山西運城稷山縣青龍寺-壁畫比永樂宮還早｜Qinglong Temple，over 700-year-old Murals & A Chinese Rural Wedding Ceremony

Qinglong Temple is located in the west corner of Macun Village, Jifeng Town, Ji’shan County. According to Ji’shan County Annals and the existing steles, the temple was founded in the 2nd year of Longshuo of Tang Dynasty. At the end of the Jin Dynasty, it was destructed by wars. It was repaired during years of Zhiyuan, Da’de and Zhizheng of Yuan Dynasty. It was renovated many times during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Sitting north and facing south, the temple has a two-way courtyard layout. Along the central axis, there are main gate (Tianwang Hall), waist hall (Wei-Tuo Hall), main hall and side halls on both sides. The waist hall, the main hall and the side halls in the temple are the remnants of the Yuan dynasty, while the rest were rebuilt in the Ming dynasty. At present, 186.08 square meters of murals which present Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism in Yuan Dynasty are preserved in waist and main halls. There are one monument in memory of the Temple’s setting from Tang Dynasty (it is now preserved in Yuncheng Cultural Relics Center), two memorial monuments in memory of temple rebuilding from Ming and Qing Dynasties, and 3 steles. On May 25, 2001, it was announced by the State Council as a national key cultural relic protection unit.

The Water and Land Ritual (水陸法會) was a Buddhist rite developed in China for the universal salvation of all sentient beings from hell. As a visual aid to the ritual, Water and Land Paintings (水陸畫) were often painted on hanging scrolls or as murals in Buddhist halls. The Water and Land Paintings of the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) at the waist hall of Qinglong Temple in Jishan County, Shanxi Province (山西稷山縣青龍寺) are the earliest Water-and-Land murals in existence. These murals have a rigorous composition and a lively style, making them a rare example to observe the form of Water-Land paintings in the early time.