Ancestral Duke Temple (Puji Temple)

Ancestral Duke Temple (Puji Temple)

The Ancestral Duke Temple (Puji Temple) is a cultural relic protection unit of Henan Province.

The Ancestral Duke Temple is located on the north side of West Gate Street in Kaifeng City and was built to commemorate the famous Northern Song general Zong Ze (some say it was built to commemorate Song State Duke Feng Sheng, known as the Song Duke Temple). The Qing Dynasty’s *Xiangfu County Annals* contains numerous records about this temple. The existing structure was built during the Qing Dynasty and includes a worship hall, main hall, and side rooms. The worship hall features a rolled shed hip-and-gable roof style, while the main hall and side rooms are of flush-gable style. Among them, the worship hall and the main hall are connected by an interlocking roof, giving the entire courtyard a varied and dynamic roofline. The Ancestral Duke Temple’s architecture boasts lofty wing corners, with single-knocked three-camber bracket sets on the eaves, creating an overall style that is delicate and elegant. Its structural design carries a strong sense of antiquity, reflecting the Henan local architectural style of "emulating the ancient." Particularly precious are the surviving traditional Henan local colored paintings on the architectural components, all of which give the Ancestral Duke Temple immense historical, artistic, and scientific value.

The *Xiangfu County Annals* from the Shunzhi period of the early Qing Dynasty records under the entry for “Ancestral Duke Temple”: “On the 16th day of the second month and the 16th day of the eighth month, sacrifices are held southeast of the county seat to commemorate Zong Ze, the defender of Dongjing in the Song Dynasty, who was posthumously awarded the title of Grand Master for Glorious Happiness and the posthumous name Zhongjian. In the 38th year of the Jiajing era, Censor Zhang Huan built it. In the ninth year of the Wanli era, Academician Supervisor Zhong Zhenji proposed the sacrifices and left a record. It was submerged by the river in the late Ming Dynasty.” Zhong Zhenji was from Nanchang, Jiangxi, and became a Jinshi (advanced scholar) during the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty. During the Wanli era, he served as Academician Supervisor of Henan and later rose to become provincial governor. His *Record of the Ancestral Duke Temple* provides detailed accounts of Zong Ze’s historical contributions and the origins of the temple’s construction.

The *Xiangfu County Annals* from the Qianlong Emperor’s reign also contains records of the Ancestral Duke Temple: “The Ancestral Duke Temple is located southeast of the city, dedicated to the defender of Dongjing in the Song Dynasty.” These documents at least demonstrate that there indeed was an Ancestral Duke Temple in Kaifeng. It was built during the Ming Dynasty, situated in the southeastern corner of the city—an undisputable fact. An elderly comrade from the city’s Urban Construction Commission recalled: “He once saw an old map of Kaifeng City where this location was marked as the Ancestral Duke Temple.” Coupled with the numerous local legends among the common people that “the Song Duke Temple enshrines Zong Ze,” we can seemingly confirm that this place should be the Ancestral Duke Temple, or at least the site of the Ming Dynasty-built Ancestral Duke Temple.

Address: No. 302, West Gate Street, Longting District, Kaifeng City

Further reading:

· Fifth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Henan Province