CHINESE NAME: 法定寺, 昆明法定寺.

OTHER NAMES: Fading Temple, Kunming Fading Temple.

ADDRESS: inside Guandu ancient town, which is now part of Luofeng Village, approx 8km south-east of Kunming City, Yunnan province, China.

HISTORY: Some records say that Fading Temple was built around 756 AD during the Nanzhao Kingdom period and others note it was built during the Song Dynasty. Fading Temple served as an important early centre for the rise of Esoteric (Vajrayana) Buddhism in the region and was once renowned for training Buddhist monks and earned the poetic name “Luo Peak in Layers of Green” 螺峰叠翠. Over the centuries, it has been rebuilt or renovated many times, with its current main structure dating back to the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, 1895. In 2003, Fading Temple was officially listed as a Key Cultural Relics protection Site of Yunnan province.

ARCHITECTURE: Fading Temple features a traditional three-hall with two-courtyard layout covering approx. 2,500 sqm. It faces east with its back to Luo Peak 螺峰山 and has a blend of Song and Qing Dynasty architectural styles. As you wander around the complex, you will also see side halls or chambers, wing rooms, a pavilion, a Bell Tower and Drum Tower that both have double-eaved hexagonal pointed roofs, richly decorated with painted beams and carved rafters. There are openwork lattice patterns on some of the buildings and decorations like twin phoenixes and Qilin statues within the complex.

The main hall – Mahavira Hall, consists of five bays wide, three bays deep and single-eaved hip-and-gable roof. It was built with a column-and-tie wooden framework, steeply pitched eaves and features a 45 degrees angle wing-shaped bracket set with exquisite openwork carvings of “Double Phoenix Facing the Sun” at the front exterior. There is an intricately carved wooden qilin sculpture atop the eave columns and phoenix-shaped beam ends at the four corners. The gable walls showcase the brick-built ruyi pattern bracket sets in classic Qing Dynasty style...