Guanghua Jile Temple

Guanghua Jile Temple

Guanghua Jile Temple is a cultural heritage site protected by Xinjian District.

Era: Tang Dynasty – Qing Dynasty

Type: Ancient Architecture

Address: Guanghua Village, Datangping Township, Xinjian County, Jiangxi Province

Introduction:

The temple is located four li east of the Datangping Township government office and currently houses the classrooms of Guanghua Primary School. It was discovered during a cultural relics survey organized by the county museum in May 1985 as a structure dating from the Tang to the Qing Dynasty.

The temple has a brick structure with a composite wooden frame of raised-beam and through-tenon techniques. It consists of two courtyards, with a central courtyard flanked by side rooms. The main building is the rear hall, where the raised-beam structure creates a spacious main room spanning nine meters in width. The sides use through-tenon frameworks for stability, with columns and beams largely made of thick fir wood measuring 40 centimeters in diameter. Unlike local architectural styles, the structure does not use fire-prevention gable walls for enclosure; instead, the side walls directly bear the load. The entire building is ten meters wide and 16.5 meters deep. The columns rest on stone bases, and the overall wooden framework remains well-preserved.

According to the *Cai Family Genealogy*, the temple was originally built in the second year of the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty (628 AD), and later renovated by individuals including Cai Shen, a Song Dynasty scholar; Huang Wangling, an official from the Ming Dynasty; Cai Wenqing, Monk Huibin, and Cai Zhongqi of the Qing Dynasty. The renovations were aimed at preserving this historical site. (The genealogy records that Emperor Taizong of Tang visited Jiangzhou and inscribed the name “Great Tang Jile Temple” in his own hand while passing through the area, which led to the locale being named Datang [“Great Pond”], thus retaining the architectural style of the original period.)

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