Jijian Temple Stone Hall
The stone hall of the Jijian Temple ( Chinese 寂 鉴 寺 石 殿 , Pinyin Jìjiàn sì shídiàn ) is a structure from the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), which is located on Tianchi Shan Mountain in the Mudu community area of the east Chinese city of Suzhou . It is part of a nunnery founded in 1357 that was converted into a temple and rebuilt several times during the Ming Dynasty . The stone hall, the Buddhist niches and sculptures have been preserved originally from the Yuan dynasty, which gives them a high art-historical value. In 2006, the Jijian Temple Stone Hall was declared a Monument of the People's Republic of China by the State Council .
The hall, which is also called the Xitian Temple ( Chinese 西天 寺 , Pinyin Xītiān sì ), has a width of 7.64 meters and a depth of 5.52 meters. The building front is on the north side. The front of the roof is a kind of East Asian overhanging hipped roof , while the back of the temple contains a large Buddha niche over which the roof is designed in a stepped manner. This design, known as the "turtle head", is rarely found in China. With the exception of the door leaves, the building is made entirely of stone.
The ceiling inside is equipped with a kind of coffered ceiling , the elements of which have different shapes and sizes, which is typical of the Lamaistic origin of the building. The pillars are placed on the floor without a base and on their upper side merge directly into the structure that supports the Dougong for the roof. In the temple, the sacrificial site is arranged on the front, the altar table and the Buddhist niche are in the back.
Two outbuildings of the stone hall house Buddhist niches and are also made entirely of stone. In the eastern niche there is a three meter high Maitreya statue, in the western niche there is a 3.25 meter high Amitabha statue. Both statues have angular faces and large ears, which is typical of the art of the Yuan Dynasty.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c 国家 文物 局 (Ed.): 全国 重点 文物保护 单位 (第六批) . 1st edition. tape 5 . 文物 出版社, Beijing 2008, ISBN 978-7-5010-2446-9 , pp. 60-61 (Chinese).
Coordinates: 31 ° 17 ′ 54 ″ N , 120 ° 28 ′ 27 ″ E