How can a vast world be created in less than 200 square meters?

As one of the filming locations for "Black Myth: Wukong", Xiaoxitian in Xi County, Shanxi Province has become extremely popular since August 20, and the number of tourists currently remains at nearly 5,000 per day.

This unique temple, standing on Fenghuang Mountain in the west of Xi County, is known as the "masterpiece of Chinese hanging sculptures". It was originally named Qianfo Temple, named after the thousands of Buddha statues in the main hall. Later, it was renamed Xiaoxitian Temple because of the inscription "The Way to the West" on the double-door plaque, and also to distinguish it from Daxitian Temple, another temple in the south of Xizhou (now Xi County).

This temple was founded by Zen Master Dongming in the second year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1629), and has a history of nearly 400 years. According to the Records of Xizhou, Xiaoxitian is "the most beautiful temple outside the city" and "gentlemen from all over the world who visit Xizhou all climb up to admire it and regard it as a great sight." This shows how famous it is.

Unlike other temples, Xiaoxitian Temple is not tall and magnificent, but small and exquisite. The craftsmen have cleverly designed it, and the space of more than 1,100 square meters has been fully utilized. The temple is divided into the front yard, the middle yard and the upper yard. Most of the temples are two-story buildings with more than 20 halls scattered around. There is no sense of crampedness or stacking. It has the layout of a general temple and the fun of garden architecture. The overall layout looks like a phoenix looking down, which is unique among the existing ancient buildings in China.

Unique expression of the Buddhist universe

Climb up the 33-step path from the northwest corner of the Wuliang Hall in the lower courtyard, then pass through the Manjusri Hall to reach the Main Hall in the upper courtyard, which is the essence of the entire temple.

As soon as you step into the hall, a magnificent Buddhist painting appears before your eyes. The Buddhas sit solemnly on lotus pedestals, the Arhat disciples pay homage and praise, the Dharma Protectors fly on clouds, the Vajra Warriors stand with angry eyes, and colorful ribbons and necklaces float in the air... The Buddha's light is radiant, the flying celestial beings float like startled wild geese, the divine birds fly in the clouds, the fairy music lingers, the purple mist hovers, the sea of ​​clouds and mountains, the jade-like palaces, and the magnificent Buddhist artistic conception are harmoniously integrated.

In a space of only 169.6 square meters, there are 1,673 statues and various Buddhist scenes. The statues are as tall as 3.2 meters and as small as a little finger. All the characters and scenes mentioned in Buddhist scriptures are reflected in them, which are complex but not complicated, and not chaotic. The special forms of the Five Buddhas, the careful sculptures of the ten great disciples, the casual background of the six little monks, the deliberate setting of the music Bodhisattvas, the true presentation of the three realms and nine lands, the bold application of Hexi color painting, and the perfect shaping of the paradise all break the conventional pattern of Chinese Buddhist temple statues, creating a unique expression of Xiaoxitian and interpreting the Buddhist world in an orderly manner.

Unique hanging sculptures throughout the hall

In Chinese Buddhist sculpture art, "hanging sculpture" is a relatively rare form of expression. So far, except for a "Bodhisattva at the Assembly" in Cave 27 of Dunhuang, only Shanxi has preserved Buddhist hanging sculptures. The Xiaoxitian hanging sculpture is a representative work in terms of sculpture content, scale, quantity and artistic level, and is a well-deserved "hanging sculpture treasure".

The most distinctive feature of Xiaoxitian is the hanging sculpture, which means suspended sculpture. From the perspective of composition and viewing angle, the hanging sculpture can be regarded as relief, but it is far from being comparable to ordinary relief. It is based on the walls, beams, columns, purlins, etc. inside the building to shape various characters, scenes and countless decorations. It also uses clever transitions between various characters and scenes to reflect the connection between them. It also coordinates with each other through various postures such as tilting, overlooking, jumping, and flying, forming a sense of space and reality of flying in the air and looking down on the lower world, which vividly expresses the infinite, subtle and solemn philosophy and romantic charm of the Western Paradise.

Some scholars have found that the Xiaoxitian Temple in Xixian County is unique in that it uses this technique to create numerous figures and countless decorations in the hall, and to form a complete and unified artistic conception. The craftsmen used the artistic technique of hanging sculptures in the hall to vividly express and interpret the paradise, and also directly reproduced an ideal beautiful world.

In addition to the unique architecture and hanging sculptures, Xiaoxitian Temple still houses a well-preserved Ming Dynasty Chinese Buddhist canon, the Yongle Beizang. This Buddhist canon is a Ming Dynasty court edition, which was completed in the fifth year of the Zhengtong reign of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty (1440). The rich religious and cultural connotations it contains provide precious materials for the study of Chinese Buddhist culture. It is also an important classic for the study of Buddhist history, Buddhist canon history, ethics, and folk customs.

In addition, the exquisiteness and mystery of Xiaoxitian also attracted countless literati and dignitaries, who climbed up to admire the place and left behind many poems and couplets.

It is hard to believe in the immortal palace and Buddhist kingdom, but who would have thought that there would be a multi-story building on Fengshan Mountain.

The Dharma body is carved with thousands of carvings, and the pink and white makeup of the phoenix is ​​not done by ordinary people.

The remains of the Ming Dynasty are still as new as ever, and I have never seen anything like it in my life.

Prostration and praise have nothing to do with Buddha; skilled craftsmen will be immortal.

This is a poem written for Xiao Xitian by Pan Xiezi, a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts and a master of traditional Chinese painting, which gives a very high evaluation of Xiao Xitian.

(The authors Zhang Ruiqiang and Li Xia are both staff members of the Propaganda Department of Xi County Party Committee in Shanxi)