Saint Mother Hall of Jinci Temple

The Saint Mother Hall is the oldest existing structure of Jinci Temple. It was built in the Northern Song Dynasty and thus has typical features of the structures from the Song Dynasty . The hall, which is solemn and stately, is established on a big and wide stone base. “Surrounding Corridors” are set up around the hall. The front corridor is very deep. The eight columns in the corridor are decorated with carvings of curled-up dragons. The double-layer eaves highly turn upward and the dougong brackets are majestic and simple. The inside of the hall is very tall and open. The statue of “Saint Mother”, i.e. Tang Shuyu’s mother Yi Jiang, was erected and worshipped in the center of the hall. There are 42 statues of her ladiesin-waiting standing on her left and right sides. All of them are the original artifacts from the Song Dynasty.

The Saint Mother Hall of Jinci Temple is the only existing structure from the Song Dynasty with “dragontwined columns”. The front of the hall has eight columns, each of which has an exquisitely-carved curled-up dragon twined around it. The livid and clear-cut dragons raise their heads highly and take different poses. These dragon-carved corridor columns look very majestic, adding sacred and solemn air to the grand hall.

There is a square pool named “Y u Zhao” (Fish Pool) in front of the Saint Mother Hall. A cross-shaped bridge is built above the pool, which connects the four banks of the pool. The bridge is called “Fei Liang” (Flying Bridge). The pool and the bridge form a platform in front of the grand hall and artfully create a changeful spatial circumstance. This well-shaped stone bridge was occasionally shown in the paintings of ancient China while this is the only real object.

Jinci Temple

Also called “Tang Shuyu Temple”, it is located at the foot of Xuanweng Mountain which is 25 kilometers southwest of Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province. “Shuyu” was the second son of Emperor Wu of Zhou. He was titled as the “Marquis of Tang” and his f efdom, the State of Tang, was in the present-day Shanxi Province. The Marquis of Tang was diligent in governance and loved his people. Therefore people built this temple to commemorate him. Later , the State of Tang changed its name into “Jin” because of the “Jinshui” River f owing across it. The Tang Shuyu Temple was built in the place which was the source of Jinshui River. Therefore it was also called the “Temple of Lord Jin” or “Jinci Temple” in short. The Jinci Temple has a long history. It was initially built before the Northern Wei Dynasty and went through reconstructions and expansions in all the following dynasties. In the present-day Jinci Temple there are memorial archways, towers above gates, opera stages, stupas, Wenchang Palace, Xian Hall, Yu Zhao & Fei Liang, Saint Mother Hall and so on. An old tree named Zhou Bai and the famous Nanlao Spring can be found inside the temple as well. They have already become a temple-related architectural complex with the styles of gardens. The Saint Mother Hall is the lar gest and most important structure in the entire Jinci Temple.

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