The Dafo Temple in Zhangye, China

The Dafo Temple in Zhangye, China

with 13 Comments

 

As our train curled west towards Zhangye, we watched jet-black yaks and blue-dyed sheep grazing along the Hexi Corridor.

 

Located between the snow-capped Qilian Mountains in the south and the inhospitable Gobi Desert in the north, the Hexi Corridor is a narrow passage of around 1000 km. All explorers and merchants who traveled between Central Asia and China had to pass though this string of arable terrains, which forms the northern part of the ancient Silk Road. The very Silk Road we explored from Xi’an to Ürümqi in the summer of 2019.

 

Dafo Temple, Zhangye © Travelwithmk.com
Dafo Temple, Zhangye © Travelwithmk.com

 

The city of Zhangye is one of the oases along the Hexi Corridor. Marco Polo, who lived there for a year, called this place Campichu. On the day after our arrival in Zhangye, we found out that there’s even a main street in the city named after Marco Polo, along with a statue of the Venetian merchant standing proudly in the center of a roundabout.

 

Marco Polo was however not the only famous historical figure to have lived in Zhangye. The Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan is said to have been born in this city. And to be exact, inside the Dafo Temple. Built in the 12th century, this Buddhist temple now holds the longest wooden reclining Buddha in China.

 

Reclining Buddha in the Dafo Temple, Zhangye © Travelwithmk.com
Reclining Buddha in the Dafo Temple, Zhangye © Travelwithmk.com

 

The statue of the reclining Buddha is in fact so long that I had to take a step back when we set foot in the Dafo Temple. But having been raised Buddhist, I felt the necessity to kneel down on one of the three prayer mats and say “Namo Amituofo”, before I dared looking up to give the statue a closer examination. That was when I saw that Buddha’s eyes were almost closed.

 

Behind me, I heard Kerstin ask our guide about the meaning of a sleeping Buddha. Oh no, he is not sleeping, Tony answered. He is dead! I turned around and saw Kerstin looking perplexed. You mean, he entered nirvana? she asked. Yes, exactly! He is dead and he went to nirvana… to heaven. Buddha is dead, that is why his 10 disciples are standing around him. Tony raised his arm and pointed at the statues positioned around the reclining Buddha.

 

Buddha's disciples in the Dafo Temple, Zhangye © Travelwithmk.com
Buddha’s disciples in the Dafo Temple, Zhangye © Travelwithmk.com

 

I looked at the disciples’ face and noticed something unusual. Like the Terracotta Army we saw in Xi’an, the statues representing Buddha’s disciples also reveal different physical traits. Not just the form of their face or eyes is different, but also the color of their face. According to our guide Tony, this heterogeneity was meant to show that Buddha had followers coming from various regions of the world.

 

Next to statues with Chinese Han facial characteristics, we recognized disciples with Mongolian traits, Tibetan, Indian, Persian or Central Asian, and even an African. One of the disciples probably represents a hermit who preached in the desert, because he was portrayed as a very skinny man with visible ribs.

 

Perhaps it was due to the dim light inside the temple. Or because I kept looking up at the tall statues standing high above us. But for a moment, I thought they moved…  Or was it because of the statues’ hollow eyes? Tony said that their eyes were all made of jade, but unfortunately the stones were stolen, leaving them as round big holes, looking into the void.

 

 

You know, there were many other items inside the reclining Buddha. I don’t know why our guide suddenly whispered, as if what he was about to tell us had to be kept secret. Look, he continued, the Buddha is very high, right? It is 7,50 meters high and 35 meters long. Inside the Buddha there are in fact five stories. Each story is about 1,50 meter high. If you went inside, you could climb from one story to the next. When the statue was built, the monks hid pottery, boxes and many other relics inside. But unfortunately, everything was stolen and destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Tony nodded his head slowly, as his whisper came to a standstill.

 

So, is or was there a ladder inside the statue of Buddha, which connects the five stories? Our guide looked at me with a question mark. Oh, no. There is no ladder. Only sticks of wood. Seeing us both confused, Tony explained that the statues are not really made of wood. They are made with sticks of wood, then covered with dry mud and then painted. Zhangye is an arid area. So, the sculptures of this region are usually made of clay, not wood.

