Xia Meiling Temple

Xia Meiling Temple

Xia Meiling Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Cixi City.

Xia Meilin Temple is an important commemorative structure in Cixi’s history that marks resistance against foreign invaders. During the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty, the coastal areas of Zhejiang were repeatedly raided by Japanese pirates, with the Longshan-Yanmen region suffering especially severely. The famed anti-pirate general Qi Jiguang, serving as the Ningbo-Shaoxing Regional Military Commander, led troops to Longshan Fortress. Together with Ruan E, Yu Dayou, Lu Tang, and others, they fought numerous fierce battles against the pirates along the line from Jinjia’ao, Yanmen Ridge, Wangjiatuan, Qiujia’yang to Longshan Fort, striking terror into the hearts of the pirates and achieving remarkable military successes, thus restoring peace to the local people. In gratitude, the people built the Upper Meilin Temple and Lower Meilin Temple on the sites of these bloody battles, erecting statues to honor and worship the heroes.

The Upper Meilin Temple was destroyed long ago. The Lower Meilin Temple is located at the southern foot of Shitan Mountain in Qiuwang Village, Longshan Town, beneath the Bitter Battle Ridge (named after the intense anti-pirate battles fought there during the Ming Dynasty). According to the “Zhenhai County Annals”: “During the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty, Grand Defender Hu Zongxian led General Qi Jiguang to suppress the pirates and passed through here. The local people, grateful for their service, built a temple and named it ‘Meilin’ after Qi’s courtesy name.” The temple also enshrines Qi Jiguang within. It is said that Hu Zongxian never personally engaged in frontline battle against the pirates, so the temple primarily venerates General Qi.

The overall layout of the Lower Meilin Temple follows a central axis. Originally, the axis featured a front hall and a stage, both of which were demolished early on, leaving only their foundations. The rear section is the main hall, a nine-bay brick-and-timber structure with a single-eave gable roof, spanning 26.5 meters in width and 11.5 meters in depth. The central bay features a raised-beam construction, with a large plaque inscribed with the characters “Protect the Nation, Quell the Pirates” originally hanging at the front. The beams and brackets are carved with figures and floral-bird motifs. Two side rooms, each with two bays and two corridors, flank the main hall.

Today in Qiuwang Village, Longshan, a host of sites and artifacts related to the anti-pirate resistance—including the Lower Meilin Temple, Bitter Battle Ridge, Mud Eel Boats, Pirate Nests, Beacon Towers, Pirate Swords, Pirate Beans, Guangbing (a type of flatbread), and Sand Wells—form a dense cluster of anti-pirate heritage in eastern Zhejiang. These serve as vivid educational materials for patriotic education. In May 1982, the Cixi County People’s Government designated the Lower Meilin Temple as one of the first batch of cultural relic protection units.