James Baquet

    jamesbaquet@gmail.com

    SHENGSHOU (“Longevity”) Temple is the ritual center of Baodingshan’s magnificent complex of stone grottoes. It was built in 1179 on the terrace above the box canyon where the main grottoes are located, before those grottoes were carved.

    On the day of my visit in 2012 the temple was undergoing a massive facelift, and the smaller grotto area immediately around it was closed to visitors. The temple, swathed in scaffolding and green net, was open, though, offering a fascinating peek into this ancient site.

    There are five main halls: the Hall of Indra (a Hindu god), the Buddha Hall, the Hall of the Buddhas of Three Times, the Yuan Tong Hall, and the Vimalakirti Hall.

    These last two were of especial interest. The magnificent image of Guanyin with a Thousand Arms in the main grotto was closed for repairs, but the Yuan Tong Hall had a shinier reproduction that gave some sense of the original.

    The Vimalakirti Hall at the top of the hill was named for an idealized layman, central figure of his own sutra. It’s interesting that there should be a hall dedicated to a layman, as there is some question whether Zhao Zhifeng — who built the temple and oversaw the carving of the grottoes — was a duly ordained monk, or something of a smooth-talking charlatan.

    In any case, though the hall was stripped down to its bare beams, there were some fine old headless statues in the front that were worth the climb up the stairs.

    Shengshou Temple was a pleasing finish to my day at Baodingshan, and I hope to return someday to see the closed portions.