Hall of the Sea of Wisdom was first built on the Longevity Hill in 1750 during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. It was a two-storied building made entirely of colored glaze bricks. Its shining appearance always catches people’s eyes.
The building was also called”no beam hall” because there is not a single beam or column in it.
Moreover, in “the Sea of Wisdom”, there worships a statue of Kuanyin (the Goddess of Mercy) in a sitting posture. The statue sits straightly in the lotus throne with a jade pure bottle in one hand and willow leaves in the other. In the niches on both sides of the entrance to the hall, there sit respectively the statues of Manjusri and Samantabhadra which are said to be cast in the reign of the Emperor Qianlong.
It is a holy building, with its name, “the Sea of Wisdom” which comes from the sutra, symbolizing the mighty force and the infinite wisdom of Tathagada Buddha. A visitor who connects the three characters on the architraves of the hall and the glazed memorial archway will find that they form the Buddhist’s chant.
