Shanhua Si Monastery - Sumptuous Hall of the Great Hero

(Local Name: Daixong Baodian) The Sumptuous Hall of the Great Hero (Daixong Baodian) contains five statues of Tathagata (one of the ten titles afforded to Shakyamuni) seated on a throne of lotus leaves; each is surrounded by several followers and Bodhisattvas. On each side of the temple stand 24 statues of gods all with different faces. Apart from two guardian statues from the Jin period (1115-1234) all these figures can be attributed to the Liao era (916-1125). Although the wall-paintings are of the Qing period (1644-1911) they are based on the style of the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368).