In 1573, Yunnan Governor Zou Yinglong diverted surplus military supplies from a pacified rebellion to build a sanctuary on the banks of the Pingchuan River. This act founded the Chishiyan Guanyin Monastery, a four-thousand-square-meter complex in Dali. Though war during the Ming-Qing transition leveled the original structures, the site rose again. In 1773, builders raised the main hall and meditation rooms. During the late-Qing Du Wenxiu Rebellion, rebel general Yang Rong renovated the grounds and erected the Yuhuang Pavilion. Decades later, in 1930, Gendarmerie Commander Yang Ruxuan funded a wooden theater stage and a five-bay viewing shelter, completing the layout.

The monastery physically spans the rushing waters of the Pingchuan River, which divides the complex into two distinct spheres. Visitors cross between them over a single-arched stone bridge, feeling the cool mountain air rising from the water. On the west bank, the civic courtyard features a convex-shaped theater stage with a single-eave raise-beam frame. Here, the sharp, piercing notes of the traditional Pingchuan Suona horn still echo off the hard gable roof of the viewing shelter.

Across the stone bridge, the eastern courtyard houses the religious sanctuary. The portal-style mountain gate leads past the Weituo Hall to a three-bay main hall facing west. To the north, a three-sided meditation courtyard sits quietly against a raw cliffside. On this stone face, the physical strokes of Yang Ruxuan's chisel remain visible, preserving his 1929 calligraphic carvings of "Infinite Light and Life" and "Buddhist Land Cultivated by Buddhists." Nearby, three stone steles from 1799, 1878, and 1929 stand as silent records of the temple's survival.

A devastating flood in 1960 swept away the original double-arched bridge and the central release pond, forcing locals to rebuild the crossing. Today, the eastern courtyard remains an active Buddhist site, while the western viewing shelter serves as a public community hall.