Temple of the King of Nanyue

Temple of the King of Nanyue

The Temple of the King of Nanyue is a cultural relic protection unit of Guangdong Province.

The Longchuan Temple of the King of Nanyue is located on Zhongshan Street in Tuocheng, Longchuan County. Historical records do not indicate when the temple was built. The temple originally housed a stele from the eighth year of the Chongzhen era in the Ming Dynasty (1635), but this stele has long been destroyed and cannot be examined. The *Longchuan County Annals* state: “The Temple of the King of Nanyue is situated to the right of the county government office, originally the Pingguan Shrine. In the 61st year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1722), Magistrate Zang Cong renovated it, with the front hall dedicated to the King of Yue and the rear hall to the Ten Sages. In the 45th year of the Qianlong reign (1780), Magistrate Hu Yihong reconstructed the main hall with three bays, placing a statue of the King of Yue in the center.” The temple follows a two-courtyard, quadrangle-style layout. It now covers an area of 352 square meters, with a width of 3 bays (12 meters) and a depth of 24 meters. It is built with brick and wood in a flush-gable roof style. The rear hall of the temple features a single-step bracket arm extending out to support the eaves, with no interstitial bracket sets. Above this is the Buddhist hall, with side rooms serving as scripture rooms, vegetarian halls, and guest rooms, among other uses. The Buddha statues inside the hall have long been destroyed. The plaque above the gate bears four engraved seal characters in intaglio regular script reading “Temple of the King of Nanyue.” On the right wall of the rear hall is embedded a Qing Dynasty stone tablet measuring approximately one square meter, inscribed with Hu Yihong’s record of the temple’s renovation, written in running script. It remains clearly legible, consisting of 630 characters. Due to years of neglect, some of the beams and rafters have become moldy, and parts of the left side rooms have been repurposed. However, the front section and the rear hall are still preserved.

In 1962, the People's Committee of Longchuan County designated it as a cultural relic protection unit. On December 10, 2015, the Yuewang Well and the Temple of the King of Nanyue were approved and announced by the People's Government of Guangdong Province as part of the eighth batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units