Bodhisattvas highly respected and appreciated equally by the scholars and tourists. The Hezhang Luchi Bodhisattva is both beautiful and elegant with the highest artistic value while the Puxian Bodhisattva has a unique charm as it expresses refined emotions.

*You can download the bilingual note to show it to a taxi driver or someone else to find your way to Huayan Monastery if you plan to visit Huayan Monastery and have language problems.

   

Chinese Pinyin: Hua Yan Si
Opening Times: 9:10-17:00
Ticket Price: The Upper Huayan Monastery CNY 20
                  The Lower Huayan Monastery CNY 20
Address: Daxi Street, south west of Datong City, Shanxi Province
How to Get to: Take the direct tourist bus at Datong Railway Station.