Yutian Jingjue Temple

Yutian Jingjue Temple

Yutian Jingjue Temple is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction and a key cultural relics protection unit in China.

Yutian Jingjue Temple was first built during the Tang Dynasty. After more than a thousand years of vicissitudes, it still retains its spacious, open, solemn, and dignified character. Some say: “Jingjue Temple is a poem—it speaks in a weighty yet subtle language, expressing both ancient and profound philosophies, voicing both wonderful and illusory aspirations. Jingjue Temple is also a book—its charm lies not only in its exquisite and elegant binding, but more importantly, in its rich, profound, and extensive content.”

Jingjue Temple enjoys the reputation of being the “Number One Temple in Eastern Beijing.” Ancient architecture experts praise its considerable scale, superb craftsmanship, and unique style. Although it is a Buddhist temple, it differs from other temples—the exquisite architectural structure and vibrant painted carvings make it unforgettable. The most eye-catching feature is the “Beamless Hall,” arguably the foremost wonder of this ancient temple. The front hall covers a construction area of 120 square meters, stands 12 meters high, and is entirely constructed of brick and stone arches filled with clear slurry, without beams or columns. The inner walls are carved with 96 Buddha statues, each with a distinct expression, making it an architectural marvel. Another wonder is the main hall, which is entirely wooden with no nails or rivets. Its “cantilevered beams and hanging pillars” appear suspended yet not, hanging yet not, skillfully built using principles of mechanics. In the stele pavilion, there stands the “Continuation of the Restoration of Jingjue Temple Stele Inscription” by Wang Jingde, a renowned calligrapher of the Qing Dynasty. His cursive script dances and flows with elegance, winning admiration even today. The inscription features fourteen different styles of the Chinese character “之” (zhi), each unique yet full of charm, making it a true masterpiece of calligraphy.

Since the Tang Dynasty, China has referred to large-scale trade activities held during temple festivals as temple markets, which later evolved into temple fairs. After the Ming and Qing dynasties, temple fairs flourished immensely, with the Miaofeng Mountain fair in the suburbs of Beijing becoming the highest-grossing northern temple fair in the Beijing-Tianjin region. Temple fairs are not purely government-run but are jointly organized by officials and civilians, or sometimes initiated spontaneously by the public. The motivations of those attending temple fairs are not solely about shopping—they also come to worship, sightsee, entertain, and participate in competitions, adding a sacred significance to the traditional act of shopping. Temple fair activities in China are collective and patterned aspects of traditional ethnic culture. Compared to the “personalized” and “trendy” trends of modern consumer shopping, the consumption perspectives and the meanings of profit differ.

Jingjue Temple is the only well-preserved ancient temple complex in the Tangshan area. It is a national key cultural relics protection unit, a national AAA-level scenic spot, one of the top ten ancient buildings in the Hebei Cultural Landmark series, and a council member of the Bohai Rim Tourism Alliance. Located 20 kilometers southeast of Yutian County in Hebei Province, east of Manziying Village, it is 10 kilometers south of the Yahongqiao exit of the Beijing-Shenyang Expressway and 35 kilometers southeast of downtown Tangshan. Covering an area of 20,000 square meters, it is known as the “Number One Temple in Eastern Beijing.”

The temple faces south and consists of 81 structures including the front hall, main hall, rear hall, bell tower, drum tower, stele pavilion, side halls, and stele kiosks, along with six various types of gate towers, over a hundred statues, eight sets of stone tablets, as well as precious cultural relics such as stone lions, a large bell, the “Jingjue Temple” plaque, and architectural blueprints. The cultural essence of Jingjue Temple integrates Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, organically combining foreign Buddhist culture with indigenous folk culture. Its architectural art features styles from both the Ming and Qing dynasties, blending courtly and folk characteristics. The temple’s structure is uniquely distinctive—the front hall is a beamless brick-and-stone structure, the main hall uses cantilevered beams and hanging pillars, and the rear hall features two massive coiled dragon stone pillars. Architectural forms vary creatively, breaking conventions and showcasing diversity at every turn. The Jingjue Temple scenic area boasts picturesque scenery, serene tranquility, morning bells and evening drums, and a surrounding of Buddhist chants. Here, visitors can appreciate the essence of ancient Chinese architectural art and feel the harmonious coexistence of Buddhist culture with Chinese ethnic culture. The entire temple complex features exquisitely structured layouts, rigorous arrangements, clear hierarchies, comprehensive systems, vivid painted murals, lifelike stone carvings, and awe-inspiring stele inscriptions—all of which hold significant historical, artistic, and scientific value.

