Dabi Village Mount Tai Palace

Dabi Village Mount Tai Palace

Dabi Village Mount Tai Palace is a cultural relic protection unit of Tianjin.

Dabi Village Mount Tai Palace is located in Dabi Village, Dongli District, Tianjin, dating back to the Qing Dynasty.

Dabi Village Mount Tai Palace is situated to the west of Dabi Village in Dongli District, Tianjin. It is an architectural structure from the late Ming and early Qing periods, with the exact date of its establishment unknown. According to the "Restoration Stele Inscription" from the 19th year of the Daoguang reign (1839), the temple was originally a Mount Tai Palace and Birth Goddess Temple. After several restorations in the 37th year of the Kangxi reign (1698), the 39th year of the Qianlong reign (1774), and the 19th year of the Daoguang reign (1839), it evolved into a 750-square-meter ancient building resembling a palace, featuring a mountain gate, front hall, and rear hall. In front of the temple stand two mast-like flagpoles about 5 meters high, fixed into the base with double stone slabs. The tops of the poles are adorned with yellow glazed tiles, one of which was reportedly shot off by Russian soldiers during the invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance and later replaced with a wooden version. The door panels of the mountain gate have four bands — as the folk saying goes, “officials have three, temples have four, commoners have five.” Two dragon heads protrude from the front and back of the gate, allowing for the hanging of palace lanterns. The east side of the gate features a woodblock print of a magpie on a plum branch, while the west side shows the Fifth Prince becoming a monk. Inside the gate’s archway, clay statues of the Four Heavenly Kings are placed on both the eastern and western sides.

The main hall has a structural framework of four beams and eight pillars. The roof ridge of the rear hall is adorned with a design of two dragons playing with a pearl, flanked by six brick carvings of mythical beasts. Other carvings include Jiang Ziya riding a qilin, with little demons pulling chains on either side — locally referred to as “pulling east and west.” Under the eaves, blue tiles on the left and right are inscribed with the year “the 29th year of the Republic of China, month of wuyin,” marking the restoration. At the center of the main hall are enshrined five goddesses: the Goddess of Life, the Goddess of Childbirth, the Goddess of Quickening, the Goddess of the Afterlife, and the Goddess of Delivery. On the eastern side of the main hall is the statue of the Maitreya Buddha, and on the western side is the statue of God Liuer. Behind the hall are the seated statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva and the boy attendant Shancai.

On the facade of the rear hall, there are three deities — some say they represent the Three Sovereigns, others the Three Ages of Buddhas. The woodblock prints depict the Dragon Subduing and Tiger Taming Arhats. The deities are made of wood wrapped in cloth and painted, with one being a sandalwood carving accompanied by a divine palanquin that could be carried out during temple fair processions. Due to years of neglect, the temple was repurposed at one point. Most of the statues inside were destroyed in 1951, and the sandalwood statue was burned during the Cultural Revolution. The eastern side of the rear hall is dedicated to the Medicine God, and the western side to the Birth Goddess.

From the Qing Dynasty to the early Republican era, Mount Tai Palace enjoyed considerable popularity among worshippers. After the liberation, it was used as the office of the Dabi Village Police Station. By 1993, only two rooms of the mountain gate and three rooms each of the middle and rear halls remained, with the rear hall’s roof partially collapsed and leaking, and the western hall leaning. In 1993, it was listed by the Tianjin Municipal Government as one of the city’s ancient building restoration projects. Following meticulous design by the Cultural Relics Department of the Municipal Bureau of Culture, it was restored to resemble early Qing Dynasty architecture. A completion ceremony was held on December 24, 1993, and it was designated as a district-level protected site.

The temple still houses a stone stele inscribed with the "Restoration Stele Inscription" from the 19th year of the Daoguang reign (1839). It documents the construction date of Dabi Village Mount Tai Palace, the condition during its restoration, and a list of donors who contributed to its rebuilding. It holds certain cultural relic value.

On January 5, 2013, the Tianjin Municipal People's Government announced it as part of the fourth batch of Tianjin Cultural Relic Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Tianjin Cultural Relic Protection Units