Oroville Chinese Temple奥罗维尔列圣宫

Type

Overseas Daoist Temples

Location

United States · California · Oroville · 1500 Broderick St

Coordinates

39.5136, -121.5608 Map ↗

First built

1863 · The surviving brick structure is the third temple building, the first two of timber having burned down; transferred to the city of Oroville in 1937 and reopened as a museum in July 1949

Heritage status

U.S. National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) (1976, reference number 76000478)California Historical Landmark #770

Overview

The Oroville Chinese Temple, built in 1863, is a temple of popular religion in which many deities are enshrined together. The surviving brick structure is the third temple built by the local Chinese community, the first two, of timber, having both burned down; the red brick came from Palermo, California. According to the California Historical Landmark registration text and the National Register of Historic Places nomination, the funds for building and furnishing the temple are said to have been donated by the emperor and empress of the Qing court, which on the temple’s completion also sent envoys bearing a great brass incense burner weighing about two tons — a rare record of the Qing court’s attention to an overseas Chinese community; the individuals named, however, are unattested in the historical record: in 1863 the Tongzhi Emperor was only seven years old and government was conducted by the two empresses dowager from behind the screen, while Empress Xiaozheyi was not invested until 1872, so the “Empress Xiaozheyi” named in English-language sources cannot be accepted. In the later nineteenth century some ten thousand Chinese lived in the area, most of them drawn by gold mining, and this temple was their religious and social centre. In 1937 local Chinese families transferred the complex to the city of Oroville on three conditions: that a museum be built, that offerings at the temple be maintained, and that Chinese culture be disseminated to the public; it reopened as a museum in July 1949 and honours that agreement to this day, an example of Chinese heritage passing from a community to a public institution while retaining its religious function. It is California Historical Landmark No. 770 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 30 July 1976 (reference number 76000478).

Highlights

• Said to have been funded by the emperor and empress of the Qing court
• Transferred to the city government in 1937 under conditions
• Reopened as a museum in 1949
• NRHP (1976)