Wenshu Yuan Temple

CHINA, Sichuan, Chengdu

Wenshu is the Chinese name for Manjusri Bodhisattva. It is believed that the temple was built during the Tang dynasty (618–907) but was destroyed in wartime during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). It was rebuilt in 1691 during the Qing dynasty and given its present name. Expansion work was carried out in 1814 and 1867 during the Qing dynasty. It was listed as a key Buddhist temple in the Han region of China in 1983.
Buildings along the central axis of the temple include the main temple gate, Heavenly King Hall, Great Hero Hall, Dharma Lecture Hall, and the sutra repository. The bell and drum towers are located on both sides of the central axis. The five-by-four bay Great Hero Hall has a single-eave hip-and-gable roof, and its eaves turn up at the corners. There is a miniature pagoda in the center of the main ridge. A statue of Sakyamuni Buddha is enshrined within the hall.
The temples houses more than 400 Buddha statues made from different kinds of material, such as wood, stone, clay, and copper. Within the Dharma Lecture Hall there are ten iron statues of Dharma protectors dating back to the Song dynasty (960–1279). In the sutra repository there is a skull bone relic belonging to Master Xuanzang from the Tang dynasty.