Exploring Shanxi with the Monkey King: Southern Shanxi Chapter

On August 20, the domestically acclaimed and groundbreaking game "Black Myth: Wukong" was globally unlocked, and it had already been pre-loaded on multiple platforms. Among the 36 filming locations across various provinces and cities, 27 are located in Shanxi Province. The game features magnificent and realistic Chinese landscapes, ancient architectural complexes, Taoist and Buddhist statues, and even bizarre images of celestial beings and demons, providing every gamer with an unprecedented experience. Notably, Little Western Paradise in Xi County, Shuanglin Temple, and Fusheng Temple in southern Shanxi all make appearances in the game. Let’s take a look!

The design inspiration for the "Hanging Sculpture Buddhist Kingdom" scenario, where the player-controlled protagonist, the "Chosen One," ventures into, partially stems from the Little Western Paradise in Xi County. In reality, the Daxiongbaodian Hall of the Little Western Paradise resembles a miniature Western Paradise, condensing the vast and boundless universe into a space of approximately 170 square meters. With over 2,000 exquisitely crafted hanging sculptures, it presents a vividly materialized fairyland of Buddhism. The hanging sculptures in the Little Western Paradise are truly remarkable, each with a unique expression, vividly brought to life, and crafted with such skill that they seem almost supernatural. For millennia, they have remained dust-free, with their colors as vibrant as ever and their golden bodies shimmering with brilliance.

The Shuanglin Temple featured in the game is actually located in Qiaotou Village North, Zhongdu Township, Pingyao County, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province. It consists of eastern and western parts, with three courtyards arranged along the central axis. Renowned for its painted sculptures, the temple is hailed as "the treasure trove of Oriental painted sculpture art." Out of the more than 12,700 painted sculptures existing in Shanxi Province, one-sixth of them are found in Shuanglin Temple in Pingyao. The entire temple complex is characterized by its simple yet grand architecture and an elegant, serene atmosphere. Inside, the Song Dynasty stele, the Ming Dynasty bell, as well as the painted sculptures and murals all complement each other beautifully, showcasing immense artistic value.

Fusheng Temple, one of the filming locations in the game, is located to the north of Guangcun Village, Xinjiang County, Shanxi Province, facing south. Inside the main hall of the temple, there are over 20 exquisite painted sculptures from the Song (Liao, Jin), Yuan, and Ming Dynasties. The painted sculptures in Fusheng Temple are exquisitely crafted, among which the background of the Crossing-the-Sea Guanyin (Avalokiteshvara) statue employs the high relief technique to create a highly decorative and visually striking pattern of waves that appear smaller in the distance and larger nearby. This sculpting technique is rarely seen in ancient sculpture art.