Buddhist Temple

Taylor Williams

Buddha Jade Temple

This past Thursday afternoon we took a trip to the Buddha Jade Temple in Shanghai. The temple effectively blocks out the constant bustle of Shanghai with a calmer, more relaxed atmosphere. The temple was painted mainly with bold red and gold. There were lay people as well as monks milling about the courtyard. In the inside of the temple there were enormous porcelain statues of different Buddhist religious figures. These figures were largely human in nature although some had numerous limbs. The figures did not have the imposing, superior attitude that is common in the depictions of most western religious figures. These Buddhist religious figures were often represented smiling and indicated more of a focus on human connection. In one of the murals in towards the back of the left side of the temple there were tens of different scenes all depicting an almost celebratory festive atmosphere. Many of the statues were recognizable such as the world famous image of a golden, overweight Buddha bearing an ear to ear smile.