SITU Temple

SITU Temple

SITU Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Suzhou City.

In Jiulong Town, southwest of Suzhou, there is a famous ancient site called SITU Temple. Located southeast of Jianlang Village to the west of Guangfu Town, it is a memorial temple dedicated to Deng Yu, the Grand Tutor of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It is also known as Ancient Cypress Hut, Cypress Cause Society, and Cypress Cause Retreat. The original construction date of SITU Temple is not recorded in history and remains unverifiable. The current halls were rebuilt during the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican period. It is also called Dengwei Temple. Inside the temple are four ancient cypress trees, nearly two thousand years old. The Qing Cypress is lush and verdant, tall and graceful; the Strange Cypress has a broken main trunk with a hollow interior; the Ancient Cypress features twisted grain, appearing rustic and vigorous; the Bizarre Cypress lies on the ground in three curves, resembling a dragon, with two branches that were split by lightning completely detached from the main trunk but still alive, having sprouted new branches. Together, the four ancient cypresses form a scene like a natural painting of ancient trees.

Legend has it that SITU Temple was the hermitage of Deng Yu, the Grand Tutor of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Later generations revered him as a deity, and over time it became a temple, known as Cypress Cause Retreat. During the Guangxu era, eminent monks such as Changwu, Honghai, Shucheng, and Juexing passed down the tradition generation after generation. It is now a branch temple of Tianshou Sheng'en Temple on Xuanshu Mountain (said to be the monastery where Emperor Qianlong’s biological father became a monk). Most of the structures in SITU Temple were built during the Qing Dynasty and the Republican period. One hundred meters west of the temple is the famous Plum Blossom Scenic Area, Xiangxuehai.

SITU Temple currently consists of two courtyards with over twenty rooms in total. The layout follows a traditional courtyard style. At the front is a wall gate, with a pair of stone lions standing on either side of the entrance. Entering along the central axis leads to the Mountain Gate and the Main Hall. These two are separated by a courtyard, with side rooms on both sides. To the left of the temple is an enclosed yard planted with ancient and famous cypress trees, and it houses the Cypress Appreciation Hall. Behind the hall is the world-renowned Four Ancient Cypresses Garden. These four ancient cypresses are said to have been personally planted by Deng Yu and are over two thousand years old. The four cypresses are uniquely shaped and vary in posture. Despite enduring a thousand years of wind, frost, rain, snow, sun exposure, and thunder strikes, they remain robust and majestic, resembling natural potted plants — truly a marvel under heaven.

Address: Southeast of Jianlang Village, West Mountain, Guangfu Ancient Town, Wuzhong District, Suzhou City

Type: Historic Site / Temple

Recommended Visiting Time: About 1 hour

Phone: 0512-66958218

Opening Hours:

8:00–16:30

Deng Yu (2–58 AD), courtesy name Zhonghua, was a native of Xinye, Nanyang (present-day Xinye, Henan Province). He was a renowned general of the Eastern Han Dynasty’s revival and ranked first among the “Twenty-Eight Generals of Yuntai.”

Deng Yu was intelligent and precocious in his youth, able to recite poetry at the age of 13. He later studied in Chang’an. At that time, Liu Xiu was also studying in Chang’an. Although young, Deng Yu recognized that Liu Xiu was no ordinary man and chose to follow him, only returning home several years later. In the final years of Wang Mang’s reign, peasant uprisings were widespread, and local warlords raised armies to establish their own rule. In 23 AD, Liu Xuan declared himself emperor with the reign title Gengshi. Many local heroes urged Deng Yu to rise up, but he refused to do so... More details about Deng Yu ++