Buddhas that aren't golden (for a change)

I met my parents and the guide at Shanghai airport. Our guide was in his twenties, with an ear piercing and a flashy cell phone he had trouble putting away. In the morning of our first day he took us to the Jade Buddha temple. This temple reminded me a little of the Lama temple in Beijing. While the Lama temple is housed in a former palace, this one looks like it used to be a wealthy person’s home, in terms of architecture. And while the Lama temple features some Tibetan art and imagery, the Jade Buddha temple features, well, a Buddha made of jade. Actually, there are two.

According to the story, a monk brought about five jade statues from Burma, though three of them were more like statuettes. The two large ones—one a sitting Buddha and the other a reclining one—were actually hidden from view from the Cultural Revolution until the eighties. They’re significantly smaller than many other Buddhas I’d seen on my trips, but none the less impressive, given the material they were carved out of. Unfortunately, photos of the jade Buddhas were not allowed.

The jade statues aren’t all there is to see in the temple. I found two other interesting statues, the Laughing Buddha (also called Budai), and the armor-clad Veda. There was also a curious depiction of a female deity, Guanyin, whose particular role in the Chinese Buddhist pantheon I cannot recall.

The incense burner in the main courtyard

Depiction of Guanyin, a female deity

Another courtyard, seen from the hallway leading to the Jade Buddhas. From here, the temple really looks like a villa, I think.