Nanan Yunshan Temple

Nanan Yunshan Temple

Nanan Yunshan Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Yunshan Temple is located on Lingyun Mountain in Gaotian Village, Nanan City, Quanzhou, Fujian Province. It was originally built during the Song Dynasty and was initially named Ciji Palace, situated in the center of Gaotian Village. The current site was reconstructed in 1993 with donations from overseas Chinese of the Lingyun Ye clan residing in Southeast Asia. The temple primarily enshrines the mighty and revered Prince Hui Ze, Ye Sen, an ancestor of the Ye clan whose worship is widespread across Southeast Asia. Yunshan Temple is also the ancestral temple of Prince Hui Ze.

Prince Hui Ze, with the surname Ye and given name Sen (1189–1208), was a native of Gaotian Village, Meishan Township. Born in the 16th year of the Chunxi era of the Song Dynasty (1189), he was exceptionally bright and courageous in his youth. He lived alone in Lingyun Hall, abstained from meat, did not marry, and avoided associating with common people. His predictions about fortune and misfortune were often remarkably accurate. In the first year of the Jiading era (1208), at the age of 20, he bathed, changed clothes, sat upright, and passed away peacefully. The villagers, in gratitude for his virtue, built a temple to enshrine him. Over time, numerous miracles were attributed to him. According to the Nanan County Annals: “In the late Jiading era, he rendered meritorious service to the court and was bestowed the title ‘Mighty and Revered Prince Hui Ze,’ along with an imperial decree for worship rituals. Over the following centuries, the temple fell into disrepair, and the villagers moved his statue to the ancestral hall. Yet his divine presence grew even stronger—he warded off fires, floods, thefts, and disasters; he fought plagues and epidemics. For hundreds of years, he has protected the nation and benefited the people, with incense offerings flourishing ceaselessly.”

Yunshan Temple faces south and sits on a northward orientation. It covers a vast area with a grand scale, currently spanning over thirty acres. In front of the temple, on either side of the main courtyard, stand golden pavilions, with a seven-tiered gilded iron tripod in the center and two fountains positioned to the left and right. The entire temple complex features palace-style architecture with glazed red tiles, double eaves and flying rafters, golden cylindrical paintings, massive pillars and brackets, as well as exquisitely carved dragons and phoenixes—truly a masterpiece of craftsmanship. The front hall is seven bays wide, with a horizontal plaque on the central gate inscribed with four gilded characters: “Yunshan Shengdi” (Yunshan’s Splendid Land). The couplet reads: “Wisdom bestowed upon the world, revered for a thousand ages; benevolence spread among mankind, a king for ten thousand years.”

Yunshan Temple is currently open locally as a venue for folk belief. The management committee was re-established in 1999, and in 2000, Mr. Ye Gaoshan, head of the Nanan Ye clan, served as the legal representative. The team members diligently studied and managed the temple in accordance with the Party’s religious policies, established various regulations, and further standardized temple operations. They have earned the trust and support of fellow villagers both at home and abroad, and are actively engaged in charitable activities, promoting traditional Chinese culture, and striving for the revitalization of China.

Source: Daoism Voice