Jishan Sanyi Temple

Jishan Sanyi Temple

The Sanyi Temple in Jishan County is a cultural relic protection unit of Jishan County.

The Sanyi Temple in Xiwèi Village, Jishan County, was built in the seventh year of the Yuándade era (1303) during the Yuan Dynasty. Located to the north of Xiwèi Village, the temple faces south, stretching 50 meters from north to south and 40 meters from east to west. The surviving ancient structures include the offering platform, offering hall, bell and drum towers, and the main hall.

The main hall has five bays, is 16.5 meters wide from east to west, 6 meters long from north to south, and 12 meters high. It is constructed with a five-rafter, four-purlin, two-beam system, and features a brick-and-timber structure with five ridges and six ornamental figures. Inside the main hall, there are five painted clay statues — some seated, some standing — with Liu Bei in the center, Guan Yu on the right, Zhang Fei on the left, and Bówáng and Guānyīn on either side. The eastern wall of the hall depicts the story of Liu, Guan, and Zhang visiting Zhuge Liang at his cottage three times; the western wall shows Guan Yu passing through five passes and slaying six generals. The entire temple is spacious and imposing, with a simple and weighty architectural style. Some exquisitely crafted ridge decorations remain intact, and various auspicious beasts carved on the column bases are still clearly visible. Its grandeur far surpasses that of a typical village temple. On either side of the main hall stand structures each 3 meters wide, 6 meters high — the eastern one being the drum tower and the western one the bell tower. The offering hall is 16.5 meters wide from east to west, 4 meters long from north to south, and 10 meters high. Above the passageway of the offering hall hangs a prominent plaque inscribed with “Sanyi Temple.” Below it is a wooden carved couplet: the upper line reads, “The Peach Garden Oath of Brotherhood — loyalty, faith, benevolence, and courage renowned for millennia;” the lower line reads, “Harmony among the people of Xiwèi — virtue, kindness, diligence, and thrift passed down for generations.” On the eastern and western walls inside the hall are eight stone tablets, each 2 meters high and 0.5 meters wide. The inscriptions on the eastern tablets record the temple’s construction in the seventh year of Yuándade (1303), its renovation in the 27th year of the Qing Kangxi era (1688), and another renovation in the third year of the Xianfeng era (1853). The western wall tablets list the names of donors and the amounts of silver they contributed, with the largest donation being 64 taels from Ning Jingui, who held the ninth-rank military merit title.

Originally, there were eight side corridors on each side of the offering hall of the Sanyi Temple, but they were demolished by the Japanese invaders in 1943. To the south of the temple, there used to be a three-bay stage, with a gate tower on each side and two side rooms, all of which were demolished in 1958 when a school was built. The overall layout of the Sanyi Temple is majestic and spectacular, rarely seen in rural areas. The statues are tall and imposing, and the murals are vividly lifelike. In October 1985, it was designated as a key cultural relic protection unit by the People’s Government of Jishan County.