China’s Most Unique Temple: Entire Temple Features 10,000 Dragons, Dubbed the ‘Miniature Forbidden City’
Talking about China's tourist attractions, there are many, and each city and region has several, generally consisting of landscapes such as mountains, water, ancient cities, ancient villages, as well as seascapes and stone scenery. However, in recent years, China has witnessed a trend of temple tourism, with many temples becoming very popular tourist destinations. Today, the editor introduces a special temple.
This temple is Baoguo Temple, located in Pufeng County, Mianyang. It is called the 'Miniature Forbidden City,' and this temple is a royal temple complex without a single nail. Moreover, it still retains a very complete architectural group. The temple has a history of more than 500 years and is still remarkably well-preserved, although its appearance has undergone some changes. As a royal temple, it is entirely constructed of (nanmu - Chinese cypress) structures in a palace-style complex. Furthermore, Baoguo Temple is also the largest Ming Dynasty palace-style architectural group in Sichuan.
Here, the layout is completely based on the Forbidden City, so it is also known as 'Deep Mountain Forbidden City.' As a temple and a building, the beams and pillars here are made entirely of pure wood, and there is not a single nail, which is very surprising. However, it can be appreciated from this point that ancient people's wisdom. If you have visited this temple, you will find that the most prevalent thing in the temple is dragon, it is said that there are a total of 9999 dragons here, plus the emperor's ranking is exactly 10,000 dragons.
Inside the Huayan Hall of the temple, there are 4 mud-plastic (panlong - coiled dragons) tightly wrapped around the pillars, covered in gold armor and strikingly different in appearance, the carvings give a sense of soaring. Furthermore, the (zhutuan jingzang - rotating sutra scroll) in the palace is also known as one of the 'Six Wonders' of Baoguo Temple. The base of the is carved with eight dragons, exquisite and delicate.
In front of the Buddha statue in the Da Xiong Bao Dian (Great Treasure Hall), there is a plaque 'May the Current Emperor Reign for Ten Thousand Years,' which is 2 meters tall and carved from (jinsu nanmu - golden cypress). This is a precious artifact, which was created by the temple builder Wang Xi and the local officials and people of Longzhou as a 'wish for the Emperor's longevity and to repay the imperial favor.'
The six wonders of Baoguo Temple are comparable to the colorful murals of Fahua Temple in Beijing, the only rotating Ming Dynasty (zhutuan jingzang), a complete wooden (qiantou guan yin xiang - thousand-handed Guanyin statue), a variety of ornate (dou gong - bracket structures), and nearly ten thousand dragons decorated throughout the buildings. Today, the editor will not introduce these six wonders in detail, and will introduce them in detail next time.
