Ruins of the Hewei Temple Water Fort

Ruins of the Hewei Temple Water Fort

The Hewei Temple Water Fort ruins are a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangxi Province.

The Hewei Temple site is located about 500 meters east of Shuitian Village, Yaotian Town, Yongfeng County. It is the ruins of a training water fort built by Luo Kaili, a hero of Yongfeng who resisted the Yuan Dynasty. The fort is circular, covering an area of approximately 15,000 square meters. It is surrounded by rammed earth walls, which still stand about 1.5 meters high. Outside the earthen walls is a circular moat, about 60 meters wide and about 3 meters deep, well-preserved. In the center of the water fort, the ruins of the Dazhong Shrine, built by later generations to commemorate Wen Tianxiang and Luo Kaili, have also been discovered.

The Hewei Temple is surrounded by water on all sides, with its entrance hidden deep among green trees.

More than 700 years ago, Luo Kaili created this training water fort by damming a plain to form a lake, but the sounds of clashing swords and spears have long since faded away.

The Hewei Temple is very simple, with only one hall, yet it enshrines the Buddhas of the Three Ages—Sakyamuni Buddha, Kasyapa, and Ananda; as well as bodhisattvas such as Manjushri, Samantabhadra, and Guanyin, along with Ksitigarbha and the Eighteen Arhats. It also houses tributes to Confucius, the Sage of Literature, and Guan Yu, the Sage of Martial Valor, as well as the God of Longevity and the God of Wealth. At the very back stands the statue of Luo Kaili, also known as Shuixin (Mr. Waterheart), clad in armor and draped in a long robe.

It is said that devout worshippers who visit the temple never forget to bow and pay their respects before the statue of the master.

The Hewei Temple is not open to the public and has no resident monks. It is mainly managed by devout villagers and clan members.