Stone Buddha Hall & Stone Buddha of Northern Wei Dynasty

The Stone Buddha Hall is located in the north of the Che’erying Village, about 300 meters from the Guandi Temple. The original hall faced the east, having a gate in front. Historical records indicate that the hall had an abbot named Ronghe in the second year of the reign of Emperor Xianfeng of the Qing Dynasty. According to the records of the Miaofeng Mountain, the place had no monks and was occupied by a person surnamed Yao, and the temple was called the Stone Buddha Hall. In 1926 (the 15^th year of the Republic of China), the hall was on the verge of collapse due to rain leakage. Li Shizeng and Duan Qiguang, two scholars of the Nationalist Party, engaged stonemasons and built a stone pavilion in European style in the spring of next year. The pavilion is seven meters high and has arched doors and windows on four sides to protect the stone Buddha. In 1957, it was designated as a key cultural relic placed under the protection of the Beijing Municipal Government.

The statue, carved from a huge oval-shaped granite stone, is noted for exquisite workmanship and graceful modeling. Barefooted, the 1.65-meter-high statue stands on a stone base with lotus ornaments. Around the head of the Buddha are 29 carved figurines playing musical instruments. On both sides of the legs are disciples and on the shoulders are characters of the moon, the Buddha, the sun and the treasure. Behind the statue are 120 small Buddha statues, the smallest being only 4 centimeters high. They are arranged in 12 rows, each having a different number of statues. The inscriptions on the lower part of the statue tell how the statue was built. Despite long years of wear and tear, the engraved patterns and color ornaments can tell how exquisite the workmanship and painting were when the statue was carved.