Shifo Temple

Shifo Temple in Shaoxing is surrounded by water on three sides, facing east and built against a solitary rock. According to the "Wuyue Beishi," during the Sui Dynasty's Kaihuang era (581-600), Duke Yang Su of Yue mined stone from Yangshan to build Luocheng, leaving behind a solitary rock over ten zhang tall. The rock has two peaks, now called Shifo Peak and Chenghuang Peak. Later generations carved a 3-zhang-high, 40-step-wide grotto in the middle of the rock, where they sculpted a stone Buddha using the natural rock. The Shifo statue, located in the grotto of Shifo Peak, is a Maitreya Buddha statue from the Tang Dynasty. It is lifelike, with balanced proportions, a round forehead, full cheeks, a benevolent expression, and vivid charm, making it a masterpiece of ancient stone carving. Its style and carving techniques date back to the late Tang period, and it is one of the four great ancient stone Buddhas of Zhejiang. The grotto is 8 meters high and 6 meters wide, with orderly inscriptions of poems and steles on its inner walls. The Buddha statue is 5 meters tall, with a circumference of 25.4 meters. It has a plump figure, spiral hair curls, long eyebrows, high nose, slightly upturned lips, large ears, and an exposed chest with three neck rings. Its broad shoulders are draped in a full-length robe, and it sits serenely on a 1.5-meter-high, 3.4-meter-wide lotus throne. The Buddha is in the "lotus position," a posture that conveys stability and tranquility, known in Buddhism as the "vajra lotus seat." The left hand, 1.4 meters long and 0.6 meters wide at the back, rests on the knee with slender fingers and distinct nail lines. The right hand is raised to forehead level, with the thumb and middle finger forming a circle in the "teaching gesture," known in Buddhism as the "dharma teaching mudra." This creates the wondrous scene of "Buddha in the stone, stone in the water, water in the mountain." Legend has it that on the day the statue was completed, vultures circled above, which was seen as an auspicious sign, leading to the construction of Lingjiu Chan Temple against the rock. During the Later Jin Dynasty of the Five Dynasties (936-946), it was officially named "Shifo Chan Temple." Since its founding, generations of monks and devotees have upheld Buddhist teachings and protected the temple with unwavering dedication. At its peak, the temple attracted countless pilgrims, thriving with Buddhist activities, donations for statues, and funds for temple expansions. In 1961, the Yangshan Shifo statue was listed as a key cultural relic protection site in Shaoxing County. In 2017, it was designated as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit.