Yongxing Beiyue Xinggong

Yongxing Beiyue Xinggong

Yongxing Beiyue Xinggong is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Shanxi Province.

Yongxing Beiyue Xinggong (Fifth Batch Provincial Protection)

Era: Qing Dynasty

Address: Yongxing Community, Yong’an Town, Hunyuan County, Datong City

Beiyue Xinggong, also known as Nangong or Hengyue Temple. According to inscriptions, it was first built in the first year of Yanxing during the Northern Wei Dynasty (471 AD). By the 19th year of the Zhenguan era in the Tang Dynasty (646 AD), Emperor Taizong Li Shimin sent General Yu Chijingde to carry out an expansion, and bestowed upon the temple the title of Tai Zhen Palace.

The temple faces south and was originally laid out in a three-courtyard configuration. The mountain gate has been destroyed, leaving a two-courtyard layout. Along the central axis from south to north are the Hall of Heavenly Kings, Tai Zhen Palace, and Jiutian Palace. In the southeast corner in front of the Hall of Heavenly Kings is the Front Hall. The first courtyard and second courtyard each have west side halls and east-west wing rooms.

The Hall of Heavenly Kings is three bays wide and five rafters deep, featuring a single-step beam in front and a five-rafter beam in the rear, using three columns along the full eave length with a front porch. It has a single-eave hip-and-gable roof covered with tubular and flat tiles. Both the front and rear central bays have six-panel lattice doors, and the side bays have windows.

Tai Zhen Palace is three bays wide and four rafters deep, with a single-eave hip-and-gable roof covered with tubular and flat tiles. It has a front projecting porch that is three bays wide and three rafters deep, featuring a single-eave rolled-ridge hip-and-gable roof covered with tubular and flat tiles. It uses a four-rafter beam in the front and a five-rafter beam in the rear, spanning the full eave length with three columns. It is a one-hall-one-rolled-roof connected structure. The front central bay of Tai Zhen Palace has six-panel lattice doors, and the side bays have five six-panel lattice doors.

Jiutian Palace is three bays wide and five rafters deep, featuring a single-step beam in front and a five-rafter beam in the rear, using three columns along the full eave length with a front porch. It has a single-eave hip-and-gable roof covered with tubular and flat tiles. The central bay has six-panel lattice doors, and the side bays have five four-panel lattice windows.

There are two surviving stone stelae from the Qing Dynasty.

Beiyue Xinggong is a relatively well-preserved Qing Dynasty temple complex that retains abundant historical and cultural information, authentically reflecting its past. The authenticity and integrity of the cultural relics and associated structures are in good condition. Tai Zhen Palace, as a one-hall-one-rolled-roof connected building, is simple and airy. Its overall exterior is sturdy and solemn, making it of great significance for the study of ancient Chinese architectural and religious art.

In 2016, Yongxing Beiyue Xinggong was listed in the Fifth Batch of Cultural Heritage Protection Units in Shanxi Province.

Source: Shanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau

Yongxing Community: Yongxing Community…… More information on Yongxing Community++

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Cultural Heritage Protection Units in Shanxi Province