Gaodu Erxian Temple

Gaodu Erxian Temple

Gaodu Erxian Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Shanxi Province.

Gaodu Erxian Temple

Gaodu Erxian Temple (Fourth Batch Provincial-Level Protected Site)

Era: Jin to Qing Dynasty

Address: Huli Village, Gaodu Town, Zezhou County

The founding date is unknown, but the existing structures date from the Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. Major buildings along the central axis include the niche screen wall, mountain gate, offering hall, main hall, side halls, and east-west side chambers. In the side courtyard are the Three Teachings Hall and the White-Robed Great Sage Hall. The main hall is an original Jin Dynasty structure, while the offering hall was built during the Yuan Dynasty.

The main hall is three bays wide and three bays deep, with a single-eave, hanging gable roof. The roof has a gentle pitch and extends far beyond the walls. The front eaves feature bluestone pillars and square inverted-lotus bases, all remnants from the Jin Dynasty. The western central pillar bears an inscription dating to the fifth year of the Taihe era of the Jin Dynasty (1205). The offering hall (also called the dance pavilion) has openwork on the mountain-facing side, a square floor plan, and measures 6 meters in both width and depth, with a single-eave, hip-and-gable roof.

Gaodu Town: Located in the southeastern part of Shanxi Province, within the Zezhou Basin at the southern edge of the Taihang Mountains. It controls the north toward Youyan and overlooks the Central Plains to the south. During the Spring and Autumn period, it was named “Bagong” after the son of the Ba people was relocated here following Duke Xiang of Jin’s westward campaign against Bashu, boasting a profound cultural heritage spanning 2,000 years. The town administers 44 administrative villages, with a population of 620,000, covering a total area of 112 square kilometers. It is close to the Jincheng–Jiaozuo and Changzhi–Jincheng expressways, and traversed by the Taiyuan–Jiaozuo Railway and National Highway 207, occupying a strategic position for transportation between Shanxi and Henan. The terrain is flat, the climate mild, the history long-standing, transportation convenient, and coal and iron resources abundant, earning it the title of “First Town of the Taihang Mountains.”

… Gaodu Town detailed information++

Further reading:

· Fourth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Shanxi Province