Yue Wumu Temple

Yue Wumu Temple

Yue Wumu Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangsu Province.

Yue Wumu Temple is located atop Yuefu (also known as Tai Dai, commonly referred to as Mount Tai), within Taishan Park in Hailing District, Taizhou. In the tenth year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty (1582), Shu Dayou, the deputy military defense commissioner of Taizhou, rebuilt the original Taishan Shrine into the temple to enshrine Yue Fei (who once served as the Pacification Commissioner of Tong-Tai and concurrently as the prefect of Taizhou. Yue Fei was posthumously honored with the title Wumu, later changed to Zhongwu. His collected works, "Yue Wumu Ji," have been preserved).

The main hall is fronted by a moon terrace, and corridors connect the eastern, northern, and western sides of the building. The hall houses two statues of Yue Fei. In the thirty-first year of the Wanli era (1603), Zhang Ming’e, the deputy military defense commissioner of Taizhou, reconstructed the temple. Due to landslides on Mount Tai, termite damage, and years of neglect, relevant authorities assessed Yue Wumu Temple as a dangerous structure. In June 2009, the temple underwent a complete dismantling and restoration. The project restored its original Jiangnan-style temple design featuring red doors, yellow walls, and cylindrical tiles. The nineteen original statues of Yue Wang (Yue Fei) and his generals were recreated, and the stele corridor was inscribed with stories from Yue Fei’s life. The main structure of Yue Wumu Temple was elevated, and a new single-story building covering 480 square meters was constructed beneath it. This new space includes an exhibition hall displaying self-portraits of Yue Fei and his son, as well as calligraphy and artworks by historical literati such as Zheng Banqiao and Gao Fenghan.

In March 2019, Yue Wumu Temple was included in the eighth batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units