KuTai Ruins

KuTai Ruins

The KuTai Ruins are a cultural tourism attraction.

KuTai, also known as ChangKui Tai, is located south of KuTai Village in Zhengdian Town. Legend has it that this was the birthplace of Pangu, the god who created heaven and earth, and that during Yu the Great’s flood control efforts, a temple was built here to enshrine Pangu. The earthen mound is shaped like a turtle, symbolizing the turtle-like creatures carrying Pangu.

The present-day KuTai stands three to four meters above the ground, with a circumference of over four hundred meters. On the mound there remains a main hall, a deep well, and several ancient locust trees. It is said that during the Tang Dynasty, LiYuan Temple was built on this mound, originally consisting of three main structures: the front hall, the middle hall, and the rear hall. The front hall enshrined Pangu and was called Pangu Temple; the middle hall enshrined the Buddha and was called the Grand Buddha Pavilion; the rear hall enshrined Yu the Great and was called the Dragon King Temple. There was also a bottomless well in the temple that was said to connect to the East Sea.

The KuTai Grand Buddha Temple is located within the campus of KuTai Middle School in Zhengdian Town, approximately 45 kilometers west of Laoling City. Covering an area of about 12,500 square meters, it was first built in 267 AD (during the Western Jin Dynasty), flourished in the Tang Dynasty, and originally included front, middle, and rear halls along with east and west wing rooms. The structure was designed in the shape of a turtle, enjoyed great popularity as a place of worship, and was locally referred to as "Grand Buddha Temple" or "Turtle Platform." Due to damage caused during the early Liberation period and the Cultural Revolution, the front hall and the east and west wing rooms have been lost. Only the back wall of the rear hall remains, while the middle hall is relatively intact. Some stone tablets have been buried underground.

Source: Laoling Municipal Party History Research Office