Xiaoyi Tianqi Temple

Xiaoyi Tianqi Temple

Xiaoyi Tianqi Temple is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Tianqi Temple

Tianqi Temple (Fourth Batch of Provincial-Level Protected Sites)

Era: Yuan Dynasty

Address: Zhongwangtun Village, Wutong Town, Xiaoyi City

Tianqi Temple is located in Zhongwangtun Village, Wutong Town, Xiaoyi City, Shanxi Province. In June 2004, it was announced as a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit by the People's Government of Shanxi Province. The existing buildings of the temple are from the Yuan Dynasty, and it underwent a major renovation in the 39th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the county government allocated funds to repair the main hall and the theater stage of Tianqi Temple, which are now relatively well-preserved.

The entire temple complex faces south and is situated on a north-high, south-low terrain, measuring 88.8 meters in length from north to south and 54 meters in width from east to west, covering a total area of approximately 4,790 square meters. The overall architectural layout is rigorous and rational, arranged along a central axis: the Main Hall, the Theater Stage, and the East and West Side Halls. The Main Hall faces south and is situated on a high platform in the northern part of the temple courtyard. It is one of the most important structures in the temple, featuring a five-bay width, a six-rafter depth with a front corridor, and a suspended gable roof. The platform is relatively low, with only one step. The walls of the hall are constructed with blue bricks, both externally and internally, with the interior walls plastered with white lime. A low supporting wall is built on both sides of the main hall. The roof is paved with stone and glazed ridge tiles, and the eaves are adorned with single-curved, hanging-ang bracket sets. The main hall door is 3 meters high and 2.8 meters wide. There are six supporting pillars under the outer eaves, each resting on a 0.22-meter-thick base carved with guardian beasts. Inside the hall are square wooden pillars from the Yuan Dynasty. Four of the supporting pillars inside the hall have four highly dynamic clay dragons coiled around them, each 3.1 meters long, in red, yellow, purple, and blue respectively. The beam structure of the main hall is divided into two types: the central and side bays have four-beam frames connected to double-step beams in the rear and single-step beams in the front, using a total of four pillars across the span. The double-step and single-step beams are inserted into the inner and front eave pillars, with bracket sets and supports on the double-step beams carrying the lower gold purlin. The front eave gold purlin is supported by bracket sets on the front eave gold pillar. The four-beam frame uses bracket sets to support the upper gold purlin and three-beam frame. The three-beam frame is supported by column capitals, angle backs, forked arms, and bracket sets that collectively hold the ridge purlin. The side bays’ five-beam frames are connected to single-step beams at the front and rear, using a total of four pillars across the span. The interior features 16 murals on the east, west, and north walls, covering a total area of over 60 square meters, rich in content and excellent in painting and calligraphy art. There were originally 20 statues in the hall, all over ten feet tall, but they were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.

On the east and west sides of the courtyard, there are three side halls each. Opposite the main hall to the south of the courtyard is the Theater Stage, facing north. It is a three-bay structure with a five-rafter depth, built with a brick-and-wood structure, featuring a single-eave hip-and-gable roof, with a protruding hard mountain porch at the front. The stage’s beam frame consists of a four-beam frame connected to a single-step beam in the front, with angle backs and column capitals on the four-beam frame supporting the three-beam frame and upper gold purlin. The three-beam frame is supported by angle backs, column capitals, and forked arms holding the ridge purlin. The porch is supported by double-step beams on the front eave pillars and front eave gold pillars. The front eave of the stage has no decoration, while the rear wall is built with a brick arch, housing a panel door. The inner eave pillars are fitted with partitions dividing the stage into front and backstage areas. The screen wall in front of the stage is 3.2 meters high, 2.3 meters wide, with east and west gates each 4 meters wide and 3.8 meters deep, and an overall height of 4.2 meters, constructed with a brick-and-wood structure.

Tianqi Temple features a distinctive Yuan Dynasty architectural style, especially notable for the four vivid clay dragons decorating the interior, which are rarely seen in historical architecture.

In May 2013, Xiaoyi Tianqi Temple was designated as a Seventh Batch National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Shanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units