Guangsheng Lower Temple

The Guangsheng Lower Temple is a cluster of Yuan- and Ming-dynasty halls at the foot of the mountain, below the Upper Temple and its pagoda. The main hall contains Yuan-dynasty wall paintings in good condition, the most celebrated of which shows a theatrical performance in considerable detail — costume, instruments, stage arrangement, and audience reactions all depicted with a specificity that makes it an invaluable document of 14th-century performance culture.

The hall structure itself is also significant — the Yuan-dynasty timber-frame construction uses the large, bracket-set architectural vocabulary characteristic of the period, with a spatial generosity that later Ming halls often compressed. The side halls contain additional painted decoration and sculpture. The whole Lower Temple complex is quieter and less visited than the pagoda above, which is a point in its favour.

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A story
The Yuan-dynasty wall painting in the Lower Temple's main hall depicts a theatrical performance — an orchestra, actors in costume, a stage — that scholars believe is one of the earliest visual records of Chinese opera. The painting was not made to document theatre; it was a votive offering to the temple deity, and the performers depicted were probably participants in a religious festival. The incidental documentary value of a devotional painting is a recurring feature of Chinese religious art.

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