Huayan Temple

One of the finest surviving Liao Dynasty Buddhist temples in China

The Huayan Temple, in the western quarter of Datong's restored ancient city, is one of the most important surviving examples of Liao and Jin dynasty Buddhist architecture in China. The complex is divided into an upper temple (containing the main Mahavira Hall, dating from 1140) and a lower temple (containing the Bhagavat Sutra Library, dating from 1038). Both are National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

The Bhagavat Sutra Library is architecturally remarkable: its interior cabinets, arranged in a U-shape around the walls, are carved in a miniature palace style that has no close parallel elsewhere in Chinese religious art. The main hall's clay sculptures — 31 figures arrayed across the main platform — are among the best-preserved Jin dynasty religious works in existence. The temple is often quieter than the Yungang Grottoes and rewards a slow visit.

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A story
The Huayan Temple's Mahavira Hall, completed in 1140 during the Jin Dynasty, is the second-largest wooden structure of its age surviving in China, after the main hall at Datong's Shanhua Temple. Its 31 large-scale clay bodhisattva figures, painted in the Jin style, are considered masterpieces of Chinese religious sculpture. The most unusual is a figure known as the "shy bodhisattva," whose posture and downcast eyes give it an almost human quality that has made it a favourite subject for photographers.