Futaishan Yan Emperor Palace

Futaishan Yan Emperor Palace

The Futaishan Yan Emperor Palace is a cultural relic protection unit of Sichuan Province.

The Yan Emperor Palace was originally a Fire God Temple, commonly called the Fire God Temple by locals, and is a late Qing Dynasty building. It is situated on the southern bank of the FuXi River in Zijiang District, backed by Futaishan Mountain and facing Zhangjiatuo. After the initial recovery of the Ziliujing salt industry in the early Qing Dynasty, it gradually prospered after the year 1796 (the Jiaqing reign). The operation of salt wells and furnaces transitioned from individual households to small-scale workshop industries, and the number of salt-boiling workers increased steadily, forming a sizable workforce. Most of them came from other regions, and in order to foster mutual aid and connection, they first formed an association to raise funds. Later, they built a Temple of the Earth at Banbian Street’s Tongfa Well and initiated the Earth God Association. As more workers joined the association and more funds were accumulated, the Earth God Association expanded into the Fire God Association. The salt-boilers’ reverence for the Fire God was determined by the nature of their labor—it was this sacred fire that transformed brine into snow-white salt. Fire gods vary in form and name across different regions and ethnic groups in China, so the deities enshrined in Fire God Temples also differ. However, the traditional figure is Zhu Rong, the fire deity recorded in texts such as Guanzi and Lüshi Chunqiu as the god who transformed into the Fire Palace deity. The decision to rename the Fire God Temple as Yan Emperor Palace in Ziliujing came from a poor scholar named Deng Keyu. While helping write at the Fire God Temple, he argued that since the temple was based on folk belief, it should be renamed Yan Emperor Palace. Yan Emperor, also known as Shennong, symbolizes “flame” (yan), which represents the true Fire God. His suggestion was supported by the association leaders and workers, hence the name Yan Emperor Palace came into use. Around the end of the Jiaqing reign and the beginning of the Daoguang reign, the Fire God Association purchased the current site and began constructing the Yan Emperor Palace. After two phases of construction—from the fifth year of the Daoguang reign (1825) to the fourth year of the Xianfeng reign (1854)—the building was finally completed in the fifth year of Xianfeng (1855).

The Yan Emperor Palace Fire God Association was essentially an early guild organization for salt-boiling workers. From its leaders to ordinary members, it had very strict regulations, which helped facilitate governance by the authorities at the time, earning the approval of Chen Xichang, who served three terms as magistrate of Fushun County, who remarked that “the rules are well established.” Over nearly a century of ups and downs, the association fought for its members’ interests and protected the rights of salt-boiling workers. Examples include the coin exchange dispute and lawsuit against furnace owners in the early Guangxu period, and the struggle for a wage increase of four hundred wen per furnace during the early Republican era, known as the “Crying Workers’ Struggle” against the Furnace Merchants Association. Today, this ancient and dilapidated Yan Emperor Palace building has been placed under government protection, preserving this valuable historical site—though regrettably, the main hall has been destroyed.

Protected area: 10 meters beyond the current perimeter wall.

Construction control zone: 50 meters beyond the protected area.

Further reading:

· Eighth Batch of Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units