Abugai Temple

Abugai Temple

Abugai Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Abugai Temple

Miss Abugai was a princess of a Mongolian noble. During a nomadic war, she suffered defeat and fled, accidentally leaving behind one of her embroidered shoes near what is now the village of Abugai Temple. After escaping back to the noble’s residence, she told him about the battle. Upon hearing the story, the noble was displeased and ordered his troops to turn back and strike back at the enemy. After winning the battle, he returned to the area near Abugai Temple village to search for the embroidered shoe. There lies a large mountain with overlapping peaks, rugged rocks, and towering ancient trees — an ideal hiding place for birds and beasts. At the foot of the mountain is a cave known as the Fox Cave, where the embroidered shoe was found at the cave’s entrance. Delighted by this discovery, the noble spent two days on foot inspecting this piece of auspicious land. Upon returning to his manor, he ordered the construction of a temple halfway up the mountain. The temple was completed in the 11th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1672) and was named Puci Temple. The temple complex spanned 250 meters in length and 100 meters in width, covering an area of 25,000 square meters. It included one grand palace hall, five main chambers, three side rooms on the east and west sides each, one mountain gate, two flagpoles, one drum tower in the southeast, and a well dug in front of the temple. Twelve monks resided there permanently. Every year on the first day of the sixth lunar month, scriptures were chanted, and from the 14th to the 15th, “ghost dancing” ceremonies were held, attended by over 300 lamas and Mongolians. After Miss Abugai passed away, the temple was renamed Abugai Temple. The surrounding area of the temple is embraced by mountains. At the foot of the southwestern hill lies a sweet spring, the water of which is abundant enough to serve hundreds of people. The mountain is covered with pine trees, some five feet tall. Starting from the 10th year of the Republic of China (1921), with the opening up of land for farming, the lamas and Mongolians migrated away, and Han Chinese moved in to establish a village. As the farming population gradually increased, the village took its name from the temple. Today, the temple has collapsed, leaving only ruins with piles about 1.5 meters high, scattered across the ground with pottery shards, porcelain fragments, bricks, and tiles. Legend has it that there is an underground tunnel in the temple, though its exact location remains unknown.