Zhongchen Temple

Zhongchen Temple

Zhongchen Temple is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction and a cultural relics protection unit of Jiangxi Province.

Yugan Kangshan Zhongchen Temple, located on Kangshan Island in Poyang Lake to the northwest of Yugan, is a raised-beam wooden structure consisting of three courtyards, two corridors, four courtyards, and six connected sheds. It is an ancient building from the late Yuan Dynasty, originally constructed in the summer of April 1364 (the 24th year of the Zhi Zheng era of the Yuan Dynasty).

The front section is the King Dingjiang Hall, the middle section is the Guanyin Hall, and the rear section is the Zhongchen Grand Hall. With its red walls and yellow tiles, upturned eaves, gilded and colorful decorations, and gleaming finials, the temple faces Kanglang with a majestic presence. It was built in the summer of April of the first year of the Wu era (the year after Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, defeated Chen Youliang in the great battle at Kanglang Mountain) to commemorate the loyal soldiers who fought for him in that battle. Having stood for over 600 years, it was damaged by military conflict in the third year of the Xianfeng era of the Qing Dynasty. In the ninth year, Liu Yuqiong, commander of the Jiang Army, rebuilt it entirely according to its original design and added the Jiang Army Zhaozhong Shrine and Huaizhong Tower, as well as the Guandeng Grand Hall on the right. Unfortunately, the front section of the temple was destroyed in the floods of the 20th year of the Republic of China (1931), and the Zhaozhong Shrine and Huaizhong Tower were ruined again in the 1954 Red Flood. Although emergency repairs were carried out in 1993, limited funding prevented full restoration to its original state — a true pity. The annual temple fair is held on the first day of the eighth lunar month.

Zhongchen Temple has been designated as a cultural relics protection unit of Jiangxi Province.

Further reading:

· Sixth Batch of Jiangxi Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units