Site of the Temple to Meritorious Officials

Site of the Temple to Meritorious Officials

The site of the Temple to Meritorious Officials is a cultural heritage protection unit of Zhao’an County.

The site of the Temple to Meritorious Officials is located in Dongcheng Village, Nan Zhao Town. Originally named Qishan Gao, it is a county-level cultural heritage protection unit. First built during the Song Dynasty (1241–1252), it was rebuilt in 1779 and renamed the Temple to Meritorious Officials. It underwent restoration again in 1899 during the Qing Dynasty. The temple faces south and is oriented north, with a width of three bays spanning 23.2 meters and a depth of three bays measuring 16 meters. It comprises a gate tower, worship pavilion, main hall, west wing rooms, and rear hall. The main hall features a single-eave gable-and-hip roof and a mixed wooden structure of raised beams and through-tenons, with an 11-rafter front corridor. The central bay has four sets of bracket sets, while the side bays each have two, all featuring one-dou-three-rise style brackets. The stone columns are shuttle-shaped with a diameter of 0.32 meters, and the column bases are drum-mirror shaped. The main hall enshrines Qi Shan Sheng Hou Ou Zhe and Wu De Hou Shen Shi, generals of Chen Yuan Guang, while the rear hall enshrines various Buddhas.

Nan Zhao Town: Located in the southern part of Zhao’an County and bordering the Dongxi River to the east, Nan Zhao Town is the economic, political, and cultural center of the county. It is recognized as the “Hometown of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Art” and the “Hometown of Chinese Folk Culture and Arts,” as well as a provincial-level “Civilized Town,” “Commercial Hub Town,” and “Ecological Township.” The town currently covers an area of 17.5 square kilometers, with a planned area of 36.7 square kilometers. It governs 15 communities and 2 administrative villages, with a total population of approximately 81,000. In 2015, the total rural economic income was 261.11 million yuan, and the per capita net income of farmers was 14,000 yuan.

In recent years, with the development of urbanization... More details about Nan Zhao Town++