Three Must-See Highlights That Will Keep You at This Temple All Day

Last week, I drove to Baoding and finally visited Quyang County to see the Northern Sacred Mountain Temple (Beiyue Temple) that I had been longing to visit. Before the Ming Dynasty, all sacrificial ceremonies for Mount Heng, the Northern Sacred Mountain, were held at Beiyue Temple in Quyang. It wasn't until the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty that ceremonies were moved to Hunyuan, Shanxi. This shows the temple's significant role in imperial ceremonies from its establishment during Emperor Xuanwu's reign in the Northern Wei Dynasty until the Shunzhi period. At Beiyue Temple, there are three highlights you shouldn't miss: the Dening Hall, the Heavenly Palace mural, and the stone inscriptions. The Dening Hall, the largest and highest-ranking surviving Yuan Dynasty official wooden structure, served as the main hall for official ceremonies to the Northern Sacred Mountain. While inheriting architectural traditions from the Song and Jin dynasties, it features distinctive Yuan Dynasty characteristics. The exquisite Heavenly Palace mural inside the hall is a masterpiece. Known for its artistic excellence and ethereal style, the mural depicts 286 deities arranged in hierarchical layers around the central figure of the Great Emperor of the Northern Peak. This grand Taoist scene, together with the murals in the Sanqing Hall of Yongle Palace in Shanxi, are known as the Twin Treasures of Yuan Dynasty Taoist Murals. On the lawn and along the pathways of Beiyue Temple, over 100 stone inscriptions from seven dynasties - Northern Wei, Tang, Song, