Longxiang Guan Yu Temple

Longxiang Guan Yu Temple

Longxiang Guan Yu Temple is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Longxiang Guan Yu Temple

Longxiang Guan Yu Temple (Sixth Batch of National Heritage Protection Sites)

Era: Yuan to Republican period

Address: Longxiang Village, Diantou Township, Xinjiang County

Originally built in the Song Dynasty, it underwent renovations in subsequent dynasties. Only the stage, offering hall, and main hall remain today, with the main hall being a Yuan Dynasty structure. The rest were built during the Qing Dynasty.

The temple faces south and sits north, with the stage, offering hall, and main hall arranged along its central axis from south to north. The main hall is three bays wide and three bays deep, featuring a hanging gable roof and single-lowering-curved-bracket sets in the dougong system. It has a single-eave roof, supported by bracket arms, and the wooden structure follows the typical style of the Yuan Dynasty. The hall enshrines statues including Guan Yu, Lady Guan, and Guan Ping—three deities in total—all crafted in the Yuan Dynasty.

Guan Yu (162?–220), of Han ethnicity, was born during the Yanxi era of Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han Dynasty. His courtesy name was Yunchang, originally Changsheng, and he was a native of Jieliang in Hedong (present-day Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province). A renowned general of the Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period, he served as General of the Vanguard, was titled Marquis of Hanshou Ting, and was a celebrated military strategist. After his death, he was revered by the people and honored by successive imperial courts, eventually being worshipped as the Divine Lord Guan, known in Buddhism as Sangharama Bodhisattva, and respectfully called “Guan Gong.” Later rulers revered Guan Yu as the “Martial Saint,” placing him on par with Confucius, the “Civil Saint.”

Following Liu Bei

Guan Yu’s original courtesy name was Changsheng, later changed to Yunchang. In his early years, he fled his hometown to Youzhou after being involved in an incident... More details about Guan Yu++

Further reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units