Revisiting Shanxi (7)
The Guandi Temple in Quanzhang is thronged with worshippers. When you visit this nationally protected site, the main draw is the temple’s stone pillars. I walked around the temple and noticed the pillars were a mixed bag—some round, some square, and a few five-sided. Some are carved with coiling dragons, while others are plain. They clearly date from different periods. The four columns at the center of the eaves are carved with dragons whose claws grip human heads. At first glance, it’s a bit startling, and the stone has aged to a dark, glossy patina that makes it even more eerie! The temple sits in the town center, facing a newly built grand stage, with a provincial road alongside where a few street vendors still have their stalls set up.
Apart from these stone pillars, nothing else held our interest, so we headed off to the next stop—Baitai Temple!
The most distinctive feature of Baitai Temple is the Falun Pavilion. Built into the hillside, it is three bays wide, with a balustrade and level terrace, topped by a hip-and-gable roof. From a distance, it looks like a three-story tower, with a “triple-drip” roof style—when it rains, water cascades down from three levels of eaves, a truly spectacular sight.
The temple gets its name from the legend that Shakyamuni Buddha’s throne was a white lotus platform, and it is one of the earliest temples in the Hedong region. Yet it is notorious for the frequent thefts of its Buddha heads. The head of the Yuan-dynasty Medicine Buddha in the Fazang Pavilion was stolen—the current one is a new sculpture—and both attendant bodhisattvas were also taken. In the Jin-dynasty Shakyamuni Hall, the heads of the arhats were stolen. Tang- and Song-dynasty stone scripture pillars were completely uprooted. In 2002, thugs even tied up the monks and looted the temple. Because of these thefts, Baitai Temple was kept locked and closed to the public, only officially reopening on May Day 2024, now offering free admission to all. Sadly, the statues inside today are less than a tenth of what they once were. Looking at the many newly sculpted Buddha images, and comparing them with the few old ones that remain, all one can do is sigh.
