Temple of the Celestial City God

Temple of the Celestial City God

The Temple of the Celestial City God is a cultural tourism attraction.

Highlights: Traditionally, city god temples have been built within cities, but the Temple of the Celestial City God is located atop Tianzi Ridge, a grand mountain situated 25 kilometers southeast of Changzhi County. This solitary peak stands majestically, offering a sweeping view for hundreds of miles from in front of the temple. Introduction: The Temple of the Celestial City God is located on Tianzi Ridge, a major mountain 25 kilometers southeast of Changzhi County, facing south. It is a complete single-courtyard quadrangle complex oriented north-south. There are 108 steep stone steps leading up from the foot of the mountain to the front of the temple. Within the courtyard, structures such as the mountain gate, theater stage, offering pavilion, and main hall are built sequentially on three terraced platforms. The mountain gate and theater stage are integrated, with the theater stage positioned in reverse and side rooms facing each other. The offering pavilion is a three-bay wide, rolled-roof structure, while the main hall spans three bays in width and six rafters in depth. The beams and columns feature exquisitely carved reliefs of vivid flowers, birds, insects, fish, warriors, knights, and characters from theatrical stories. The Temple of the Celestial City God is now a municipal-level key cultural relics protection unit.

Legend: It is said that there was originally only a small mountain god shrine on Tianzi Ridge. Legend has it that when Wang Mang usurped the throne and pursued Liu Xiu to Tianzi Ridge, Liu Xiu was already parched and exhausted, unable to flee any further. With the pursuers closing in, Liu Xiu panicked and ran into the mountain god shrine. The shrine was dilapidated, and its entrance was completely covered by a thick spider web. In his haste, Liu Xiu barged through, leaving a large hole in the web. Once inside, he turned back to see the damaged web and sighed, “When Wang Mang arrives and sees the broken web, he will surely know I’m hiding here—how can I survive?” Thinking this, he knelt down before the shrine and prayed, “Deity of the Mountain, if you can mend this web and save my life, I swear that when I ascend the throne in the future, I will proclaim you the Celestial City God!” As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the spider web had already been restored, even more tightly covering the entrance. Soon after, the fierce-looking Wang Mang arrived with his troops. Unable to find Liu Xiu anywhere, he intended to search the shrine. But upon seeing the intact spider web with no signs of disturbance, he hastily turned and pursued Liu Xiu elsewhere. Later, when Liu Xiu ascended the throne, he indeed honored this place as the “Temple of the Celestial City God,” rebuilt the temple, and personally inscribed the plaque. Tianzi Ridge was thus renamed “City God Ridge.” To this day, the five large characters “Temple of the Celestial City God” on the temple’s horizontal plaque can still be faintly seen.

Changzhi City, Shanxi Province