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Permanent Exhibition Galleries &
Other Services
The following services are located at the first floor gallery entrance:
Information Desk
Ticket Office
Coat Check & Personal Lockers
Museum Store
Gallery 100 | The Round Hall
The design of this museum is based on the core teachings of the Flower Ornament Sutra, which says: all phenomena are interdependent on one another while harmoniously integrated with each other in perfect wholeness. By expressing Buddhism in art, we hope to inspire joy in all beings, help them to realize the profound meaning of the Buddha’s teachings, and enter the infinite world of the Lotus Treasury.
Gallery 101 | Multimedia Guided Tours
This gallery narrates the origin and transmission of Buddhist art with sculptures, pictures and illustrations, and interactive multimedia guided tours. The displays show us how the sincere efforts of generations of Buddhist patrons have enabled ancient Buddhist artifacts, once slipped away like twilight dreams in history, to resurface before our eyes today.
Gallery 102 | The Infinite Buddha
This gallery features imposing Buddha statues of towering height. One example is the group of statues made up of a central Buddha over 3-meters high and two Bodhisattvas over 2-meters high. The central preaching Buddha and the two attendant Bodhisattvas by his side complement each others in perfect wholeness, showing one of the themes expressed in the Flower Ornament Sutra: numerous stars all gather around to stand on guard at the house of the North Star.
1/F Mezzanine
Restaurant
Cloud Blossom Vegetarian Restaurant
The restaurant offers a variety of dishes, light snacks, desserts, beverages, coffee and tea.
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Permanent Exhibition
Gallery 201 | Stone Buddhist Sculpture
This gallery features the theme of stone Buddhist sculptures in their resplendent varieties. The displays mainly include statues of the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhist disciples. They all descend into this blessed gathering, radiating a majestic, joyful, and perfect atmosphere, enabling viewers to appreciate the special magnificence of these sculptures.
Gallery 202 | Gilt Bronze Buddhist Sculpture
This gallery features gilt bronze Buddhist sculptures from three major traditions of Buddhist art: Chinese, Tibetan and Southern Asia. The glittering brilliance of these figures displays the magnificence of “Body glistening in gold,” one of the 32 great physical features of the Buddha. The golden aura of these figures symbolizes the compassionate gaze of the Buddha beholding the world of all living beings like bright sunlight. As we look at these golden faces in reverence, we are also reflecting inwards on the purity of our own Original Face. As mentioned in the sutra: every phenomenon in the world is a manifestation of our innate Buddha nature, our pure original mind.
Gallery 203 | Wooden Buddhist Sculpture
This gallery presents Buddhas in meditative stillness, Bodhisattvas in perfect magnificence, Heavenly Kings adorned with colorful paintings, Vajra Guardians watching us with awe-inspiring gaze and Arhats greeting us with spirit and life. Each figure is the embodiment of the wondrous power of the enlightened Buddha to manifest oneself in myriad forms and to enlighten others in myriad ways. These wooden statues have escaped the persecution of Buddhists and war fires of the past ages and managed to survive until today. Beneath the exterior surface with the peeled-off spots, they still radiate their original brilliance untarnished by time. Each piece is a witness to history, a messenger of time. Together these statues express the Buddha’s dynamic wisdom to guide and enlighten everyone, and his gentle compassion to embrace and benefit all beings.
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Special Exhibition
Gallery 301-303 | True Treasures in Stone and Ink – Stele Rubbings from Xi’an Beilin Museum