Bamboo Temple is located in Yu'an Mountains in the NOrthwest of Kunming, about 7 kilometers away from the cen- ter of the city. Around the temple are mountains covered with trees everywhere, and at the gate of the temple stand many very tall cypress trees Which were planted in ancient times. The streams and brooks are flowing through the woods and val- ley, making a beautiful natural sound. At the back of the temple, a great deal of bamboo grows there and looks like vast forest. The bamboo is so green as if there were some dew-drops on its 4eaves. That is the so-called Qiongzhu - kind of bamboo.

There is an interesting story about the name of the tem- ple. It is said that in the Tang Dynasty two brothers were hunting at the edge of Dianchi Lake.' Suddenly, they found rhinoceros. The two brothers began to chase the animal, run- ning after it towards Yu'an,,mountains. Totheir surprise, the rhinoceros vanished into the woods. Tney searched for the an- imal carefully. But they couldn't fund it. However, they found a few strange-looking monks sitting on the ground. As soon as the two brothers came up to these monks, there was nothing but bamboo there. They felt very curious and tried to pull the bamboo out. But they failed. The next day, the two brothers went along and found that there was bamboo every- where. So they took that as a very important sign from Bud- dha. Later, they decided to set up a temple there. Hence the name, Qiongzhu Temple, that is, Bamboo Temple. Obvious- ly, it is nothing more than a legend, of course.

In fact, Bamboo Temple was first built in the Song Dy- nasty, and was burnt down in !419 in the Ming Dynasty:. [at- er, the temple was rebuilt and renovated several times. The most important renovation took place from 1883 to 1890, in the Qing Dynasty, The [project lasted for nearly 7 years. The size and the architecture of the temple today is almost the same as it used to be over several hundred years ago.

Ladies and Gentlemen:
.Here we are at the temple. It is so great ,that many peo- ple find an air of solemnity with freshair here. kook at these four cypress trees on both sides. The four trees were planted in the Ming Dynasty more than 300 years ago. For this; reason they are well proteeted by the local authorities.

: The courtyard of the Bamboo Temple is carefully des. igned~ and divided'into four layers. each layer is ihigher mad higher. ,En- tering the :gate of the:second layer,you iean find a big yard with :plum trees ,camellias azaleas, magnolias and other rare plants native to Ytinnan. As; you know, the weather of Kun- ming is very pleasant You can:find that in, this temptie there are,various flowers, in full ,bloom for all: , seasons

This is the main Hall of Buddha. ,Let's goin and ,have a The Main Hall of Buddha contains a: trinity of enonnous gilded Buddhas seated on lotus thrones. In the middle is Sakyam.ani, founder of Buddhism. Orr the left:is Amitahha, founder of Western Paradise, On the right is Bhaisajya guru founder of Oriental Realm.

~ Now, look! On both ;sides of the trinity of Buddhasi are statues of Mahakayapa and ananda MatahakasyaPa is the man who;e a 1 led' f0r the first gathering of Buddliists.f Ananda iS' the man who preached the Buddhit Sceripture the first gathering of buddhists. '

On the side walls-of, the: hall are the statues of 500 Arhats that is,holy men and discipleS of buddhist The stat; ues of 500 Arhats make the temple very well,known in China'. These life-sized clay figures are in a 'very' unique way, in 6 rows-with 31 figures in each row. raised higher than the other. the figures.here 4la the Main Hall of Buddha are some of 500 $(1 hrhats in the whate tomple The most famous fig- ures are! in Fanyin .Hall and: Tiantailai .Hall,; highSghts the temple. It is;regarded:as oaeof the mostbrilliaat pearts in the treasure house ,of: Buddhist sculptures. These Arhats ,were made by Li Guangxiu, famous Craftsman from Sichuan Province, and his apprentices,, It; took; them 7,years, to finish this greatwork. Inthe course of their hard work, they: broke away from the convention of religious sculpture and created the most well-known 500 Arhats in China:

these vivid sculptures with exaggerated human charac, teristics strong draw on the aristic imagination. Look! Some &.them took. like Jingang--Vajra with:,their,eyes glariug an- grily. Others, in contrast, are Guangyin Bodhisattva-77,the Gaddess of Mercy, The.bare-footed is a Wandering,monk, travelling a aroud the wor!dand that one with his big belly out is! Mito-Maitreya he appel broad-,minded and happy, Those over :there are so attentive as: they ware listening to Buddha's preaches. Oh, look at these, they are discussing something important. Well, you see,the Biqu-Bhiku is sit- ting there sieently, thinking over what Buddha said to him, The respectable mank appears ,joyful .as if he were satisfied with .everything :around him. All these figures in 'the temple are so vivid and so nice that you will feel something special blow- ing through your mind. When you axe among them, you al- most want to talk with them. 'they are get statues, but real persons of the materiyal world.

The Bamboo Temple style of the sculptures is apparently influenced by the free sketch of Chinese ink panting and traditional chinese realistic painting. All the statues are done with bright colour, and lucid lively, lines. style of, the scultures is ' such a unique way that tourists both at home and form abroad sing highly of this creatio from ancient China.