Shanhua Temple
Located inside the south gate of Datong City in Shanxi Province, is Shanhua Temple (also called Nan Temple or South Temple). Shanhua Temple was originally founded during the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) but it was destroyed by war at the end of the Liao Dynasty (916 - 1125). During the Jin Dynasty (1115 - 1234) it was rebuilt on a large scale. The extant layout is the best-preserved temple of the Liao and Jin dynasties.
Covering an area of nearly 14, 000 square meters (over 16, 700 square yards) Shanhua Temple has three main buildings: the Gate, the Hall of the Three Saints and the most important building, Da Xiong Bao Dian (Da Xiong Bao Dian is the most important building in a Buddhist temple. Da means 'including everything'; Xiong means 'vanquishing and taming demons', Bao refers to the three treasures of this religion: Buddha, the Buddhist doctrines and the Buddhist monks. Dian means 'a palace').
In the Hall of the Three Saints, stand three statues representing Sakyamuni, Bodhisattva Puxian and Bodhisattva Wenshu--the Three Saints of Huayan in Buddhism. In Da Xiong Bao Dian reside five gold-coated statues of Tathagata Buddha, called Wu Fang Fo, which are original statues from the Jin Dynasty (1115 - 1234). On the eastern and western sides of these five statues, there are 24 gods, beautifully and realistically shaped. Among them, the God of the Sun's Palace and the God of the Moon's Palace are artistic masterpieces from the Jin Dynasty (1115 - 1234). There is one palace on each side of the Da Xiong Bao Dian. One is the palace of Bodhisattva Puxian and the other is the palace ruins of Bodhisattva Wenshu.