Jinan Changchun Temple

Jinan Changchun Temple

Jinan Changchun Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Jinan City.

Changchun Temple, located at No. 1 Changchun Temple Street in the Hui Ethnic Neighborhood, Zhongshan District, Jinan City, Shandong Province, is a Taoist Quanzhen sect temple.

Changchun Temple is situated northwest of Baotu Spring Park, south of Wulongtan Park, and on the eastern side of the northeastern part of the Hui Ethnic Neighborhood. There is a popular saying among Jinan residents: “Changchun Temple was here before Jinan City was established.” A legend says that during the Ming Dynasty’s renovation of the temple, a fragmented stele was unearthed from an abandoned well within the temple grounds. The stele bore the inscription “Initially built in the fifth year of Daguan.” Local scholar Yan Weiqing researched and noted that “Daguan” was the reign title of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, which lasted only four years—changing to the first year of Zhenghe in the fifth year. Therefore, the “fifth year of Daguan” inscribed on the stele might have been a miswriting of the “third year of Daguan.”

Further reading:

· First Batch of Municipal Cultural Relic Protection Units in Jinan City