Houcun Jade Emperor Temple

Houcun Jade Emperor Temple

The Houcun Jade Emperor Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Houcun Jade Emperor Temple is located on a highland in the west of Houcun, Guxian Town, Xiangyuan County. It faces south and measures 20.1 meters in length from east to west and 19.1 meters in width from north to south, covering an area of 384 square meters. The exact year of its establishment is unknown. An inscription on the crossbeam of the main hall reads “the tenth year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty,” and the existing structure dates back to the Qing Dynasty. The temple has a single-courtyard layout, with the mountain gate and the main hall built along the central axis, flanked by east and west wing rooms and east and west side halls. The main hall is three bays wide and four rafters deep, featuring a single-eave flush-gable roof. Its framework consists of a five-rafter front-porch structure, and the bracket sets on the column tops are three-curved single-angels. The temple’s interior gable walls preserve murals covering over 40 square meters. Within the temple grounds, there is a stone tablet erected in the 25th year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty (1845) commemorating land donation for temple maintenance, as well as a donation stele from the 12th year of the Guangxu reign (1886).

The Jade Emperor refers to the Jade Emperor of Heaven. Legend has it that the Jade Emperor was originally a chieftain named Zhang Youren, also known as Zhang Bairen. Since the time of Pangu creating heaven and earth, all was peaceful in the universe. However, later on, the gods began to fight among themselves, and human society became decadent and unrestrained, throwing the three realms of heaven, earth, and the underworld into chaos. The Supreme Deity Tai Bai Jin Xing therefore descended to earth to find a person of both virtue and talent to become the ruler of the three realms. Disguised as a beggar, Tai Bai Jin Xing searched far and wide until he arrived at Zhangjiawan, where he found that Zhang Youren, known as “Zhang Bairen,” governed the village with great harmony and was kind-hearted and compassionate. He was thus brought to heaven to become the Jade Emperor. Later, the various deities of the three realms jointly petitioned to elevate Zhang Bairen as the “Eternal Heavenly Emperor,” collectively referring to him as the “Jade Emperor.” Moreover, since the Jade Emperor is the supreme ruler of the three realms, he is further honored with the title “Jade Emperor of Heaven.”

Houcun Village: Houcun in Guxian Town is one of the model villages for new rural construction designated by the provincial government. Located 8 kilometers south of the county seat, Houcun is an agriculture-based administrative village under Guxian Town.

The village has a total of 498.78 mu of arable land, with 69 households, 232 residents, 9 Party members, including 3 female Party members.

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