The greatest pleasure of visiting the ancient times in Shanxi is to discover the ancient temples that are interesting! Yanqing Temple is one of the surprises. It is not far to the east of Nanchan Temple, and then you can go to Foguang Temple to the east, so it is suitable to play with the ancient temple near Wutai County, and it would be a pity to miss this Jin Dynasty hall that was left behind in the countryside!
The big Buddha hall of Yanqing Temple is three rooms wide, about 13 meters long, six rafters (three) deep, the plane is slightly square, wooden structure, single eaves rest on the top of the mountain. The exaggerated cornices are like a pair of beautiful wings, and they want to take off with a sloped inward inclined gable, and the main feature is an outstanding and unforgettable sight! The main hall is similar to the Manjushri Hall of Foguang Temple in terms of architectural form, so it is inferred to be a relic of the Jin Dynasty.
There are two very conspicuous clay beast faces on the pillar head of the main hall, with long wooden horns, it is said that this is the folk gluttonous shape, it is more common in the north of Jin, but there are not many left, these two are the largest in the same kind of ancient buildings.
The hall was closed to the public, and the unique column reduction method at that time was adopted to pursue a more open visual effect, and later new pillars were added for cultural relics protection and safety considerations. It was once converted into a granary and a school, perhaps because of this, it may have been preserved, but unfortunately the original Buddha statue in the temple has long been missing.
In front of the temple, there is a half-section of the Song Dynasty scripture with a unique shape, which is engraved with the Zunsheng Dharani Sutra, the upper part of the prayer building was stolen this year, Yanqing Temple was hit hard by this, and it was closed for a long time....Fortunately, the uncle seemed to be in a good mood, planted vegetables in the yard, and warmly received the ancient building lovers who came to visit.
Small strategy: Address: Shanwen Village, Yangbai Township, Wutai County, Xinzhou City.
Time: 9:00-16:00 (approximate opening hours)
Visit: Free, you need to find the uncle to open the door and register brief information.
Route: From Wutai County: Foguang Temple, Nanchan Temple, Yanqing Temple, Hongfu Temple (about 300, 1 day).
From Dongye County: Nanchan Temple, Yanqing Temple, Hongfu Temple (about 100, time 0.)5 days).