Xincun Tianqi King Temple

Xincun Tianqi King Temple

Xincun Tianqi King Temple is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Also known as the Dongyue Temple, Xincun Tianqi King Temple is located in the eastern part of Xincun Village, Dongyangguan Town, Licheng County. It faces south and features a single-courtyard layout, covering an area of 1,340 square meters. According to inscriptions in the temple, it was first built in the first year of the Zhi Zheng era of the Yuan Dynasty (1341), and was renovated multiple times during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The existing main hall is a remnant of the Yuan Dynasty, while the other structures date from the Ming and Qing periods.

Along the central axis from south to north are the Mountain Gate (a rear-facing theater building, with a door opening southward in the center of the lower part of the stage), and the Main Hall; on the east and west sides from south to north are the rear-facing side rooms, corridor rooms, and side halls, among others. There are also five stone tablets in the temple recording its establishment and renovations during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The theater building is a two-story, flush-gable-roofed structure. The lower level has a central passageway with double wooden doors, which opens into the stage area — a three-bay wide, six-rafter deep performance space with a gray tubular-tile roof, and single-eave bracket sets with single upward curves at the column tops. The Main Hall is built on a 0.6-meter-high bluestone platform, with a hanging gable roof, five bays in width, six rafters in depth, front eave columns with intercolumnar bracket sets featuring complex curved braces, and richly decorated bracket arms. The hall also has side rooms and verandas. In front of the hall is a 0.5-meter-high square bluestone stage platform.

In 2007, it was designated as a Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit by the Changzhi Municipal People's Government. In 2013, it was listed as part of the seventh batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units by the State Council.

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units