Songmen Temple

Songmen Temple

Songmen Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Songmen Temple, locally referred to as "Songmen Tou" by the people of Changtang, was built during the Ming Dynasty. It is situated at the junction of the former Tangli Village and Changtang Village and served as the necessary route to the mountainous inland villages such as Luocun and Huangcun. Originally, there were numerous structures, but today only a stone cave about seven feet high and over ten feet wide remains. The lintel is engraved with the two characters “Song Men,” and below it on both sides are stone-carved cursive calligraphy couplets. The upper line reads, “The house emerges from the green peaks along the cloud-pathed way,” and the lower line reads, “The gate opens beneath the verdant pines.” These were composed and inscribed by Liang Guozhi, the top imperial scholar of the Qianlong Bingchen year (a native of Liangxiang, Shangyu). The cave extends over a hundred meters, with a cool breeze flowing gently through it from east to west. Above the cave, there are buildings that once enshrined Guan Shengdi Jun (Lord Guan). In 1940, when the Japanese army invaded Changtang, they burned down many structures at Songmen Tou, leaving the site in ruins. In the 1980s, dedicated individuals reconstructed the Mahavira Hall and several other buildings on the original site, restoring its former appearance. The temple’s incense offerings flourished once again, and in early 2004, it was officially approved by the city’s Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau for preservation, making it a legally recognized Buddhist site in Changtang.

Changtang Town: Located in the southwest of Shangyu City, Changtang Town neighbors Fusheng Town of Shaoxing County to the west, connects to Cao’e Subdistrict to the east, borders Tangpu Town to the south, and lies close to Dongguan Subdistrict to the north. The administrative area covers 39.7 square kilometers, with a total population of 14,300 (including 378 non-agricultural residents), and administers 8 administrative villages and 1 neighborhood committee. The town has 11,170 mu of arable land, 35,000 mu of forested land, and 850 mu of water area. Transportation is convenient, with the Wuchang Highway linking to National Highway 329 and Xinguang Highway connecting to National Highway 104. The town is just 8... More detailed information about Changtang Town++