Guanyue Temple in Chongqing

Guanyue Temple in Chongqing

Guanyue Temple in Chongqing is a cultural tourism attraction.

Chongqing’s Guanyue Temple was originally located at Jianzhu Apartment, Jiaochangkou, Yuzhong District, Chongqing. It was first built during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty. The original temple complex was grand in scale, comprising 36 halls of various sizes, including three main halls. The central hall enshrined a bronze statue of Guan Yu approximately 3 meters tall (now housed in the Three Gorges Museum), while the rear hall was dedicated to Yue Fei. Covering an area of over 5,000 square meters, it enshrined statues of Guan Yu and Yue Fei and was a well-known Taoist temple in the Sichuan-Chongqing region. Destroyed by fire in the late Ming Dynasty, it was rebuilt during the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty under the initiative of Governor Li Guoying. In 1914, by order of the President, the statue of Yue Fei was moved in, and the temple was renamed Guanyue Temple. The original Guanyue Temple was a Ten-Direction Monastery of the Quanzhen School of Taoism and also the center of Taoist activities in eastern Sichuan. During the Republican era, it housed the headquarters of the Ba County Taoist Association, the Chongqing Taoist Association, and the Sichuan Taoist Federation, making it a highly influential and renowned Taoist temple in the Chongqing area.