Xiayang Cishan Temple

Xiayang Cishan Temple

Xiayang Cishan Temple is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Anhui Province.

A temple dedicated to Zhang Bo, a water control hero from the late Western Han Dynasty. A native of Guxiang, Zhang Bo aimed to dig an inland waterway system connecting the Xi Ti River in Wuxing through Guangde’s Wuliang Stream and Tongrui River to Nan Yi Lake and Taihu Lake, to facilitate irrigation and navigation. Due to the chaos during Wang Mang’s reign, the project was not completed, and he died in frustration on Guangde’s Heng Mountain. To commemorate his achievements, a temple was built on Heng Mountain in Guangde. Originally constructed in the early Ming Dynasty, it underwent multiple renovations during the Qing Dynasty under the Shunzhi and Jiaqing reigns. The temple features grey-brick walls and a single-eave flush-gable roof. Sixteen square chamfered granite pillars inside form four sets of lifted-beam frameworks, with wooden crossbeams that create a majestic atmosphere. The structure is 13.3 meters wide and 11 meters deep. The Cishan Temple makes full use of local stone resources and adopts a combined wood-and-stone structural design, overcoming the challenges posed by the region’s high rainfall, humid air, and the tendency of wood to rot, while also reducing the risk of fire. This represents a significant innovation in building material usage.

Protected area: 9.4 meters east to the residence of Yang Shiqing, 9.5 meters south to paddy fields, and 11 meters north to the mountain ridge, all outside the temple wall.

Construction control zone: Extending 38 meters east and 36 meters west beyond the protected area.