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Kaifeng 

Religious services of such scale are held only couple times a year at the temple on festivals or special occasions.


Great Xiangguo temple saw its heyday during Northern Song dynasty about 1000 years ago. It was the largest Buddhist temple in China at the time and served as the royal temple. Over the years, the temple was destroyed couple times due to warfare or natural disasters. Most of the architecture of the current temple was built in Qing Dynasty over 200 years ago.


I was almost spellbound gazing at the towering statue of the thousand-hand-and-eye bodhisattva, one of the treasures the temple takes pride in.

Standing at seven-meter-tall, the statue was carved out of a whole gingko tree trunk and consists of four figures looking exactly the same facing four directions.

Legend has it that it took the craftsman 57 years to finish the masterpiece. I am sure he found it worthwhile.

I鈥檝e never had this kind of experience before, enjoying a concert in a monastery. I guess very different from Carnegie Hall at least.

Great Xiangguo temple was among the few temples in the country that carry a Buddhist band. It was the tradition of the temple though during its prime time centuries ago. The current band was formed in early 1990s and has become very popular when it comes to important Buddhist ceremonies all around the country.


So this is the famous Kaifengfu, the prefecture of Kaifeng, sort of like the municipal government of the capital city about one thousand years ago. And looks like they are holding an opening ceremony to initiate today鈥檚 office hour.

Some may find it cheesy, but I think this kind of mini-shows is greatly informative to most travelers who are not so familiar with the history here. What you see here is how Lord Bao, the most respectable governor of Kaifeng Fu in Northern Song Dynasty, took care of a case against the royal family.

Looks like we鈥檙e gonna have an ancient Chinese version of people鈥檚 court or judge Judy today. And some guy is going to be in big trouble.


Lord Bao has sort of become the god of justice in imperial China for his uprightness and incorruptibility. During his term at Kaifengfu, he settled many unjust cases, which were widely depicted in dramas or folklores. He even had the courage to send convicted royal family members to guillotine, a heroic act almost unimaginable one thousand years ago.

Lord Bao held the post of Kaifengfu for only one year and four months. However, on the stone tablet that recorded the names of all the 183 officers of Kaifengfu in Northern song dynasty, Lord Bao鈥檚 name was almost unrecognizable since almost everybody would touch his name in awe.



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