Hall of Four Heavenly Kings

[1] In the history of Chinese Buddhism, Maitreya Buddha has the handsome image in which he wears a coronet on his head and yingluo (瓔珞) on his body and his hands pose in mudras.

[1] According to Song-dynasty Biographies of Eminent Monks [zh] (《宋高僧傳》; Sung kao-seng chuan), in the Later Liang Dynasty (907-923), there was a fat and big-stomached monk named "Qici" (契此和尚) in Fenghua of Mingzhou (now Zhejiang).

[1] As with Maitreya Buddha, the Skanda Bodhisattva's image has changed into that of a handsome ancient Chinese general who wore armors, and held a vajra in hand.

[1] There are the eastern Dhṛtarāṣṭra (持國天王; Dhṛtarāṣṭra wears white clothes and armor and has a pipa, a Chinese plucked string musical instrument, in his hand), the southern Virūḍhaka (增長天王; Virūḍhaka wears blue clothes with a sword in his hand), the western Virūpākṣa (廣目天王; Virūpākṣa wears red clothes with a dragon or a snake wrapped around his arm), and the northern Vaiśravaṇa (多聞天王; Vaiśravaṇa wears green clothes with a precious umbrella in his right hand and a silver sacred mouse in his left hand).

[1] The Four Heavenly Kings are said to live in Mount Meru and their task is to protect the world in their direction respectively.

The Four Heavenly Kings Hall at Guangfu Temple, in Shanghai .