Qionghua Temple, Yangzhou扬州琼花观

Type

Temples and Abbeys (Gongguan)

Location

China · Jiangsu · Yangzhou · Qionghua Guan Street, Wenchang Middle Road, Guangling District

Coordinates

32.396, 119.438 Map ↗

School

Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Daoism

First built

Western Han, second year of Yuanyan (11 BCE, tradition: the Houtu Shrine) · Renowned since the Song for its qionghua flowers; during the Zhenghe era it was bestowed the name Fanli Temple and became popularly known as Qionghua Temple; the surviving buildings date to the Qing dynasty and to 1990s reconstruction.

Heritage status

Yangzhou Municipal Cultural Heritage Site

Overview

Qionghua Temple was originally named Fanli Temple; tradition holds that a Houtu Shrine was built here in the second year of the Yuanyan era of Emperor Cheng of the Western Han (11 BCE). In the Tang and Song it became famous throughout the empire for the qionghua (viburnum) flowers within its precincts; during the Zhenghe era of the Northern Song, Emperor Huizong bestowed on it the name "Fanli Temple," and Ouyang Xiu once built the Wushuang (Peerless) Pavilion there. The "Yangzhou qionghua" was a celebrated flower of the Song dynasty, and legend holds that Emperor Yang of the Sui traveled to Yangzhou expressly to view this very qionghua. The temple was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt through the Yuan, Ming and Qing; what survives today — the mountain gate, the Hall of the Three Pure Ones, the Qionghua Terrace and other structures — mostly dates to Qing-dynasty and 1990s reconstruction; qionghua flowers are planted within the temple, and a Qionghua Festival is held there every April. The temple holds a place in both the Daoist and literary history of Yangzhou, and today it is a Yangzhou municipal cultural-heritage site and an active Daoist temple.

Highlights

• Qionghua Terrace
• Hall of the Three Pure Ones
• Site of the Wushuang Pavilion