Xinzhou Seven Sages Temple

Xinzhou Seven Sages Temple

Xinzhou Seven Sages Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

A Seven Sages Temple refers to a temple that enshrines seven virtuous individuals together. Xinzhou Seven Sages Temple is dedicated to seven worthy gentlemen from the Spring and Autumn period: Zhao Dun, Han Jue, Gongsun Chujiu, Cheng Ying, Ling Zhe, ?ni, and Timi Ming.

In the past, a street leading from the northern gate of Xinzhou Ancient City toward Kuangcun was called the Seven Sages Ancient Road. In the second year of the Jiajing reign during the Ming Dynasty, Li Qian, an official from Shanxi, chose a site at the northwest edge of the city bordering Kuangcun (currently the Xinfu District Engineering Quality Supervision Office) to build a memorial to Zhao Dun and the three righteous men who saved him, as well as the three who rescued Zhao Wu—the orphaned grandson of Zhao Dun. This shrine was called the Seven Sages Temple, also known as the Seven Sages Shrine or the Seven Martyrs Temple, and the street was accordingly named Seven Sages Lane or Seven Sages Ancient Road. Li Qian also erected a wooden memorial archway at the eastern end of the Seven Sages Ancient Road, where it met the north-south main street. The front of the archway was inscribed with “Seven Sages Ancient Road,” while the back read “Shrine of Jin Martyrs.” It was named the Jin Martyrs Shrine Archway and remained intact until the early 1950s.

Located at the foot of Chenghou Mountain, forty li north of the ancient city, the Seven Sages Temple was rebuilt in the fifty-seventh year of the Qianlong reign during the Qing Dynasty. Severely damaged during wartime, it was restored again in 2005 through fundraising by local benefactor Liu Jihe. The statues are solemn and the couplets refined, preserving the style of the original structure.

Source: Xinzhou Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics