The Hall of Everlasting Blessing at BeiYinJian

The Hall of Everlasting Blessing at BeiYinJian

The Hall of Everlasting Blessing at BeiYinJian is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The temple has a long history and retains architectural features from the Yuan Dynasty, with renovations of varying degrees carried out during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The temple complex covers a total area of 4,652.5 square meters, with the existing built-up area being 1,302.3 square meters.

Built on an earthen platform and oriented north to south, the temple consists of two courtyards in a front-to-back arrangement. Ascending over a dozen steps from the roadside leads to a platform surrounded by a decorative brick wall, with octagonal screen walls still standing on both sides. The Hall of Heavenly Kings, serving as the front hall of the temple, is situated on this platform. It features a five-bay width and five-rafter depth, with a flush-gable roof, a total width of 21 meters, and the central bay serving as a passageway. To the north of the passageway stands the Middle Hall on a high platform base, with a five-bay width and six-rafter depth. The interior has a double groove structure and a single-eave hip-and-gable roof. The column bases are plain, covered-bowl style, with scrolled column tops and slight inclinations. The beam ends extend beyond the corner columns, engraved with crabapple patterns. The bracket sets are of the five-purlin, double downward-projecting ang, and heart-matched style, with ang in the form of a lute face—these are false ang. The intercolumnar bracket sets have four pieces in the secondary bays, three in the central and side bays, and those in the side bays and corner sets feature a mandarin duck interlocking design. The bracket heads are carved with a slight beveled surface at a minimal angle. The material ratio is 17:11, with the full material ratio being 22:11, equivalent to “sixth-grade timber.” The beams and frames use materials close to circular in shape, with most components treated in a rough framework style. Beams and lintels are mostly supported by bracket sets and camel humps. The roof is covered with tiles, with circular drip tiles featuring floral patterns and scalloped edge tiles. Ming Dynasty murals still remain inside the hall, and an inscription on the ridge beam reads “Reconstructed in the fifth year of the Chenghua era of the Great Ming, in the cyclical year of Ji Chou.” The side rooms in front of the Middle Hall have flush gable roofs. Each of the side halls has three bays and is dedicated to the “Erlang Hall” and the “Earth God Shrine.”

Behind the Middle Hall, there originally were a Main Hall and East and West Side Halls, which were demolished during wartime. All the painted sculptures in the temple, as well as the stage outside the mountain gate, are no longer extant. Only several discarded stone-carved Buddha statues are buried in the western underground section of the Ancient Buddha Hall. To the west of the temple lies the meditation courtyard of the Yongfu Temple.

In May 2013, the Hall of Everlasting Blessing at BeiYinJian was designated as part of the seventh group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Address: North of BeiYinJian Village, Zhukeng Township, 19 kilometers east of Pingyao County

BeiYinJian Village: Located in the semi-hilly mountainous area 15 kilometers east of Pingyao City, BeiYinJian Village lies 5 kilometers northeast of the Zhukeng Township government. It is an administrative village formed from a single natural village. The village has six villager groups, with over 345 households, more than 1,300 residents, and over 5,000 mu of arable land.

BeiYinJian Village, anciently known as [name missing], is recorded in local chronicles as [details missing]. The name of the village is derived from its location. Later, due to historical reasons, since the region is situated between the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei, and culturally influenced by both, it is also called “Little Shanxi.” Due to years of poverty, the locals humorously refer to it as “Peanut Land.”

I. … Detailed Information on BeiYinJian Village ++

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units