The overall layout of Jingjue Temple is nearly rectangular, divided into five courtyards. The main buildings are concentrated in the central courtyard. Currently, there are 81 main and auxiliary structures, arranged from south to north: the front hall, main hall, rear hall, with side rooms on both sides of the front hall, the stele pavilion behind the front hall, and the bell and drum towers on either side behind the stele pavilion. On both sides of the main hall are symmetrically distributed side halls and auxiliary rooms facing east and west. Between the side halls and the main hall is a dragon-phoenix gate tower. The rear hall has connected wing rooms on both sides, and the Zhiran Tomb Stele Pavilion is located in the northern part of the western courtyard.

The front hall has a single-eave hip-and-gable roof covered with glazed tiles, built with brick-and-stone arches filled with clear slurry. The hall is 9.2 meters high, 11.2 meters long from east to west, 8.2 meters wide from north to south, with a construction area of 91.8 square meters and a width of three bays. Its rafters, brackets, ang, and arches are all exquisitely carved from green bricks. Apart from the doors and windows, the hall contains no wooden components. Inside, there are clay statues of the two guardian generals Heng and Ha, a wooden statue of the Laughing Buddha, and a rectangular stone platform in front of the hall.

The most magnificent structure in the temple is the main hall, featuring a double-eave hip-and-gable roof covered with glazed tiles and an exposed roof structure. It is three bays wide and three bays deep, 14 meters long from east to west, 12.4 meters wide from north to south, and 16 meters high. It houses two central columns, with the remaining five beams and twelve columns appearing to be suspended from the roof. All joints are mortise-and-tenon without a single iron nail. The four walls are covered with sculptures and painted murals depicting mythological tales like Journey to the West and historical stories. The hall contains eighteen arhat statues and six Buddha statues including Sakyamuni, heavenly kings, Skanda, and Guanyin. In front of the main hall is a spacious porch supported by eight stone columns. The front eaves extend upward with twelve bracket arms, each carved into the shapes of zodiac animals such as dragons, tigers, mice, and rabbits. The dougong brackets are inlaid with red sandalwood carvings of the Eight Buddhist Treasures: wheel, conch, umbrella, canopy, flower, vase, fish, and endless knot. The floor features marble balustrades about one meter high, and two large, lifelike stone lions stand in front of the main hall.

The rear hall is three bays wide and three bays deep, 13 meters high, 11.5 meters long, and 9 meters wide, roughly the same size as the main hall. It also has a double-eave hip-and-gable roof covered with glazed tiles, but its interior structure introduces new elements, preserving the architectural style of the Yongle era. It features six beams, with some suspended and others resting, twelve columns either hanging or grounded, arranged in a dynamic interplay of heights and light/shadow. The hall has a front corridor supported by four stone columns, two of which are intricately carved with vivid coiled dragons, reflecting the former glory of Jingjue Temple.

The stele pavilion stands approximately 3 meters behind the front hall. It is 9.6 meters high, 11 meters long from east to west, and 4.9 meters wide from north to south, with an elegant design, superb craftsmanship, and strong artistic appeal. The pavilion has a green glazed tile roof and as many as six layers of bracket arms. Some bracket tips are carved with lifelike Buddha statues, showcasing exquisitely fine craftsmanship that is truly astounding. The pavilion has two floors, both supported by square stone columns. The upper floor is a single room functioning as a scripture depository, supported by four stone columns. The lower floor has three rooms and eight stone columns, with four large and two small steles erected in the left and right rooms. These steles provide valuable historical information about Jingjue Temple and possess significant artistic value, often captivating visitors who praise them endlessly. Especially noteworthy is the “Restoration Stele Inscription” written in bold cursive by Wang Jingde, whose swirling brushwork is unique and mesmerizing, offering endless appreciation and inspiration to countless calligraphy enthusiasts.

The bell and drum towers share the same structure, are square in plan, and have two levels, each supported by four stone columns. The upper level features a hip-and-gable roof on all four sides, adorned with brick carvings of four dragons playing with a pearl. The bell tower houses an iron bell weighing 1,200 jin (approximately 600 kg), cast in the eighth year of the Daoguang reign (1828) and recast in the first year of the Tongzhi reign (1862). Between the side halls and the main hall, there are small yet exquisite gate towers on the east and west sides—one shaped like a dragon and the other like a phoenix. The dragon seems ready to soar, while the phoenix appears poised to take flight. More intriguingly, when viewed from the north, the gates show wood but no stone, and when viewed from the south, they show stone but no wood—an astonishing feat of craftsmanship.

Jingjue Temple is not only grand in scale and uniquely structured, but also boasts a dazzling array of painted carvings. These include stone carvings, brick carvings, and wood carvings; as well as relief carvings, openwork carvings, and solid carvings. From the exteriors of beams and columns, to the walls of halls, the panels of doors and windows, the tips of bracket arms—no surface is left without intricate painting or carving.

Annual Spring Festival cultural events attract huge crowds of visitors every year.

Ticket price: 20 RMB

Further reading:

· Top Ten Ancient Buildings in Hebei Province

· Second Batch of Key Cultural Relics Protection Units in Hebei Province

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units