 

Model of wooden structure of Buddha, Dafo Temple, Zhangye © Travelwithmk.com
Model of the interior wooden structure of the reclining Buddha statue, Dafo Temple, Zhangye © Travelwithmk.com

 

Oh, let me tell you something else… look at this disciple! Tony pointed at a specific statue standing behind Buddha. This is Buddha’s son. He looks sad, because his father died. Personally, I think that the son of Siddhartha needs to learn more. He is not supposed to be sad, because Buddha is going to heaven. If his father were like you and me, a human, then yes, he could be sad. In fact, I don’t really understand Buddhism and Taoism. Sometimes, it’s not logical…

 

Are you a Buddhist or Taoist? I asked Tony, sensing Kerstin’s sudden sharp stare at me. I could feel that my question to Tony was a bit too straightforward for my wife. But Tony is Chinese. And I know that Chinese people don’t interpret forthright questions as impolite or disrespectful. If they don’t want to answer, they either reply they won’t tell you, or they simply give you a loud laughter. Our guide did neither of these…

 

Dafo Temple, Zhangye © Travelwithmk.com
Dafo Temple, Zhangye © Travelwithmk.com

 

I’m interested in all types of religions and their history, Tony stated. But like 90% of Chinese people in China, I don’t believe and don’t practice any religion. In fact, if I had to choose one religion, I would probably choose Christianity or Islam. When my grandmother died a few years ago, my parents made a huge Taoist ceremony for her. A lot of relatives, friends, neighbors and everyone from the village came to her burial ceremony.

 

People were talking, singing, even eating and laughing. I was shocked, because I was sad. I could not understand why they all talked and laughed. My grandmother just died, so everyone was supposed to be sad, not happy! I suppose that in Islam and Christian burial ceremonies, the priest or imam speaks alone, while everyone else is quiet. Then he speaks about all the good and all the bad things the dead person has accomplished. For me, this is more adequate.

 

We both listened to Tony quietly, wondering if many other Chinese people reason like our guide. For a moment, I wanted to ask Tony if he has ever heard of the religion of Cao Dai and what he thinks of that. But before I got a chance to raise my question, we moved on to the room located behind the reclining Buddha.

 

Statue of Xuanzang and mural depicting the Journey to the West, Dafo Temple, Zhangye © Travelwithmk.com
Statue of the monk Xuanzang and behind him the mural depicting the Journey to the West, Dafo Temple, Zhangye © Travelwithmk.com

 

There, I stopped aghast in front of a huge mural. It depicts the story of the Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang, who traveled to India to obtain sutras with the help of his three disciples. Oh, you know the Journey to the West? Tony was clearly surprised. He quickly added: so, you also know that according to the 16th century novel, the monkey is the smartest of the monk’s disciples? Yes, I announced happily. I used to watch the TV adaptation of the Journey to the West with my grandmother when I was a kid and I loved the Monkey King!

 

Seeing me all excited, our guide explained that this mural was painted 300 years before the novel was published. And on this painting, experts have found out that the pig was actually the smartest of the monk’s followers. Astonished, I moved forward to examine the mural, as if I could have found out more about this revelation through the paintings’ details…

 

Mural in Dafo Temple, Zhangye © Travelwithmk.com
Mural outside the Dafo Temple, Zhangye, depicting the Monkey King among other Buddhist legends © Travelwithmk.com

 

Wait, there is yet another fascinating thing you can discover here in Dafo Temple! Clearly, our guide knew how to keep grabbing our attention. Behind the mural, he showed us a small private staircase which led to the top of the temple. Built for the emperor’s son who often came to pray Buddha, this staircase was meant to lead the emperor and his son to the highest floor, where they could be on the same level as Buddha. In this way, the emperor could show everyone that he was chosen by Heaven. He was therefore claiming the same rank as Buddha and did not consider himself below Buddha to any extent.

