The Huangze Temple lies in the west bank of
the West Jialing River in Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province, east side of Wulong
Mountain, and is separated from Guangyuan City by the river.
The Huangze Temple, originally called
the Wunu Temple, has another name Chuanzhu Temple. It is said that the
temple was built to memorize Li Bing and Er Lang. In the Zhenguan reign of the
Tang Dynasty (618-907), when Wu Shihuo, Wu Zetian's father, was in charge of
Lizhou County, Wu Zetian, who later became the only empress in Chinese history,
was born here. Then, the Chuanzhu Temple was renamed Huangze Temple. The extant
Huangze Temple was repaired in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It was built
according to the physical features of the mountain, which is uneven and
irregular. With green trees and red attics, cinnabar railings and painted
pillars, it looks simple and elegant, but in fact it is out of the ordinary. The
Big Buddha Building is at the highest place of the temple, while the Zetian Hall
is the most low-lying. There are other structures such as the Small South Sea,
the Viewing River Pavilion, the Five-Buddha Pavilion, and the L¨¹zu Hall, etc.
The statues and engravings on the Cliff of
the Huangze Temple are behind the temple, carved in the cliff against the river.
There are more than one thousand statues, from the Southern and Northern
Dynasties (386-581) to the Song (960-1279) and Ming (1644-1911) dynasties,
mainly including the Central Pillar Grotto, the Big Buddha Grotto, the Shrine of
Five-Buddha Pavilion, the Shrine of Zetian Palace, and so on. The Central Pillar
Grotto, also called the Zhitishi Grotto, is square, and the lines between its
four angles join at the central pillar. Shrines are chiselled in the three walls
of the grotto, decorated with the Thousand-Buddha images. The sculptures on the
pillars and Thousand-Buddha statues on the three walls, with simple and clear
outline, reflect the characteristics of stone carvings in the Southern and
Northern Dynasties. There are a Buddha, two disciples and two Bodhisattvas in
the shrines of the three walls, with full and round faces and bold and vigorous
dispositions. The upper shrine houses crouching dragons and flying
goddesses.
Up the stares along the cliff, people can
reach the Big Buddha Building. The Big Buddha statue in it, carved on the wall
of the cliff, is the biggest giant stone statue here. The Big Buddha's body is
stalwart, and inclines forward a little with a serene looking. The left, right
and front sides of the statue keep the arc plane. The two disciples and two
Bodhisattvas standing at both sides are smoothly carved. The statues standing
besides the Buddha, such as the Heavenly King, Buddha's warrior attendants, the
Hercules and so on, are well arranged and seem bold and powerful. Sculptures
named Demi Gods Semi Devils were carved in the back wall behind the Big Buddha. At the foot of
the Buddha, there stands a provider kneeling on one knee. He is dressed in the
uniform of the Tang Dynasty, and may be the official who offered donation to
build the temple.
The Five-Buddha Pavilion was named after
five shrines. Among them, the No. 1 grotto is the biggest. The main statue,
Sakyamuni, whose body is moderate, wears a cassock over one of his shoulders.
The folds of his clothes are thin and smooth. The Bodhisattvas besides the
Buddha look pretty, with graceful figures, hair worn in buns. They wear jewel
rings, fine hats and ornaments, and dress in fine gauzes and silk skirts, and
look slim and graceful. These are the treasures of local statues. Besides, the
pavilion is carved with the Painting of Herding
Cows and dagobas. In the Writing Scriptures Cave of
the temple, the inscriptions written by Yan Zhenqing, a famous writer of the
Tang Dynasty, were preserved.
Besides the statues and engravings on the
cliff, the Huangze Temple has other stone carvings. For instance, the inlaid
Painting on Twelve Things of Silkworm, which is intaglioed in the wall, describes the vivid process of
planting mulberry, raising silkworms and reeling silk in the Qing Dynasty in
twelve pictures. They are both special carving artworks and precious materials.