Mianyang Shengshui Temple: A Zen Moment in a Thousand-Year-Old Ancient Temple

Step into Mianyang Shengshui Temple, where red silk prayer ribbons gently sway in the morning breeze, tied to the rustic stone lions, as if telling the wishes of pilgrims over the centuries. This ancient temple, originally named Ganquan Temple and built in the first year of the Yonghui era of the Tang Dynasty (650 AD), was renamed Shengshui Temple during the Ming Dynasty. It is one of the oldest Buddhist sacred sites in northwest Sichuan. Walking through it, the layers of Tang Dynasty bricks and tiles, Ming Dynasty couplets, and Qing Dynasty stone carvings unfold like a three-dimensional history of Chinese Buddhist architecture. The most touching details of the temple are hidden at the eaves' corners—those stone beast sculptures that have vividly withstood a thousand years of wind and rain. Tang craftsmen used the simplest chisels to carve the most lifelike guardian spirits. The ancient Tang Dynasty well in front of the main hall still flows with clear water. Legend has it that Empress Wu Zetian once sent envoys to fetch water here for medicine, hence the name "Sacred Water." Inside the most popular Guanyin Pavilion, the Ming Dynasty bronze statue’s flowing robes seem to flutter, and the dew dripping from its fingertips falls precisely into the grooves of the bluestone slabs, year after year carving the marvel of "dripping water wears through stone." A special recommendation is to visit early in the morning. When the first ray of sunlight passes through the ancient cypress trees and falls on the stone lions tied with prayer ribbons, the monks’ morning chanting rises with the curling incense smoke. Remember to take a red prayer ribbon and, like the locals, clasp your hands in front of the stone lions to make a wish. The thousand-year-old temple will quietly listen to every sincere heart.