Qi Qiu & Ji Qing

A pair of whimsical carvings known as Qi Qiu and Ji Qing can be found at the entrance to the temple, one on either side of the doorway right next to the stone drums that we describe elsewhere. The lighthearted style of these two carvings stands in contrast to the solemn deities inside the temple. But it’s easy to breeze right past without noticing them!


The words “qi” and “qiu” mean “pennant” and “ball,” which is what the person in Qi Qiu is playing with. In the other carving “ji” is a type of weapons and “qing” is a musical instrument. But when you string the four terms together, you come up with “qi qiu ji qing,” which turns out to be a play on words, because you can switch in four other Chinese characters with the same pronunciations to come up with an auspicious phrase: “praying for good fortune.”  


You can see from this that culture affects sculpture, and sculpture transmits culture.