Da Xing Shan Temple is located in Xi'an, China and has been considered a birthplace for Buddhism in the country.
The temple has a history that spans more than 1,600 years, dating back to its construction in the Western Jin Dynasty. Later, during the Tang Dynasty, many Buddhist texts from India were translated at the temple and then promulgated throughout the country.
Much of the temple was desecrated during the later Tang Dynasty when Buddhism was persecuted by the emperor Wuzong. But repairs and expansions have been made since then.
Many of the buildings currently on the site were constructed during the Qing Dynasty. There are numerous statues devoted to Buddhism on the site, with figures of giant elephants and Bodhisattvas scattered throughout. Believers can pay their respects at the various temple buildings.
Religious art was characteristic of the artistic trend in the Wei and Jin South and North Dynasties. Buddhism, which had been brought to China during the Han Dynasty, was particularly popular at this time. Buddhist statues of the period were made in a great number of different materials including gold, silver bronze and jade. One statue of note in the collection is a Buddha in iron said to have been modelled on Yan Jian, Emperor Wen Di of the Sui Dynasty. This particular emperor was an extremely devout buddhist and was raised in a buddhist nunnery.
These semi-human, semi-animal objects were used as tomb guardians. With the face of a man and the body of a beast, they are of similar artistic style to the sphinxes of ancient Egypt and other representations of chimeras from around the world. They would have been placed inside the tomb to fend off evil spirits and thereby ensure a peaceful resting place for the tomb's occupant.
An important settlement on the Silk Road, the main trading route from east to west, Jiaohe was once a prosperous and bustling town. It was built on a large islet, making it easy to defend and thereby dispensing with need for city walls which would have characterised many other settlements of the time. The city is laid out in districts, with the eastern and western areas being residential and the sacred Buddhist sites to the north. The southern district appears to have been given over to burial use and the remains of a large government building can also be found there. Although the city was destroyed by Genghis Khan's Mongols, substantial ruins remain with some structures standing as high as a two-storey house and a number of doorways still intact, making it the largest and best-preserved earthern city in China. The site is under consideration for World Heritage Site status.
