Travel Experience to Straw Hut Temple

Straw Hut Temple is located in the north of Guifeng Mountain in Hu County about 50 kilometers from Xi’an Xian travel guide, with the Feng River to the east and Zhongnan Mountain to the south. It is not only a famous Buddhist temple in China, but also the home of the Three Treatise school (a branch sect of Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty). Built in the later Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), the Straw Hut Temple was once a part of Xiaoyao Garden during the Later Qin Kingdom, where it functioned as a sutra-translation site for an eminent monk named Kumārajīva from the Buddhist Kingdom of Kucha. In 1998, the temple was named as one of the Key Buddhist Temples in China by the State Council.
The temple China tour deals faces south with an ornate gold horizontal tablet on which are engraved 3 Chinese characters declaring “Straw Hut Temple” by the famous scholar Zhao Puchu. Ancient cypresses and verdant bamboos are scattered around the pavilions and attics of the temple, creating a tranquil and serene atmosphere. Walking northward along the brick-paved path, visitors can see the ancient Bell Pavilion. The large bell within was made in the 19th year of the Wanli Period in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Opposite the Bell Pavilion stands a stone monument in memory of an eminent Chinese monk, Ding Hui, built in the 9th year of the Dazhong Period in the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
Walking ahead, visitors will see Little Mountain Gate with stele corridors on each side. The corridors were built in 1956 and cover an area of 120 square meters, face the main hall, and are well connected with the wing rooms. The largest palace in Straw Hut Temple, Xiaoyao Sanzang Palace, was prominently called the Heavenly King Hall in the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911) and is where the clay statue of Sakyamuni (the primary figure in Buddhism) is enshrined. A vivid wood statue of Kumārajīva, a famous Buddhist monk and scholar, stands 1.2 meters tall in front of the statue of Sakyamuni. To the west of Xiaoyao Sanzang Palace is a hexagonal pavilion Xian tours, where it is established the most precious cultural relic in the temple: Kumārajīva Dagoba. The dagoba is 2.6 meters tall with a Sumeru altar at the bottom and a round platform at the top. As well, Mist Well can be found in the northwest of the temple with a bamboo forest to the southeast; it exists as a result of subterranean heat emitting from the earth.
Background information about Kumārajīva
Kumārajīva was a world-renowned profound scholar and prolific translator from Kucha who became a major Buddhist monk at age 7 and later traveled a number of countries. He could speak over 7 languages and had a indispensible knowledge of the teachings Sutra Pitaka, Vinaya Pitaka, and Abhidharma Pitika, so much that he has since become known as “The Tripitaka Dharma Master.” The Buddhist sutras he translated greatly contributed to the cause of Buddhism in the world, including the Diamond Sutra, Amitabha Sutra, Lotus Sutra, and Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra, thus earning him the title as one of the 4 famous sutra-translators in China in addition to Xuan Zang, Bu Kong, and Zhen Di.
tags: Xian tourist attractions