Noted for its ingeniously crafted clay sculptures, Arhat hall is an outstanding building in Baoguang Temple. The hall is about 10 meters high, covering an area of 1,600 square meters, supported by 100 stone pillars. It was constructed during Emperor Xian Feng’s reign of the Qing Dynasty. The venerable monk Miao Sheng collected Buddha, Bodhisattva, arhats and masters. Each of the statues is about 2 meters high except those of the Buddha and Bodhisativa, which are much taller. All the statues are gilded and painted colorfully. Extremely lifelike, they have various facial expressions, which show the perfect craftsmanship of the clay sculpture. A Guanyin (Avalokitesvara) Bodhosattva with one thousand eyes and one thousand hands is enshrined in the center, facing four directions. It took nine years for Li Guangxiu, the sculpture master of Sichuan and his apprentices to complete it. It is known as a shining pearl of the sculpture are of the Orient.

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