Five Sacred Mountains Hall

Five Sacred Mountains Hall

The Five Sacred Mountains Hall is a cultural relic protection unit of Guangdong Province.

The Five Sacred Mountains Hall is located in Dongge, Miancun Village, Shengang Town, and is a cultural relic protection unit announced by the People's Government of Guangdong Province. The exact date of its initial construction is unknown. Its wooden structure and exterior are still relatively well preserved, and early architectural elements and styles—such as beams, bracket sets, column styles, cantilevers, and bay arrangements—remain intact. The hall enshrines Taoist deities, specifically the Five Tiger Generals from the mythological classic Investiture of the Gods: Wang Feihu, Song Kehu, Wen Pin, Cui Ying, and Jiang Ping, along with other deities such as the Water God Hongsheng, Che Gong, Taibao, and the Local Earth God.

The Five Sacred Mountains Hall faces east and is situated on a granite stone foundation. The building has a low-profile exterior, with the main structure spanning a depth of two bays (11.7 meters) and a width of three bays (11.5 meters). It features a brick, wood, and stone structure with a gable-and-hip roof in a flush-gable style.

The stone-framed entrance gate of the first bay is inscribed with the seal characters “Five [Sacred] Mountains Hall,” and bears the inscription “Renovated on the auspicious day of the mid-autumn in the year of Gengyin during the reign of Emperor Guangxu” (i.e., 1890 AD). The first bay has a 9-rafter lifted-beam structure, supported by two wooden pillars at the front and rear, with crescent beams and bracket arms beneath the beams. The bracket sets feature thick one-dou-three-sheng brackets, with cloud-pattern carvings on the dougong blocks. The round, tapered wooden columns rest on granite plinths. The cantilever beams pass through the columns and then through the walls, with double-jump brackets supporting the eave purlins—all of which are made from round timber.

The second bay is three bays wide and three bays deep (6.2 meters), with an 11-rafter lifted-beam structure. It is supported by four wooden pillars at the front and rear, featuring crescent beams and tapered columns of varying diameters. The front eaves have soft cantilevers supported by inserted brackets. The first bay includes bracket sets at the column-beam intersection, while the second and third bays have bracket arms beneath the beams. The dougong blocks feature cloud-pattern carvings, and the one-dou-three-sheng bracket sets include column-top brackets. The round purlins bear a seal inscription beneath the ridge purlin: “Reconstructed on the seventeenth day of the twelfth month in the year of Gengyin during the sixth year of the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty” (i.e., 1470 AD). The rear eaves are supported by cantilever beams passing through the rear two wooden columns and then through the wall to support the eave purlins—this is a hard cantilever design.

Behind the Five Sacred Mountains Hall, there is also a two-bay auxiliary building that serves as storage for ritual implements and offerings used within the hall.

On July 17, 2002, it was listed as part of the fourth batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units.

Miancun Village: Located in the northern part of Taiping Town, Miancun Village is traversed by the Shenqi Highway. The village currently has a population of 7,450, with 1,720 farming households, and encompasses 35 economic cooperatives. The total area of the village is about 5,000 mu, including 3,500 mu of arable land.

The Miancun Village Committee is 13 kilometers from the city center and about 13 kilometers from Taiping Market Town. The area is hilly, with relatively weak geographical advantages. The Miancun Village Committee actively promotes the development of the collective economy. Through years of exploration in production and development, it has established an economic model based on growing lychees and longans, cultivating rice and peanuts, and working outside the village. … More details about Miancun Village ++

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units