An Old Ruined Temple

I have no idea how old this temple actually is. Sometimes things in China appear older than they are simply because they age quickly. Maybe the rapid deterioration is due to the pollution or just poor quality of materials.  At any rate, the temple was crumbling and broken even though people were obviously still worshiping there.

We found this old temple one day as we were exploring around the river near our home. You can see the bridge spanning that river in the background.

Temple Entrance

The temple sits on the face of the river bank with the idols looking out onto the water. This is the view of the temple coming up the hill.

Crumbling Walls

The sign says it’s a Guan Yin Buddhist Temple. Guan Yin was actually a war general who was deified by others and then over time was morphed into a beautiful, benign female goddess. (I’ve often wondered how the burly soldier would feel about being made into a soft, gracious goddess.)

Pillars at Entrance

Inside, there was incense burning, evidence that local people are still worshiping there.

Incense

Idol

Sleeping Idol

Romans 2:22 “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”

Offering for Gods

Idols

This pit is used to burn paper money, supposedly which goes to the ancestors for their use in the afterlife. Ancestor worship and Buddhism get all mixed up in China.

Incense

I generally don’t visit temples in China. I did a lot of that in my initial years here, and I’ve discovered that they are all the same.

But this one was unique. And I even liked it. I liked how the idols were crumbling apart and the pillars were already fallen down. It is an obvious symbol to me of the futility of worshiping a god made with your own hands or making a god out of another man.

The Most High God cannot crumble.

More Posts Like This One:

1. IV Nutrients for Trees
2. Another Walk at the River
3. Asleep on the Job
4. People Pictures

Tagged as: architecture, buddhism, living in China, temple, worship