De’an Temple

De’an Temple

De’an Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Jilin Province.

Commonly known as Laoye Temple, De’an Temple was first built in 1927 and is located in the western suburbs of Taonan City. It consists of structures such as the mountain gate, main hall, rear hall, side halls, bell and drum towers, etc. The entire temple complex features a rigorous layout and an orderly arrangement. It suffered damage several times throughout history, but was restored in 1996 with approval from the Baicheng Municipal Government and renamed to its current title. The current temple covers an area of 6,592 square meters, with a built-up area of 865 square meters. It includes one main hall, as well as three other halls—the Kṣitigarbha Hall, Guanyin Hall, and Skanda Hall. There is also one east and one west monk’s quarters building. Within the temple stands a 2-meter-tall, 1-ton bronze Buddha statue, along with over ten 1-meter-tall bronze Buddha statues.

Legend has it that in 1927, Zhang Haipeng (also known as Zhang-Zi), who was stationed in Taonan, suddenly dreamed one night that Guan Yu stood astride his horse with a raised saber, calling out to him, “Third brother!” Immediately, Zhang grabbed his spear, mounted his horse, and charged westward after Guan Yu, all the way to the area where De’an Temple now stands—at that time, still a barren wilderness—yet the horse refused to take another step forward. Upon waking, he found the experience quite mystical. From then on, the tale that “Zhang-Zi” was the reincarnation of Guan Yu’s sworn brother Zhang Fei spread rapidly.

To express his deep gratitude for the divine favor shown by Lord Guan in revealing his true identity, Zhang Haipeng resolved to build a Guan Di Temple at the location indicated in his dream, vowing to worship there for life. It is said that upon hearing this, merchants and local residents eagerly offered donations of money and materials to support what they saw as Zhang’s act of “loyalty and righteousness.” In truth, however, that was not the case. As the commander-in-chief of the 13 counties of Guandong, and later a lackey of Japanese imperialism, the bandit-turned-traitor Zhang Haipeng originally came from a notorious background. In an attempt to whitewash his unsavory origins, he had to fabricate an outlandish story to present himself as a do-gooder. Yet, as fate would have it, Wu Junsheng, who had by then been promoted to Governor of Heilongjiang Province, visited Taonan to inspect defenses and also had a dream that very night—he dreamed he had transformed into a golden-winged roc, seated beside the Buddha, and later descended to earth to enjoy the incense offerings of mortals. When Wu the Marshal casually mentioned his dream in conversation, Zhang Haipeng and others took it as an auspicious omen that Wu would soon rise to even greater heights. As a result, the planned Guan Di Temple was expanded into a Guan-Yue Temple, enshrining not only Guan Yu but also Yue Fei, symbolizing the brotherly bond between them and their “unswerving loyalty” to serving the nation alongside Marshal Wu.