Jing Mountain Shrine

Jing Mountain Shrine

Jing Mountain Shrine is a cultural heritage site protected by Minhou County.

Jing Mountain Shrine

Jing Mountain Shrine was initially named "Jiangyu Temple" and was first built during the Southern Song Dynasty. It was originally constructed as a temple by the Su family, who lived at the northern foot of Jing Mountain, to commemorate their ancestor Su Dongpo. Later, the influence of the Su family waned while the Xu family rose to prominence. Historical records indicate that Xujia Village was originally called Xucuo Dun. In the early Southern Song Dynasty, Xu Jingyang, an official with the title of Fengzhi Doctor, migrated from Yucang in Pucheng, Fujian, to Jiangyu Mountain (now known as Jing Mountain, which at the time belonged to Huai’an County), where he settled and multiplied, eventually forming a prominent clan. During the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty (1522–1566), the 15th-generation ancestor Xu (Mù’áng), who served as the magistrate of Yongning County, built a study on the southern foothills of Jiangyu Mountain. He named it “Jing Mountain Retreat” after seeing the scattered wild azaleas covering the mountain, and from then on, Jiangyu Mountain became known as Jing Mountain. During the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty (1573–1619), clan members such as Xu Ting (Mùhuò), Xu Shiqiao, and Xu Yinxiang built dams to prevent flooding, bringing benefits to the local community. By the late Ming Dynasty, the Xu brothers—Xu Teng, Xu (Huǒbó), and Xu Biān—who were poets, historians, and bibliophiles (all sons of Xu Mù’áng and later relocated to Aofengfang in the Gulou District), further elevated the Xu family’s status. This helped the Xu clan of Jing Mountain gradually become a major cultural family in central Fujian. During the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty (1736–1795), floods from the Liyu Mountain (also known as West Mountain) in Qiaopu Village and Fengshan Mountain (also known as Whitehead Mountain) in Gangtou Village repeatedly destroyed flood-prevention dams, resulting in “vast areas beyond the mountains being submerged under endless water.” At that time, there was Longwenwang Temple on Longji Mountain, which enshrined the Dragon Ridge Duke (the Dragon Ridge Duke was a general from the Tang Dynasty’s Gaozong era who pacified rebellions and expanded territories. He was posthumously honored with the title of Dragon Ridge Duke. Legend says his prayers for rain were always effective, bringing life-saving rains to the people, and he was revered as the “Rain God” by locals). Clan members Xu Keyuan and Xu Keyan, aiming to control the floods, “admired the Dragon Ridge Duke’s divine flood-controlling army,” and led the clan to “muster courage and strength, building a dam on West Mountain with the collective effort of the whole clan, spending vast sums over several years to complete the project.” They constructed the Luoshan Dam, stretching between Liyu Mountain and Fengshan Mountain, transforming the area around Jingxi into thousands of acres of fertile farmland. In the third year of the Jiaqing era of the Qing Dynasty (1798), to honor the merits of the Dragon Ridge Duke, clan members brought the statue of the Dragon Ridge Duke from Longwenwang Temple on Longji Mountain and enshrined it in the temple along with Su Dongpo, Master Shao Zongguan, Goddess Linshui Furen, and Yangxia Fushan Wang, making the Dragon Ridge Duke the principal deity. In November of the second year of the Tongzhi era (1863), locals “expanded the structure and thoroughly renovated the beams, rooms, and courtyards.” The temple, which was originally dedicated to Su Dongpo as Jiangyu Temple, then became Jing Mountain Shrine, primarily enshrining the Dragon Ridge Duke alongside secondary deities such as Fushan Wang, Goddess Linshui Chen Jinggu, Su Dongpo, and Master Shao Zongguan, all local guardian deities.

The architecture consists of, in sequence, a decorative archway gate, a theater stage, a covered walkway, bell and drum towers, a worship pavilion, and the main hall. Both the theater stage and the worship pavilion feature hip-and-gable roofs, with exquisitely crafted octagonal caisson ceilings inside. The main hall adopts a post-and-lintel construction method with reduced columns. Multiple stone pillar couplets dating from the Tongzhi era of the Qing Dynasty onward are preserved.

Jingxi Town: A town under the jurisdiction of Minhou County. In 1958, the Jingxi Commune was established; it was reorganized as a township in 1984 and upgraded to a town in 1992. Located in the eastern part of the county, it is 6 kilometers from the county seat. Covering an area of 147 square kilometers, it has a population of 43,000. The Fu–Gu Highway and the Wai–Fu Railway pass through the town. It administers 20 village committees: Jingxi, Renzhou, Liukuang, Guanzhong, Puqian, Guanxi, Guandong, Heyang, Nanshan, Qiaopu, Tanshi, Gangtou, Xixia, Guangming, Tongkou, Houyu, Gushanzhou, Taotian, Guankou, and Yongfeng. Major enterprises include those in building materials, agricultural machinery, fans, and shipbuilding. In 1992, the provincial government approved the establishment of the province’s first... Jingxi Town detailed information++