Wannian Temple 万年寺

About Wannian Temple

Inside, the bronze Samantabhadra rides an elephant beneath the dome. The contrast between the timber-like decoration and the absence of a timber frame is the detail to look for. Other halls extend along the temple’s west-facing axis, allowing the masonry sanctuary to be understood within a larger Buddhist complex.

Wannian Temple was founded in the Long'an era of the Jin dynasty by the monk Huichi, a younger brother of Huiyuan, and was first named Puxian Temple (普贤寺). In 876, the third year of the Tang dynasty's Qianfu era, the monk Huitong renamed it Baishui Temple (白水寺); it was repaired repeatedly during the Northern Song period and became known as Baishui Puxian Temple (白水普贤寺). In the Ming dynasty, the Wanli Emperor funded the Beamless Brick Hall (无梁砖殿) to mark his mother's seventieth birthday and inscribed a gold plaque reading 'Shengshou Wannian Si' (圣寿万年寺), after which the temple took the name Wannian Temple. In 1983, it was designated a National Key Buddhist Temple in Han Chinese Area.

The temple's Han Buddhist-style layout faces east, with the Mountain Gate (山门), Maitreya Hall (弥勒殿), Puxian Hall (普贤殿) and the Mahavira Hall (大雄宝殿) among the halls arranged along its central axis. Xingyuan Tower (行愿楼) holds three treasures: a fossilized jawbone described as a 'Buddha tooth' (佛牙), a Ming-dynasty Siamese edition of the Sanskrit Lotus Sutra called the Beiye Jing (贝叶经), and the Wanli Emperor's imperial seal (御印). The bronze statue of Samantabhadra, cast by the monk Maozhen (茂真), is registered as a national first-class protected cultural relic.

What to look for

• The Beamless Brick Hall uses masonry arches and decoration resembling timber construction.
• A bronze Samantabhadra seated on an elephant stands beneath the dome.

Location & getting there

Getting to Wannian Temple

Use the Wannian visitor parking and cableway area on Mount Emei’s middle-mountain road network. Choose the current signed route from that access area to the temple; high-mountain transport to Leidongping serves a different part of Emei.