 Precious Light Temple (Baoguang Temple) north of Chengdu is said to have been built in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220). Its major structures are built with some 400 stone pillars and decorated with figurines of birds and animals on their eaves and carvings of flowers and plumes on their doors and windows. Kept in the temple are such treasures as Sarira (monks’ ashes) and Buddhist scriptures written on Pattra Leaves.
The Arhat Hall, built in the 19th century, contains 500 2m-high clay figurines representing Buddhist saints and disciples.Well, not all of them: among this spaced-out lot are two earthlings- emperors Kangxi and Qianlong. They’re distinguishable by their royal costumes, beards, boots and capes. One of the impostors, Kangxi, is shown with a pockmarked face.
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