Weidao Temple on Pingjiang Road

Weidao Temple on Pingjiang Road

There is a saying in Suzhou: “Weidao Temple was built before Guanqian Street.” Weidao Temple is located at No. 16, Weidaoqian, Pingjiang Road, Suzhou, and was designated as a Suzhou Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit in 1982. Originally named Huidao Temple, it was first built in the early Yuan Dynasty by the Taoist priest Deng Daochu on the site of an abandoned garden formerly belonging to the Shangguan family of the Song Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, it was incorporated into Xuanmiao Temple. In the 12th year of the Chenghua era (1476), the abbot Zhang Fuchun rebuilt the temple, and in the 20th year of the Jiajing era (1541), Wu Shiliang, the magistrate of Changzhou County, donated funds for renovations and gave it its current name. In the 4th year of the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty (1665), Zhou Hongjiao carried out further repairs and expansions, and it was renovated again in the 15th year of the Jiaqing era (1810). Additional restorations were conducted in the 14th year of the Guangxu era (1888), in 1917, and in 1953.

The temple complex faces south and, in the early 1950s, covered an area of 1,950 square meters with 54 halls. The existing structures mainly consist of the central and western routes. The central route includes, in sequence, the Mountain Gate, Lingguan Hall, Xuan Di Hall, Sanqing Hall, and Rear Hall (Doumu Hall), among which the Sanqing Hall is the main hall of the entire complex. From the inscription on the “Record of the Reconstruction of Weidao (Temple)” stele from the first year of the Guangxu era, it is known that the Sanqing Hall was first built in the 4th year of the Zhengde era of the Ming Dynasty (1509), nearly 500 years ago. During the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty, major reconstruction took place, and in the first year of the Guangxu era, moderate renovations were carried out. This hall remains largely intact today, measuring three bays wide (13 meters), 17 meters deep, and over 10 meters high. It features a flush gable roof, flat beam frames, and all side walls are supported by square stone columns with chamfered corners. The column bases are plain, round, blue stone plinths, retaining remnants of Ming Dynasty architecture. Inside the hall are various statue steles and stone carvings recording reconstructions. The colorful Taoist murals on the fan-shaped wall and the blue-background, gold-character couplets on the front pillars are still clearly visible. At the peak of its popularity, altars in both the Xuan Di Hall and the Sanqing Hall displayed statues of the Beiji Xuantian God and the Three Pure Ones, adorned with cloud motifs above and offerings below, illuminated by bright lamps and enveloped in incense, reaching the height of its splendor.

Each hall within the temple complex is separated by a courtyard. On both sides of the central route halls are corridors that connect to the eastern and western routes through moon gates, which originally bore finely carved brick lintels. The western route is the Xihua Hall, consisting of three sections. The hall originally housed a plaque inscribed with “Comparable to Grand Teachings”; in front of the hall were five single-story rooms serving as kitchens, storage, and bathing facilities, along with an ancient well. Outside the wall was an open space of about one mu, where the temple’s Taoist priests once planted miscellaneous trees and grew fruits and vegetables. To the west of the hall lies the Lige Tang Pan residence, separated by a wall. The white-bark ancient pine and the lush purple wisteria branches from the Pan residence stretch over the wall, creating a picturesque contrast with the temple.

Address: No. 16, Weidaoqian, Pingjiang Road, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province

Transportation: Take bus No. 301, 301, or 305 in downtown Suzhou and get off at Pingjiang Road Station.