Cangshan Shrine

Cangshan Shrine

Cangshan Shrine is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Cangshan Shrine

Cangshan Shrine (Third Batch of Provincial-Level Protected Sites)

Era: Ming and Qing Dynasties

Address: East of Cangshan Village, Changchi Town, Yu County

Originally named Yugou Mountain, Cangshan is said to be where Cheng Ying of the State of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period hid the orphan of the Zhao family, hence the name "Cangshan" (Hidden Mountain). The exact founding date of Cangshan Shrine is unknown. It was renovated in the 12th year of the Dading era of the Jin Dynasty (1172), and has been repaired repeatedly through the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties. The shrine faces south and is built against the mountain. Its structures are distributed across three terraced platforms that rise progressively. In front of the shrine stands a memorial archway from the Ming Dynasty inscribed with “Canggu Shengjing” (The Sacred Site Where the Orphan Was Hidden). Along the central axis inside the shrine are, in sequence, the mountain gate, music platform, main hall, bedroom palace, and dressing tower, while the east and west sides house bell and drum towers, side halls, and wing rooms. Except for parts of the bedroom palace’s beams and frames that retain the style of the Jin Dynasty, the rest of the structures date from the Qing Dynasty.

The main hall is five bays wide and three bays deep, with a single-eave hip-and-gable roof. The interior features murals covering 69 square meters on the gable walls and north wall, depicting the life of Zhao Wu in the form of a comic strip. The color palette is subtle, and the painting technique is refined. The bedroom palace is nearly square in plan, also three bays wide and three bays deep, with a single-eave hip-and-gable roof. On the front eaves’ double-step beam is an ink inscription recording the 1798 renovation of the bedroom palace during the third year of the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty.

Within the courtyard are one iron bell from 1124 (6th year of the Xuanhe era of the Song Dynasty), one stele each from the Jin, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties, 72 Qing Dynasty steles, and three iron incense burners from the Ming Dynasty’s Jiajing era.

In May 2013, Cangshan Shrine was designated as part of the Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Shanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units