Suzhou Chenghuang Temple

Suzhou Chenghuang Temple

Suzhou Chenghuang Temple is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Located at No. 94 Jingde Road, it was designated as a Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit in 1956 (including the "Three Horizontal and Four Vertical Canals" stele). During the Song and Yuan dynasties, Suzhou Chenghuang Temple was situated in the southwest corner of the inner city but was destroyed by fire during the late Yuan dynasty. In the third year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming dynasty (1370), a new Suzhou Prefecture Chenghuang Temple was built on the site of the ancient Yongxi Temple (traditionally believed to be the residence of Zhou Yu of the Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period), which is the current location on Jingde Road. It underwent multiple renovations during the Hongzhi, Jiajing, Shunzhi, Kangxi, and Qianlong reigns of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The ceremonial gate was destroyed in the tenth year of the Xianfeng reign (1860) and rebuilt in the twelfth year of the Tongzhi reign (1873). The east and west wings of the Chenghuang Temple were respectively established in the twenty-third year of the Wanli reign (1595) as the Changzhou County Chenghuang Temple and Wuxian County Chenghuang Temple, forming a symmetrical layout and together creating a large architectural complex. Both county temples also underwent multiple renovations, with the last one taking place in the sixth year of the Tongzhi reign.

After 1958, the Chenghuang Temple was repurposed as a factory, and several auxiliary halls and rooms of the prefectural temple, along with the Wuxian County Temple on the west side, were gradually demolished and rebuilt. The rear sleeping palace was destroyed by fire in May 1983. Currently, only the ceremonial gate, main hall, and some structures of the eastern Changzhou County Temple remain.

The ceremonial gate is three bays wide (12.7 meters) and seven bays deep (7.4 meters), with a single-eave hip-and-gable roof. Each side wall has a Qing dynasty stone stele. The main hall consists of front and rear sections connected by a central corridor, forming a distinctive "I"-shaped (gongzi) floor plan, commonly referred to as the "I-beam Hall." The front section is five bays wide (26.23 meters) and seven bays deep (11.58 meters), with a ridge height of about 8 meters and a single-eave hip-and-gable roof. The central three bays have their platforms extended southward to form a terrace, on which a three-bay rolled-awning pavilion is built, connecting to the front hall to create a continuous roof. The front hall features architraves on its perimeter columns, with flat beams, single-tiered bracket sets ("dingzi ke"), and connecting beams and eave purlins. The side perimeter and step columns are linked by corridor beams and clamp beams. The main step and rear step columns are connected by clamp beams, supporting two three-tiered bracket sets bearing the main beam. Above the beam are two more three-tiered bracket sets supporting the connecting beams and gold purlins. Between the front and rear gold purlins is a ridge beam with a single three-tiered bracket set supporting the connecting beam and ridge purlin, adorned with cloud motifs. The hall columns are sturdy, with inverted-bowl bases and drum-shaped pedestals under the side and rear eave columns. The central gold column stone slabs are carved with intertwined mugwort leaf scrolls, while the front eave column slabs resemble leather drums—each adorned with a ring of drumhead nails, and carved with dragon heads gripping rings on the front and back, and floral-bird designs on the sides. The front pavilion’s beams still retain traditional Suzhou-style paintings. The front and rear halls are connected by a two-bay, five-rafter rolled-awning corridor, integrating them into a unified structure. The corridor is as wide as the central bay of the rear hall. The rear hall is five bays wide (22.24 meters) and seven bays deep (10.3 meters), with a ridge height of about 7.92 meters and a single-eave hip-and-gable roof. Its wooden framework is similar to the front hall but slightly smaller in scale. The perimeter columns rest on inverted-bowl stone bases, while the gold and central columns sit on plain drum-shaped stone bases atop inverted-bowl foundations.

Due to long-term use as a factory and warehouse, the I-beam Hall and ceremonial gate deteriorated without proper maintenance. Although the structural framework remained largely intact, all original doors and windows were lost, and the roof became damaged. After the factory relocated, protective renovations were carried out between 1984 and 1985, restoring the hall to its near-original appearance. In 1995, the main hall of the former Baolian Temple outside Changmen Gate was relocated to the site of the sleeping palace behind the I-beam Hall.

In front of the now-demolished main gate of the Chenghuang Temple was a Ming dynasty memorial archway with four pillars and three bays, featuring a refined network-style bracket system with stone pillars and wooden construction. The Municipal Cultural Relics Management Committee oversaw major repairs in August 1963, but unfortunately, it was demolished in 1964 by authorities citing "traffic obstruction."

The Changzhou County Temple retains a ceremonial gate, main hall, and two-story building. The main hall was rebuilt in the twentieth year of the Jiaqing reign (1815), renovated in the sixth year of the Tongzhi reign (1867), and features a flush gable roof. It is three bays wide (12.7 meters) and 10.85 meters deep, with a reverse-corridor and painted decorations. A stone stele inscribed with the "Chenghuang Temple Stele Record" from the twentieth year of the Jiaqing reign is embedded in the wall.

The I-beam Hall of the Chenghuang Temple is one of the few well-preserved early Ming dynasty Chenghuang Temple structures in China and the only relatively intact early Ming hall architecture remaining in Suzhou. Its I-shaped layout is also quite distinctive.

The "Three Horizontal and Four Vertical Canals" stele is located on the front eave wall of the west side bay of the rear hall in the I-beam Hall of the Chenghuang Temple. The stele body is 1.6 meters tall and 0.8 meters wide, with a base 0.3 meters high and 0.9 meters wide. It was erected in the second year of the Jiaqing reign (1807). The front side bears the "Record of the Re-Dredging of Suzhou City Canals," documenting the dredging of Suzhou’s urban waterways from August of the first year of the Jiaqing reign to May of the following year, funded by donations from officials, gentry, merchants, and citizens. The text was composed by Jiangsu Governor Fei Chun, calligraphy by Wang Wenjue, and carving by Liu Hengqing. The reverse side depicts a map of Suzhou’s canal system, showing the distribution centered around the seven main waterways known as the "Three Horizontal and Four Vertical" lines. Traditional elevation-style markings indicate the locations of city walls, important bridges, temples, and government offices on the plan, accurately reflecting the dense network of canals and bridges in mid-Qing dynasty Suzhou. The upper part of the map features an inscription titled "Explanation of the Three Horizontal and Four Vertical Canals of Suzhou Prefecture City," written and inscribed by Sheng Linji, spanning over 1,200 characters. It details the layout of the canals, corrects errors in historical records, and supplements missing information. In the lower left corner, additional notes describe the total length of dredged canals, earthwork volume, and expenditure. This stele holds significant documentary value for the study of urban construction history.

Address: No. 94 Jingde Road, Pingjiang District, Suzhou City

Type: Historic Taoist Temple

Recommended Visit Duration: About 1 hour

Phone: 0512-65155897

Ticket Information:

Door Price: 10.0 RMB