🏯 Huayan Temple – Liangqing Shangsi (Eastern Courtyard of Huayan Temple)

"Ancient temple of Liao and Jin dynasties, twin jewels of Huayan; the eastern courtyard serene and tranquil, uniquely cool and refined"
—— One of the most intact core components of China’s surviving Liao-Jin Buddhist architectural complexes

📜 Historical Development

• Founded in the 7th year of Liao Chongxi (1038), it was a royal imperial construction commissioned by the Western Capital Datong during the Liao dynasty as the foundational sanctuary of the Huayan Sect. Built concurrently with the western courtyard's Baojia Jiaozang Hall, it formed a crucial part of Emperor Xingzong Yelü Zongzhen’s grand initiative to promote Buddhism.
• Reconstructed in the 3rd year of Jin Tianxian (1140) after damage from warfare, under the leadership of monk Manman. The main wooden structure and overall layout largely preserved the original Liao design, making it one of the few remaining original Liao-Jin temple courtyards in China that have not undergone major renovations during the Ming or Qing dynasties.
• Known as "Liangqing Shangsi" since the Ming dynasty (recorded in Volume 7 of Datong Fu Zhi), a name derived from its slightly elevated terrain, dense tree cover, and refreshing summer climate. The name also plays on the homophonic “Liangqing” (cool and pure), reflecting the Huayan Sect’s meditative ideal of “non-obstruction between principle and phenomena, mutual non-obstruction among all things.”
• In 2006, designated as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit (6th batch) by the State Council, as part of the entire Huayan Temple complex.
• Completed after five years of scientific conservation restoration in 2014, strictly adhering to the China Conservation Guidelines for Historic Sites, restoring the authentic Liao-Jin appearance without adding any speculative elements.

🏛️ Architectural Layout and Features

Located on the eastern side of the Huayan Temple complex (No. 459 Xia Sipo Street, Pingcheng District, Datong City), Liangqing Shangsi is symmetrically positioned across the central axis from the western Baojia Jiaozang Hall, forming the typical Liao-Jin monastic pattern of “one temple, two courtyards, east-west parallelism.”

• Overall Structure: Facing south, arranged in three sequential courtyards, with the central axis featuring the mountain gate, former hall (now vanished, only foundation remains), Haikui Hall (main hall), and rear hall (added in the Qing dynasty, not original Liao-Jin). Two side halls on either flank complete the symmetrical layout, characterized by restrained scale and disciplined proportions, embodying the Liao-era architectural philosophy of “simplicity, emphasis on quality, grandeur, and solemnity.”
• Haikui Hall (Core Structure):
  • ⏳ Constructed in the 3rd year of Jin Tianxian (1140), measuring five bays wide and three deep, with a single-eave hip roof. The roof slope is gentle and eaves project deeply (up to 1.8 meters), making it one of the earliest extant examples of a hip-roof Buddhist hall from the Liao-Jin period in China.
  • 🌲 The timber frame employs an “exposed ceiling” style, with four-chuang beams joined directly to rafter beams. The materials are massive (cross-section nearly 40×60 cm), and the bracket sets follow a five-tier double-pull single-arch “stealth heart” design, with the dou-dou directly supporting the overhanging beam—this technique represents a typical transitional example from Liao to Jin architectural technology.
  • 🪵 The column grid adopts a “reduced-column” layout, retaining only two Jin-period columns inside the hall, greatly expanding the space for worship—a practical manifestation of the Liao-Jin innovation described in Yingzao Fashi: “moving or reducing columns to enlarge the interior hall.”
• Mountain Gate: Rebuilt in the Qing dynasty, yet retains original Liao-Jin stone foundations and lotus-petal and scroll-pattern carvings on the Vairocana pedestal. The gate plaque bears the inscription “Liangqing Shangsi” in regular script, carved during the 12th year of the Republic of China (1923) during a renovation.

🖼️ Significant Cultural Relics and Artistic Value

• Twenty-one Ming Dynasty Colored Statues (inside Haikui Hall):
  • Central figure: the “Three Holy Beings of Huayan” (Vairocana Buddha flanked by Manjushri and Samantabhadra); flanking them are sixteen Arhats, along with Brahma and Indra. Figures exhibit natural postures, flowing drapery, and solemn coloring. Though created in the Ming dynasty, they inherit the realistic tradition of Liao-Jin sculpture, with full cheeks, slightly open eyes, and an aura of “serene dignity and majestic presence.”
• Qing Dynasty Mural Fragments (east wall of rear hall):
  • Depict scenes from the Avatamsaka Sutra: Ten Stages Chapter. The lines are vigorous, with a dominant palette of green and blue, revealing traces of influence from the Wu School painting tradition of the Ming dynasty—offering tangible evidence for studying the transmission of folk Buddhist art in northern Shanxi.
• Liao-Jin Stone Inscriptions:
  • A fragment of the Liao-era Reconstruction of Huayan Temple Stele (erected in 1038, inscribed with only the seal-character phrase “Reconstruction of Huayan Temple”);
  • The Jin-era Record of Merits at Haikui Hall Stele (1140), detailing the reconstruction process and donor lists—providing primary historical documentation for understanding Liao-Jin temple economy and social structures.
• Ancient Trees and Famous Trees:
  • Two Tang-period Chinese scholar trees (over 1,300 years old) within the courtyard, their twisted branches spreading like clouds, recognized as Grade I Ancient and Famous Trees in Shanxi Province, bearing witness to the temple’s thousand-year history.

🌟 Cultural Significance and Academic Standing

• ✅ Authentic Proof of Huayan Sect’s Ancestral Seat: As the eastern courtyard of the Liao dynasty’s Western Capital Huayan Sect center, together with the western Baojia Jiaozang Hall, it forms the only surviving dual-core relic of a royal Huayan Buddhist site from the Liao dynasty in Chinese history.
• ✅ Living Fossil in Architectural History: The bracket set style, timber frame logic, and reduced-column techniques of Haikui Hall provide irreplaceable physical benchmarks for understanding the practical application of Yingzao Fashi during the Liao-Jin periods. Praised by Liang Sicheng as “the finest example of northern Liao architecture.”
• ✅ Testament to Ethnic Integration: The architecture blends the bold spirit of the Khitan people with Han Chinese ritual standards, while the sculptural style combines Tang dynasty legacies with Song-Yuan innovations—representing the material embodiment of profound cultural fusion during the Liao-Jin era.
• ✅ Potential World Heritage Site Candidate: As a core component of the “Chinese Liao-Jin Wooden Architecture Complex” nomination project, it has been included in the National Cultural Heritage Administration’s China World Heritage Tentative List (updated in 2022).

🧭 Travel Information

🌿 Visitor Note: Nestled deep within the ancient city, with glazed brick flooring and towering ancient trees, before the morning bell rings, only the rustle of wind through willow tips and the soft chime of iron wind chimes at eaves can be heard—here, there is no clamor, only cool serenity and timeless simplicity. This is truly the ideal place to touch the breath of the Liao-Jin era and experience the profound harmony of Huayan thought.