Wuan Chanfang Temple

Wuan Chanfang Temple

Wuan Chanfang Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Hebei Province.

Chanfang Temple

Chanfang Temple is located in Chanfang Village, Guantao Township, northwest of Wuan City, at an altitude of 1,090 meters. According to surveys, the temple faces south and measures 54 meters in length from north to south and 20 meters in width from east to west, covering an area of 1,080 square meters. Existing structures include a bell tower, a drum tower, a central hall, and a rear hall. The original front hall and side halls on the east and west collapsed due to disrepair in the 1940s. The bell and drum towers are located on either side of the central axis. They are pavilion-style buildings with flush gable and roll-roofed eaves, measuring 3.83 meters in length from north to south and 3.53 meters in width from east to west, with a height of 5 meters. The ground floor features bluestone steps and a bluestone arched gate, with no outer eaves. The roof is made of camphor wood. The second floor has a flush gable and roll-roofed eave structure, with clay-tiled floral ridges, four-rafter beams, one window on the front and back, and one rectangular door on each inner side. It is now a key cultural relic protection unit of Hebei Province.

The central hall is situated along the central axis and serves as the main building of the temple. It is a single-eave, suspended roof structure with glazed tile trimming, spanning three bays (11.79 meters) in width and two bays (8.53 meters) in depth, with a floor area of 100 square meters and a height of 8 meters. It has bluestone steps, lotus-patterned column bases, panel doors in the central bay, lattice windows in the side bays, and a through-column in the rear central column. It features five-step bracket sets, a double-step rear corridor, intercolumnar bracket sets on interior columns and pillar capitals, and cloud-shaped beam ends. The materials used are not particularly uniform.

The rear hall is located at the back end of the central axis. It is a single-eave, suspended roof structure with clay tiles, spanning three bays in width and three bays in depth. It measures 11.94 meters in length from east to west and 10.95 meters in width from north to south, with a floor area of 130.7 square meters and a height of 8 meters.

Chanfang Village: Chanfang Village is situated in a deep mountain valley 12.5 kilometers away from Guantao Township, Wuan City. It is a poverty-stricken village primarily engaged in agriculture. The village has 140 households and a population of 380, with 7,000 mu of barren hills and 390 mu of arable land, including 100 mu of irrigated land and 290 mu of dry land. Local specialties include autumn pears, walnuts, persimmons, hawthorns, and Sichuan pepper. In front of the village stands an ancient temple from the Ming Dynasty, initially built in the fifth year of the Tianqi era. It faces south and includes a main hall, a secondary hall, a triple gate, a bell tower, and a drum tower, covering a total area of 2,900 square meters. The temple has collapsed. On April 23, 2014, restoration work commenced... More details about Chanfang Village++

Further Reading:

· First Batch of Municipal-Level Cultural Relic Protection Units in Handan City

· Fourth Batch of Provincial-Level Cultural Relic Protection Units in Hebei Province