Shanxi Yangcheng Xiaojiao Tangdi Temple

Xiaojiao Tangdi Temple is rectangular in plan, facing south with its back to the north, consisting of two courtyards, covering an area of more than 2,000 square meters. It was originally built during the Song Dynasty and was renovated in the second year of the Jin Dynasty's Da'an era (1210). Since then, it has undergone additions and repairs in successive dynasties. Along the central axis of Xiaojiao Tangdi Temple, from south to north, are the mountain gate, Ma Wang Shrine, dance tower, worship hall, and main hall. On both sides are the Hua Gate, makeup tower, Wenchang Pavilion, Kuixing Pavilion, music tower, side rooms, auxiliary halls, and ear halls. The mountain gate is located at the very south of the temple courtyard, three bays wide, with a single-eave hanging hilltop roof. Outside is a hanging hilltop porch, flanked by brick-carved tortoise shell patterned screen walls. The gate plaque bears the inscription "Sanglin Yize." Xiaojiao Tangdi Temple preserves more than 20 steles and inscriptions of various sizes from notable figures such as Li Han, Grand Minister of Works, Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, and Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel during the Ming Dynasty; Yang Jizong, Zhejiang Inspector; Wang Li, Lang of the Ministry of Justice; as well as Tian Congdian, Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate and Chief Minister of the Ministry of Rites during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty; and Censor Tian Jiagu. The inscriptions provide detailed and rigorous records of the temple’s architectural history, serving not only as a thorough account of the temple’s heritage but also as an authentic reflection of the social history of the time. They are invaluable historical materials for studying the development of ancient Chinese architecture and social changes. From 1938 to 1939, it served as the activity site for the Communist Party of China’s Shanxi-Henan Special Committee. In 1943, martyr Cui Zhenhua sacrificed his life here, and the village was renamed "Zhenhua Village" in his honor. It is a nationally protected key cultural relic.