The Taiyi Temple in Houma, Shanxi

The Taiyi Temple, located in Xitai Shen Village about eight kilometers northwest of Houma City, sits on the southern side of the Fen River floodplain atop the 'Ancient Cui Ridge'. The temple faces south with its back to the north, covering an area of more than 3,200 square meters, with over 30 structures of various sizes. The Taiyi Temple is a cultural heritage site protected by Shanxi Province. It was originally built during the Yuan Dynasty and expanded during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The temple's unique design and layout resemble a castle, with the main gate, stage, offering hall, Taiwang Hall, and Spring and Autumn Pavilion forming the central axis, symmetrically arranged on both sides, and echoing each other from front to back. Research has shown that the Taiyi Temple is the earliest and largest existing complex in the Fen River basin dedicated to the worship of the Fen deity. The main deity worshipped here is Taiyi, but the temple also enshrines the Ten Kings of Hell, the Medicine King, Guan Gong, and other divine figures from Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, reflecting a fusion of cultures from ancient and modern times, both Chinese and foreign. Taiyi was a tribal leader during the era of the Five Emperors in ancient times. According to historical records, he led the Shen, Si, Ru, and Huang tribes in mountain excavation and stone quarrying, dredging the Fen and Tao rivers, and constructing water conservancy projects that benefited the people. For his meritorious service in water management and organized leadership, the king of that time granted him the Fen River basin as his fief. Taiyi's efforts in water management predate those of the Great Yu by hundreds of years, making him the first person in Chinese history to manage water and the earliest water conservancy official on record. Later generations revered Taiyi as the god of the Fen River, or the water deity. He was also the fifth-generation descendant of the Yellow Emperor, and his ancestors were skilled in making bows and arrows, hence the surname Zhang was bestowed upon them. Therefore, Taiyi is also considered the third ancestral patriarch of the Zhang surname. The Zhang surname accounts for 7% of the Chinese population, meaning there are over 100 million descendants with the surname Zhang in China. In-depth research into Taiyi's water management culture and the cultural and tourism planning and development centered around the Zhang ancestral worship at the Taiyi Temple will make it a destination for the Zhang clan in China and around the world to seek their roots and worship their ancestors.