Structure Type: Village temples 村廟.
Location: Baoyukou Village, Yu County, Hebei Province 河北省蔚縣豹峪村. The temples are scattered along the south-east side of the main street of the town; whether this village was ever walled or not I’m not sure. The place is located in the remote and impoverished hills of north-western Yu County.
Period: Late 18th or early 20th century, based on style. It seems plausible to me that all of the extant paintings in the village are in the same hand, although this might not be true.
Artist: Unknown.
Mural Contents: The largest temple in the village has two halls, one to the Dragon Kings 龍王 and one to Lord Guan 關公. Both have one wall of murals surviving. The hall to the Dragon Kings shows the return of the Dragon Kings to the Crystal Palace 水晶宮; beneath this, little figures show men carrying grain into store-houses and musicians from a festive temple-band waiting outside the temple. The hall to Lord Guan shows scenes from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms 三國演義, attractively arrayed in a rolling landscape. The same complex also has a old opera stage with some extant 19th century graffiti.
There are in fact two shrines to Avalokiteśvara-Guanyin 觀音 within the village, but one is heavily damaged. The relatively intact shrine shows the Arhats 羅漢, and above them scenes from the Universal Gate Sūtra 普門品, in which Avalokiteśvara-Guanyin saves her devotees from various perils.
Other Notes: There’s nothing particularly unique or especially attractive about these, although they’re well preserved; I put them up mainly because I like these panoramic landscape-style narrative scenes without the panel divisions.
Full Gallery
