Lijiang Baisha Mural Scenic Spot
Ming-dynasty temple frescoes fusing Buddhist, Taoist and Tibetan imagery, commissioned by a ruler who gave up his throne.
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About this audio guide
This guide to the Baisha murals in Lijiang opens with a question: why would a king walk away from his own throne to spend his final years arguing with painters over the color of a demon's skin? You'll hear how the Naxi ruler Mu Zeng abdicated in sixteen twenty-four at only twenty-six, embraced Tibetan Buddhism deeply enough to sponsor its sacred canon and host its highest teachers, and commissioned the murals inside Dabaojigong hall that crowd Buddhist deities, Taoist immortals and Tibetan meditation gods onto the same walls. Look closely for the Tibetan color notes local painters left faintly visible beneath the paint.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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