Qiongzhu Si (Bamboo Temple)

The Qiongzhu Temple is situated on the Yu’an Mountain to the northwest of Kunming amid wooded peaks, clouds and mist, and flowing streams. It was first built in the Yuan Dynasty. 

 

Account of the Qiongzhu Temple dates back to the Song Dynasty, but it was during the Yuan Dynasty (around 1280) that a highly renowned monk, who was reputed to have learned Buddhism from central China, gave his teachings that brought great fame to the temple as a spiritual center. After a devastating fire, the Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty rebuilt the temple by adding five pavilions during the late 1880’s. The temple’s most outstanding artistic (and perhaps spiritual) feature is the distinguished, finely crafted statues of the 500 Luohans (Buddhist Arhats, or ’enlightened ones’) sculpted by the brilliant artist, Li Guangxiu.

 

Regarded as "a pearl in the treasure house of oriental sculpture", these life-size clay figures came from Li Guangxiu’s and his apprentices’ deep study of people and their inner personalities. After seven years of study and work, this immense undertaking was completed. Each of these statues represents another aspect of human life with such accuracy and skill, and look like real people who are just frozen in a moment in time.

 

These Luohans, which are not ornately decorated, depict seemingly common people in the midst of ordinary lives and feelings. The appearances of the old and the young, the sick and the healthy, the skilled and the unskilled, the strong and the emaciated, the beautiful and the ugly, the wealthy and the poor, with expressions of joy, anger, laughter, grief, amusement, satisfaction, hunger, delight, sadness, compassion, serenity, curiosity, surprise, boredom, and contemplation are extremely vivid. Each Luohan is unique and expresses its own singular inner character. It is said that if you pick a Louhan and count them to the right when you reach your age, you will find the Louhan that depicts your inner character. Each of the 500 Louhans is a beautiful work of art and collectively they are awe-inspiring.

 

Qiongzhu Temple includes: the statues of Four Guardian Kings in the entrance hall, the three large statues of Buddha in the main temple building and two majestic 450-year-old cypress trees that stand in the forecourt. Walking around the grounds and through the bamboo forest, the world and its problems fade away and the gentle beauty of life re-emerges.