Shífāng

Shifang lies north of Chengdu, where the plain meets the foothills of the Longmen Mountains. Luohan Temple, founded in the Tang, was associated with the Chan master Mazu Daoyi, who entered monastic life there. Its religious buildings and images stood amid a county of irrigated fields; local gazetteers also recorded ceremonies at the opening of irrigation works, when communities gathered to pray for the coming agricultural season.