Golden Rooster Stele and Five Directional Deities Temple Stele

Golden Rooster Stele and Five Directional Deities Temple Stele

The Golden Rooster Stele and Five Directional Deities Temple Stele are cultural relics protected at the provincial level in Anhui Province.

The Golden Rooster Stele and Five Directional Deities Temple Stele are located in Jinji Village, Hongpu Town, Huaining County

They were erected in the eighth year of the Yongzheng reign (1730) during the Qing Dynasty and during the Jiaqing reign respectively. The “Golden Rooster Stele” is a stele dedicated to the god of theater and is considered a vital resource for researching the history of Chinese opera. Only two such steles remain in the country, and the name of the “Golden Rooster Awards” in film is derived from this stele. The stele is 1.1 meters high and 0.75 meters wide, carved from white stone. The main inscription reads “Spirit Seat of the Golden Rooster Society Command,” with the characters “Sun” and “Moon” flanking the text. The upper inscription reads “Dedicated by all beings in the auspicious first month of the winter season in the year of Gengxu,” while the lower part lists the names of 25 individuals who erected the stele, including members of the local society, government officials, devotees, and scholars such as Yang Wentang. The edges of the stele are engraved with intertwined floral patterns, and the text is inscribed in regular script, carved in intaglio.

The Golden Rooster Stele was most likely erected no later than the eighth year of the Yongzheng reign (1730), possibly even dating back to the Ming Dynasty. It is a stele dedicated to the god of theater and serves as an important piece of material for studying the history of Chinese opera. It was discovered in July 1984 during a cultural relics survey in Huaining County. It has been designated as a provincial-level key cultural relic protection unit by the People’s Government of Anhui Province. The [Five Directional Deities Temple Stele] is located 3 meters south of the Golden Rooster Stele. It stands 0.9 meters tall and is 0.6 meters wide. The top of the stele features horizontal regular script reading “Five Directional □ Stele” (note: the “□” is believed to be the character “Temple”). The main body consists of four lines describing the reasons for building the temple and erecting the stele, followed by a list of over 20 donors and the amounts they contributed. The lower inscription reads “Erected in the Dàlǚ month of the □□ year of the Jiaqing reign of the Great Qing,” though some characters are no longer legible.

Jinji Village: Jinji Village is situated in the central part of Hongpu Town and comprises 23 villager groups, with a total of 581 households and a population of 2,343, of which 2,279 are agricultural residents and 59 are Party members. The village has 596 hectares of arable land, 224.3 hectares of water area, and 224.3 hectares of forested land. … Jinji Village detailed information++