 This
hall was at the end of the Forest of Stelae. Behind it are the
Daxiong Hall and Cangjing Ge. They add radiance and beauty to each
other, and had an imposing appearance. They are often referred to
as the 'Three Great Halls'. It is a pity that these important
buildings were burnt down in a fire caused by warlord Shi Yousan
in 1928. Story goes that the fire lasted over 40 days; many other
buildings nearby were also destroyed. This fire is said to be the
most disastrous one after the Sui-to-Qing dynasties. Tianwang Dian
is a Qing style structure. Its two sidedoors correspond tot the
sidegates at the Entrance. Only 30 carved pillar pedestals and the
stone threshold remained after the fire.According to the pictures of the building before the fire, it was a five-room structure with double eaves. This is consistent with the pictures drawn in the book History of the Shaolin Temple and with the murals painted on the wall of the White Robe Hall. According to the History of the Shaolin Temple, there used to be two groups of statues inside, two Vajras (Buddha's warrior attendants) in front of the door and four Heavenly Kings guarding behind the door. |
 The
building is now reconstructed, as are all the statues in it. |
  Two
Vajras (Buddha's warrior attendants) |
  The
four Heavenly Kings were gods in an ancient Indian myth, which
said that in the midst of Mount Sumeru (considered to be the
central point of the human world), the four Heavenly Kings were
guarding the first of a series of six skies. Buddhism adopts this
myth by asserting the the four gods were four heavenly guardians,
each in charge of one quarter of the world. They were respectively
called Chiguo (State Guardian) in the east (dressed in white and
holding a pipa) Guangmu (Sharp seer) in the west (dressed in red,
a silk rope in his hand, Zhengzhang (Growth protector) in the
south (dressed in black, holding a sword) and Duowen (Knowledge
preserver) in the north (dressed in green holding a stone pillar). |
 In
the early Qing Dynasty a sign board was hung on the outer wall
with six chinese characters meaning 'Genuine Birthplace of
Buddhism'. Another board with characters, Shao Lin Si (Shaolin
temple), written by Emperor Kang Xi, was put up in 1704. It is now
above the Entrance of the temple. |
| Next isTaizong Yushubei: 3 Religions & 9 Schools |