Where is Yunyan Temple in Jiaxian County?

Yunyan Temple in Jiaxian County is a cultural relic protection unit in Shaanxi Province.

Jiaxian Yunyan Temple is located in a famous historical and cultural city in Shaanxi Province, on the mountainside of Hutou Peak, 1 km south of Jiaxian County. It faces the Yellow River in the east and the Luliang Mountains across the river. It is surrounded by the Jialu River in the south and is connected to the Baiyun Mountain, a national cultural relic protection unit. It is adjacent to the Jiawu Highway in the west and has convenient transportation. It is close to Tiejiazhou in the north and is adjacent to the towering mountain city of Jiaxian County. The temple covers an area of ??more than 5,000 square meters. The grottoes in the temple were started in the Tang Dynasty and completed in the fourth year of Xuanhe (1122) in the Song Dynasty. It consists of eight well-proportioned cave chambers with varying heights and lows, simple and exquisite antique palaces, cliff inscriptions from the Daguan period of the Song Dynasty (1107-1110), glazed relief steles, murals, and ancient cypresses from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Yunyan Temple has gathered a large number of precious cultural relics with historical, artistic and scientific research value. As early as May 31, 1957, it was announced as a provincial key cultural relic protection unit by the Shaanxi Provincial People's Government.

The main cave of Yunyan Temple is the Main Hall, and there are 48 unique mosaic statues inside and outside the cave. The statues vary in size, ranging from 25 to 149 centimeters in height, with different shapes and lifelike shapes. The main cave is 6 meters deep, 7 meters wide and 4 meters high. The main god enshrined in the cave is Sakyamuni. The stone sculpture of Sakyamuni stands solemn and peaceful. Ananda is innocent and intelligent on the left, Kasyapa is mature and prudent on the right, and there is a mount on the lower left Manjushri Bodhisattva on the stone lion, and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva on the stone lion below. The two are quiet, the mount is fierce, and the sixteen Arhats, who are all handsome and clear-faced, are either naive or wise, steady or happy, with different expressions, ready to come out. The dragon sculpture is a real finishing touch. The lotus hanging on the top of the cave is loved by everyone. Outside the cave, on both sides of the cave, the kings of heaven are brave and mighty, and the warriors are strong and fierce. The most eye-catching thing is that Guanyin Bodhisattva does not look like the graceful or graceful sitting on the lotus platform that ordinary people see. Instead, it is extremely stretched and natural, leaning sideways on the bluestone. The curve of the body is very graceful, and the lines of the clothes are twists and turns. Smooth, it can be said that "Cao Yi comes out of the water, Wu Dai takes the wind", just like a handsome woman who looks sideways and smiles. Maitreya Buddha is all smiles. These dazzling array of statues are not only the crystallization of the ingenuity and artistic talent of the working people in ancient my country, but also reflect the attributes of grottoes as religious art, providing people with precious physical information for studying the history of religious development and appreciating ancient stone carving art.

The well-preserved Yunyan Temple Feng Grottoes feature simple shapes and unrestrained lines. They not only inherited the traditions of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, but also reflected the aesthetics of people in society at that time. Like the inside and outside of the main cave, the statues in other caves and temples also fully express the plump and round shapes of the Tang Dynasty, and the delicate and realistic features of the Ning Dynasty. The exquisiteness of the knife technique, the moderate proportions, and the variety of formations fully record the exquisite skills and unique ingenuity of the ancient working people. They are all pleasing to the eye and astonishing to watch.

Yunyan Temple is built on the mountain. The mountain is majestic, with strange rocks and lush pines and cypresses. At the foot of the temple is the confluence of the Yellow River and the Jialu River. There are waves of waves and the colors of the mountains and water complement each other. It's amazing, it's a place where writers and writers gather. During the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, Li Shouchang, the magistrate of Jiazhou, once wrote a poem about the scene:

Go to the ancient temple by the rock bank and climb up to view the Eight Gai.

The sound of the river moves the heaven and earth, and the mist blows against the tower.

Let’s enjoy the festival together, and our eyes will be filled with clear light.

The masses try to sing loudly, but don’t let the chrysanthemum bloom.

There is also a theory that Chairman Mao Zedong also visited Yunyan Temple in 1947 and saw the natural dangers of the Yellow River, but there is no record. During the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese invaders who occupied the east bank of the Yellow River coveted the Chinese national treasure of Yunyan Temple. He once bribed gangsters to steal the statue in the main cave. After the criminal act was discovered by the local people, the robbery attempt failed. In recent years, in accordance with the principle of "preserving and restoring the original state", the stone caves have been repaired and reinforced several times, and a cultural management office has been established for management and protection. In addition to attracting widespread attention from society due to its high-level cultural relic status and research value, Yunyan Temple is also located in the suburbs with convenient transportation and is a must-see for the famous scenic spot Baiyun Mountain. In recent years, it has gradually developed into an important tourist attraction. In 2003, the Cultural Management Office raised more than 50,000 yuan of its own funds to green the area around the temple and improve the scenic environment.

Yunyan Temple Scenic Spot has been included in the "Chinese Scenic Spots Dictionary", "Shaanxi Scenic Spots", "Yulin Literary and Historical Scenic Spots" and other books and periodicals.