Ruins of Huayan Temple in Lingying

Ruins of Huayan Temple in Lingying

The ruins of Huayan Temple in Lingying are a protected cultural heritage site of Henan Province.

The ruins of Huayan Temple are located thirty li east of Lingying County and one li south of Sandian Village. The site stands eight meters high and covers an area of over fifty mu. Its foundation resembles the shape of a turtle, complete with head, tail, and four limbs, with the temple built atop the turtle’s back.

During land leveling in the 1960s, the site was damaged, and villagers frequently found artifacts such as stone axes, stone spades, shell knives, shell sickles, pottery spinning wheels, and pottery net sinkers around the ruins. Hollow brick tombs often appeared near the temple foundation, with bronze zun and ding vessels unearthed. In the 1980s, a villager found a pottery phallus with very low firing temperature, so realistic in shape that it could easily be mistaken for the real thing. Research and surveys determined that the cultural layer is four meters thick, identifying the site as a Neolithic cultural relic along the ancient Ying River. It was designated as a protected cultural heritage site of Henan Province in 2008.

Gaozongzhai Village: Located 15.5 kilometers east of the county seat on the eastern border of the county, it borders Wujianggou and Huayan Temple to the north. Originally named Shang Gaozong City, later abbreviated to Shangcheng, the 1529 edition of the Lingying Annals states: “Thirty li east of the county seat there is a city, where Emperor Shang Gaozong once went to catch locusts, hence the name Shangcheng.” Volume 14 of the 1916 Revised Lingying County Annals records: “At the end of the Ming Dynasty, locals built a stockade here to take refuge from war, and thus it came to be called Gaozongzhai.” The village currently has 8 production teams and a population of 1,460, with 2,092 mu of arable land. … More details about Gaozongzhai Village++

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Protected Cultural Heritage Sites of Henan Province