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Temple to Avalokiteśvara-Guanyin and the Three Officials at East Great Yun Village (Dongdayuntuan Guanyin, Sanguan miao 東大雲疃觀音、三官廟)

From the Ground Up: Buddhism & East Asian Religions (FROGBEAR Project)

The Greater Yun Village in Yu County 蔚縣 consists of three fortified settlements: an eastern fort that was walled in 1538, a middle fort that was walled in 1539, and a western fort (the original gate-plaque giving a foundation-date does not survive). The temple to Avalokiteśvara-Guanyin and the Three Officials (Dongdayuntuan Guanyin, Sanguan miao 東大雲疃觀音、三官廟) is located outside the walls of the eastern fortress at the south-west corner. A stele sits in the temple courtyard recording its repair, but the text is highly effaced, and the date is not visible. The murals inside the temple are from the 19th- or early-20th century. The two shrines share a central wall; the Avalokiteśvara-Guanyin hall faces north, while the hall to the Three Officials faces south. The murals inside the hall to Avalokiteśvara-Guanyin are difficult to photograph effectively due to the height and narrowness of the room, and the curtains and other paraphernalia placed in front of them. The central wall shows Avalokiteśvara-Guanyin flanked by the Dragon Girl (Longnü 龍女) and the Red Boy (Hong hai’er 紅孩兒). Flanking them is a red-robed figure that appears to be Lord Guan (Guan gong 關公), with a pale-robed figure who might be Wenchang (文昌). The east and west side-walls show arhats (luohan 羅漢) in various attitudes, plus scenes from the Universal Gate (Pumenpin 普門品) section of the Lotus Sūtra (Miaofa lianhua jing 妙法蓮華經), also called the Eight Terrors (Ba nan 八難). The captions contain many character errors based on phonetic similarities, indicating that the text was known orally to the painter, not copied from a book. The west wall, left to right reads: 念閉觀音例生心壤自身, 念閉關陰例無藏不頭身, 念閉關陰例遠蛇蟒?虎押, 念閉關音例刀行斷壞. West wall, right to left: 念閉關音例卜?樂不能☐ , ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐, 念閉關音例火坑变成池, 念閉關音例加鎻得懈托. The central wall of the hall to the Three Officials shows the eponymous three officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water (Tian Di Shui san guan 天地水三官). Flanking them to the left and right are figures that appear to be the Perfected Warrior (Zhenwu 真武), Yisheng 翊聖, Tianpeng 天篷, and Tianyou 天佑. The two side walls show hagiographic scenes; the story at least partly corresponds to a hagiographic and liturgical text known as the “Treasure Scripture of the Three Officials (Sanguan bao jing 三官寶經). The captions read as follows (transcription by Hung Lichien 洪儷倩): East wall, top row, left to right: 長女生上元, 次女生中元, 小女生下元, 元受真仙盡?生為三元; bottom row, left to right: 諸神朝三官, 石木精之神, 山崩水湧, ☐☐天地水三官大帝. West wall, top row, left to right: 三官大帝, 三官化道士送經救民, 張用清女妊娠分免請龍孫念經, 顏先獄中赦出乃是經功報應; bottom row, right to left: 子貴夫妻合☐安樂 ,楊廷秀家堂供俸三元大帝, 眾生欠債殿下納還, 三元感應善男信女合家安樂.

Hebei Sheng (China); 39.824299; 114.685691

chi

North China Mural Survey

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0435866

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