Yunju Temple, Buddhist temple in Shuitou, China
Yunju Temple comprises six halls arranged east to west, holding more than 22,000 scrolls of Buddhist scriptures and twelve ancient pagodas. The complex also features several caves where thousands of stone steles with inscribed Buddhist teachings are stored.
A monk named Jingwan began inscribing Buddhist texts onto stone steles in 611 CE during the Sui Dynasty, starting a long tradition. This practice of carving scriptures into stone continued for over 1,000 years before ending in 1691.
The temple holds the world's largest collection of stone-carved Buddhist sutras, displaying rare examples from the Ming Dynasty. These stone inscriptions were a way to preserve and honor sacred texts for future generations.
The site opens at 8:30 AM, closing at 5:00 PM in summer and 4:30 PM in winter, with separate admissions for the temple and the stone-carved sutra section. Wear comfortable shoes since the grounds are extensive and include multiple caves to explore.
Nine stone-sutra storage caves contain a total of 14,277 stone steles, representing the largest stone archive of Buddhist texts in China. These underground chambers were specially developed for protecting and storing these precious religious records.
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