Chen Xiaonv Temple

Chen Xiaonv Temple

Chen Xiaonv Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Boluo County.

Chen Xiaonv Temple is located in Longhua Market, 25 kilometers west of Boluo County. It was first built during the Southern Dynasties and has been renovated in various dynasties. The existing structure was rebuilt in the eighth year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty (1828). The temple has a total width of 10.4 meters, a depth of 64 meters, and a construction area of 665 square meters. The layout consists of a four-courtyard complex. The first courtyard is the main gate, at the top of which is inlaid a stone plaque inscribed with “Chen Xiaonv Temple”; the second courtyard is the passageway hall, three bays wide and three bays deep, with a wooden plaque hanging from the center of the hall’s upper section inscribed with “Filial Piety Sustains Family and Country”; the third courtyard is also three bays wide and three bays deep, housing a statue of Chen Xiaonv. The fourth courtyard enshrines the spirit tablets of Chen Xiaonv’s parents. The roof is of the flush-gable type with gray tiles.

On the left side of the temple is the East Gateway, and on the right is the West Gateway. The gates are diagonally square, 2.4 meters wide and 3.2 meters high. In front of the gates is a lotus pond, also diagonally square. Inside the temple are preserved two carved stone vases from the Ming Dynasty, one white jade incense burner from the Qing Dynasty, and four steles from the Ming and Qing Dynasties related to the records of Chen Xiaonv.

Chen Xiaonv, whose given name was Miaoyuan, was from Zhangcha Village, Shahe, Boluo. Devoted to filial piety, she pledged never to marry. Her story of filial devotion, in which a lotus grew from a lotus root, reached Emperor Wu of Liang. In the second year of the Datong reign of the Southern Dynasties (536), she was honored as “Foremost in Filial Piety” and granted the title of “Lady Who Protects the Nation and Shields the People of Longhua.” Xiao Yu, the governor of Guangzhou, established a temple beside Longhua Temple in her honor, recognizing her as a filial daughter and erecting a plaque in her hometown of Zhangcha.

In 1985, the Boluo County People’s Government designated it as a cultural relic protection unit.