Baisui Palace, Buddhist temple in Qingyang County, China.
Baisui Palace stands on Mokong Ridge of Mount Jiuhua in Qingyang County, Anhui. Its halls are not separate buildings: a five-storey structure joins the gate, main hall, relic hall, storerooms, refectory, monks' quarters, guest rooms and latrines into one block, so from a distance it resembles an old castle. The relic hall holds the gilded body of Master Wuxia in a glass case. The built area is 2,987 m².
The temple was founded during the Wanli era (1573–1620) by the monk Haiyu, known as Master Wuxia, who died at 110 and whose mummified body was later enshrined. In 1717 a fire consumed the temple, and abbot Sancheng restored it in 1721. It was renovated in 1814 and 1826, damaged in 1853 during the Taiping Rebellion, and partly burned in the late Guangxu period; the Haiyu mummy and gold and jade seals survived.
The name Baisui means "hundred years", referring to the 110-year lifespan of the monk Haiyu, whose body is kept in the glass-fronted reliquary of the Roushen Hall. In 1630 the Ming court bestowed on him the title "Yingshen Pusa" (Response Body Bodhisattva). The temple is one of the Four Great Temples of Mount Jiuhua, and pilgrims come to pay respects to the mummified body.
The temple stands on Chaxiao Peak and is reached on foot; the five halls are stacked into one five-storey block, so visitors move between levels by stair. The Hall of the Flesh Body, holding Wuxia's gilded remains behind glass, is the innermost space and the visit's endpoint. Allow time for the climb and wear shoes suited to stone steps.
The temple's five-storey structure merges the gate, main hall, relic hall, storerooms, refectory, monks' quarters, guest rooms and latrines into one block, so from a distance it looks like a walled castle rather than a temple. The relic hall holds the lacquered body of Master Wuxia, who died at 110 in a cave; in 1630 the Ming court bestowed on him the title "Yingshen Pusa" (Response-Body Bodhisattva).
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