The Zhengyang Gate of Dai Temple

The Zhengyang Gate of Dai Temple

The Zhengyang Gate is the main entrance to Dai Temple. It was first built during the Song Dynasty and was then called the Taiyue Gate. In the Ming Dynasty, it was known as the Temple Gate or Dai Temple Gate, and in the Qing Dynasty, it became known as the Zhengyang Gate, a name that has continued to this day. The current Zhengyang Gate was rebuilt in the 1980s on the foundation of the Ming Dynasty structure, following the architectural style of the Song Dynasty. It stands 19 meters tall in total, with a gate opening 4 meters wide and 17.7 meters deep. The gate tower above it is 11 meters high and is called the Five Phoenix Tower. On either side of the Zhengyang Gate are the East and West Side Gates.

Mount Tai's Dai Temple has eight gates. There are five gates facing south: the central one is the Zhengyang Gate, flanked by the two Side Gates; further out from the Side Gates are the Looking-Up Gate to the east and the Grand View Gate to the west. The east gate is called the East Flower Gate, also known as the Azure Yang Gate; the west gate is called the West Flower Gate, also known as the Plain Scenery Gate; the north gate is called the Thick Earth Gate, also known as the Lu View Gate. Each gate has a tower above it: the front gate is called the Five Phoenix Tower, and the rear gate is called the Mountain-Gazing Tower. At the four corners of the temple walls are corner towers, each named after a trigram direction: the northeast is Gen, the southeast is Xun, the northwest is Qian, and the southwest is Kun.

Both the gate towers and corner towers were destroyed during the Republican era. In 1985, the Zhengyang Gate and Five Phoenix Tower were rebuilt, featuring yellow tiles, gilded paintings, and a magnificent, towering presence. Between 1988 and 1989, the Xun and Kun towers were also reconstructed, adorned with colorful bracket sets and soaring upturned eaves. Inside the Zhengyang Gate stands the Peitian Gate, a through-style gate built on a high stone platform. A plaque hanging above the gate was inscribed by contemporary calligrapher Shu Tong. The gate originally enshrined statues of the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise deities, which were destroyed in 1928. Today, the space serves as an exhibition room for the Dawenkou culture. On either side were originally side halls: the east hall was the Three Spirits Marquis Hall, dedicated to the Zhou Dynasty remonstrating officials Tang Chen, Ge Yong, and Zhou Wu; the west hall was the Grand Marshal Hall, dedicated to Du ? (name unclear), a mid-level official from the reign of Emperor Wuzong of Tang. The deities in both side halls were also destroyed in 1928.