Houtu Temple, Jiexiu介休后土庙

Type

Temples and Abbeys (Gongguan)

Location

China · Shanxi · Jiexiu, Jinzhong · Miaodi Street, within the old town of Jiexiu.

Coordinates

37.027, 111.913 Map ↗

First built

Southern Song (Liu Song), first year of Daming (457, tradition) · Substantially rebuilt during the Zhengde and Jiajing reigns of the Ming; representative of the Daoist cult of Houtu and of glazed-tile art.

Heritage status

Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level (2001)

Overview

Houtu Temple in Jiexiu is dedicated to 'Houtu, Empress of Earth, Who Carries Out the Mandate of Heaven and Embodies Its Law,' an important temple to Houtu, one of the Four Sovereigns of Daoism. Tradition holds it was founded in the Southern Dynasties; the surviving buildings date mainly from a reconstruction during the Zhengde and Jiajing reigns of the Ming, including a spirit wall, mountain gate, opera stage, offering hall, Three Pure Ones Pavilion, and the main Houtu hall. The glazed-tile roofs of the Three Pure Ones Pavilion and the offering hall are representative examples of Ming-dynasty Jiexiu glazed-tile craftsmanship, brilliantly colored and intricately fashioned, earning the temple the epithet 'museum of glazed-tile art.' The Three Pure Ones Hall preserves Ming-dynasty painted sculptures and murals. The 'Sanqing Guan, Houtu Miao' complex spanning the old city, together with the neighboring Lüzu Pavilion, Guandi Temple, and Zhenwu Temple, forms a cluster of Daoist temples, a concentrated illustration of Ming–Qing Daoist architecture in central Shanxi.

Highlights

• Ming-dynasty glazed-tile roofs
• The Three Pure Ones Pavilion
• The main Houtu hall
• Ming-dynasty painted sculptures