 

What is your opinion? we asked Tony. Do you think that emperors and kings are chosen by Heaven or God? Our guide guffawed and moved towards the temple’s main gate. That was a clear sign that he didn’t want to answer…

 

As we walked past the gigantic incense burner, a little girl jokingly held up three burning incense sticks towards her brother instead of turning towards the temple to pray the Buddha. Her giggles soon turned into loud laughter as she inclined her head towards her brother, who seemed to be having great fun to be prayed at. Their grandmother was putting her joss sticks in the incense pit. But it didn’t take her long to notice the whole scene and to yell at her grandkids from afar…

 

 

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The Dafo Temple in Zhangye, China

Dafo Temple in Zhangye, China © Travelwithmk.com

The Dafo Temple, Zhangye, China

Follow Mei:

Traveler - Storyteller

Mei is a 30-something Archaeologist, born and raised in Luxembourg. Besides traveling, she loves eating sushi and stinky cheese (although not at the same time), as well as listening to Kerstin's funny stories while driving on long road trips. She's afraid of heights, but adores panoramic views. Her favorite places are those she chose to live in: Paris, Greece, San Francisco.

13 Responses

  1. Ryan K Biddulph
    | Reply

    This place looks beyond cool. China has long been on our travel list. Way too much to see and do there; I will visit during the next few years.

    Ryan

  2. Chantelle Kincy
    | Reply

    This was fascinating! I loved learning about this experience. I would love to visit here! It’s such a shame that things get destroyed and stolen throughout the years, can you imagine how incredible jade eyes would look in those awesome statues?

  3. Kevin | Caffeinated Excursions
    | Reply

    What an incredible city with so much history! I had no idea that Marco Polo lived for a year in modern-day Gansu. It’s really interesting to see the wooden reclining Buddha after seeing the famous golden one in Bangkok. Also, I totally agree that the disciples look a little uncanny! The missing jade eyes could definitely be a factor, but I think they’re also much more realistic than the Buddha statue itself.

  4. This seems like a really interesting temple to explore and gain knowledge about. The reclining Buddha statue reminds me of the temple I visited in Thailand.

  5. backpackandsnorkel
    | Reply

    Wow, that was probably the funniest temple tour I have ever read about. Tony seems to be a good character and, sorry, I had to laugh when you write: “Oh no, he is not sleeping, Tony answered. He is dead!”. And I laughed again when I saw that the little girl was basically praying at her brother. Well written!

  6. Danik the Explorer
    | Reply

    I love how much detail you have put into this post guys about a temple. Its definalety a interesting place to hit up but I am angry that people want to damage the temples and steal from them. Now that really makes me angry at any monument of historical importance. I have been to so many temples in China and for some reason, I can’t put my finger on it, but I still find them really interesting places to explore.

  7. The.Holidaymaker
    | Reply

    Definitely interesting history as you said, the secret staircase would be fascinating to see. I got a chill reading about you thinking the eyes moved, but you kept on with the tour. Not sure I would be so brave!

  8. APRIL KEY RODE
    | Reply

    I enjoyed reading the history of this temple. When you mentioned about Kobali Khan it grab my attention right away! I love watching Chinese movies and heard about the monkeys and pig through the movies we’ve watched before. How nice you were able to visit this place. I hope we can reach this far someday! Thanks for sharing this interesting place.

  9. Ron Donoho
    | Reply

    I love the idea of trekking through the area where Marco Polo lived for a year. You know I’d be walking down the trail yelling “Marco”…”Polo”…

    • As someone named Marco, please don’t. I won’t be able stop turning around thinking someone is calling my name.

  10. Kristine
    | Reply

    It’s so sad that people vandalize and steal from the temples. It takes so much away from the history.
    Tony sounds like an awesome guide, though! Definitely seems like he made your visit interesting!

  11. This was a very interesting post! I’ve never been to a buddhist temple before, nowi must visit one. I would have been just like you asking the guide about his thoughts, always good to get their opinions.

  12. Jamie Italiane
    | Reply

    How striking to be in a place that old! I learned a lot just from what you noticed about the statues. I can see that he looks happy and content, which I imagine is how I would feel in nirvana.

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