[2025 Hongtong Attraction] Travel Guide for Xia Temple (Updated Mar)

🌿 During the summer vacation, we drove back from Ningxia, passed through Anqing in Gansu, crossed the Yellow River in Shaanxi, and arrived in Linfen, Shanxi Province. When you come here, you must visit the famous attraction, Guangsheng Temple. Guangsheng Temple Scenic Area is located next to County Road 544 in Hongdong County, Linfen, Shanxi. It mainly consists of three buildings: the Upper Temple, the Lower Temple, and the Water God Temple. 🌿 The Feihong Pagoda, the Zhaocheng Jin Tripitaka, and the Yuan Dynasty murals in the Water God Temple are known as the "Three Wonders of Guangsheng Temple." 🌿 The scenic area is quite large. After entering the parking lot, it feels quiet all around, but the parking lot is full of self-driving vehicles. It was a sunny day, with green trees and clear rivers flowing quietly at the foot of the mountain. Looking up at the mountain, you can see the Feihong Pagoda in the Upper Temple. We didn't take the sightseeing bus up the mountain. Instead, we visited the Lower Temple at the foot of the mountain and then walked up the mountain. Our family strolled along the stone steps up the mountain for about 20 minutes to reach the Upper Temple at the top of the mountain. 🌿 The Lower Temple consists of the Mountain Gate, the Front Hall, the Rear Hall, the Duodian Hall, and other buildings. It is a very unique Yuan Dynasty building. The hall houses the statues of the Three Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas Manjusri and Samantabhadra, all of which are Yuan Dynasty works. The walls of the hall are covered with murals, which were stolen and sold abroad in 1928 and are now housed in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, USA. The remaining 16 square meters of murals on the upper part of the gable wall depict the story of Sudhana's 53 visits. The murals are exquisitely painted and richly colored. 🌿 The Upper Temple consists of the Mountain Gate, the Feihong Pagoda, the Amitabha Hall, the Mahavira Hall, the Tianzhongtian Hall, the Guanyin Hall, the Dizang Hall, and the wing rooms and corridors. It was founded in the Han Dynasty and has been rebuilt many times. The existing buildings are relics of the Ming Dynasty, but the structure still retains the style of the Yuan Dynasty. The Feihong Pagoda stands in the middle. It was rebuilt in the sixth year of the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty (1527), and a surrounding corridor was added to the ground floor in the second year of the Tianqi period (1622). The pagoda is octagonal in shape, with 13 stories, and is 47.31 meters high. The pagoda is decorated with yellow, green, and blue glazed tiles. The first, second, and third stories are the most exquisite, with brackets, leaning pillars, Buddha statues, Bodhisattvas, Vajras, flowers, dragons, birds, and beasts under the eaves. The whole pagoda is exquisite and unique, and it shines brightly in the sunlight. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟Scenic Area Introduction🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 🏞️ Scenic Area Name: Guangsheng Temple Location: County Road 544, Hongdong County, Linfen, Shanxi Province 📒 Scenic Area Level: 4A 🌳 Climate: Warm temperate semi-humid continental monsoon climate 🌄 Era: Yuan and Ming Dynasties 📖 Famous Attractions: Feihong Pagoda, Yuan Dynasty murals in the Water God Temple 🕐 Recommended Duration: 2–3 hours

Guangsheng Temple was first built in the first year of Jianhe (147 AD) during the reign of Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was originally named Julushe Temple and was renamed Guangsheng Temple in the Tang Dynasty. Except for the Feihong Pagoda and the Main Hall of the Shang Temple which were rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty, the rest are buildings from the Yuan Dynasty. It is divided into two temples, the lower temple is at the foot of the mountain and the upper temple is at the top of the mountain. Promise me that you will spend as much time as possible in Guangsheng Temple, because whether you go up to the temple or down to the temple, it is worth savoring slowly and carefully. The most dazzling feature of the Shang Temple is the colorful glazed tower, also known as the Feihong Tower. It is also the filming location of the scene where Tang Monk sweeps the pagoda in the 1986 CCTV version of Journey to the West. At Xiasi, you can visit the most complete existing temple dedicated to the water god in China and admire 13 murals from the Yuan Dynasty with Taoism and folk opera as their themes. This group of murals with rich content and full of strong life atmosphere truly reflects the real face of social life in the Yuan Dynasty. They are extremely valuable both in terms of artistic value and research value. The most precious of these is the "Opera Mural" painted on the east side of the south wall, which depicts a folk theater troupe performing operas to thank the water god for bringing rain.

The Lower Temple of Guangsheng Temple includes the Water God Temple and the Lower Temple, which have basically retained the Yuan Dynasty architecture. Photos 2 and 3 show the mountain gate (the stage is behind the mountain gate) and the main hall of the Water God Temple, and photo 4 shows the Yuan Dynasty stone lion in front of the main hall. The murals of the Water God Temple are undoubtedly the most exquisite part of the Lower Temple. The east and west walls are the rain-seeking and rain-giving murals, respectively, and the difference can be clearly seen from the different facial expressions of the rain god sitting in the middle. The murals of the Water God Temple are wonderful because of their vivid details, such as the fish-selling mural in photo 7, where the official buying fish is pressing the scale with his little finger; the earliest coal stove in the lower right corner of photo 8; the cuju and chess murals in photo 9; the drama mural in photo 10; the mural of the Dragon King giving rain to Guangsheng Temple in photo 11, which shows the scale of Guangsheng Temple in those days; and the little maid lifting the curtain in photo 11 is also lifelike. If you can't see clearly, there is a special mural display and explanation on the west side of the main hall. The biggest highlight of the Lower Temple is the characteristics of Yuan Dynasty architecture, such as the "reduced column structure" in photo 14, the herringbone beam in photo 17, the large purlin in photo 18, the real and fake columns in photo 19, etc. The bell and drum towers on both sides of the main hall in photo 20 are also relatively rare. In fact, the Lower Temple also had very exquisite murals, but unfortunately, they were sold by the monks in the past to raise money to repair the temple, and are now preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the United States and the Kansas Museum. Now only a few corners of the murals remain in the main hall (photo 16), which is very regrettable.

📍Attraction Address: Inside Guangsheng Temple, Hongdong County, Linfen, Shanxi 🚗Transportation: After exiting Hongdong West Station🚄, take bus🚌 route 26 to the city center, then transfer to bus🚌 route 21 or 22 to the terminal station. 👍️Must-visit Attraction: The Lower Temple consists of the Mountain Gate, Front Hall, Rear Hall, and Duo Hall. Outside the Front Hall is a sloping stone staircase. Passing through the Front Hall leads to the main part of the Lower Temple, which is laid out like a quadrangle courtyard. The Duo Halls are on both sides, and the seven-bay Rear Hall is in front. The Rear Hall was built during the Yuan Dynasty. Inside the hall, there are statues of the Three Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas Manjushri and Samantabhadra, all of which are Yuan Dynasty sculptures. The walls of the hall originally featured Yuan Dynasty Buddhist murals, including the famous "Transformation of the Medicine Buddha Sutra" on the east wall. In 1928, these artifacts were cut and stolen, and are now scattered across various museums in the United States🇺🇸, with the "Transformation of the Medicine Buddha Sutra" located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Currently, the remaining mural fragments on the side walls of the Rear Hall are stored separately within the hall. 🎟️Ticket Information: The Lower Temple is included in the Guangsheng Temple ticket🎫. Online adult tickets are 68 yuan, and discounted tickets are 35 yuan.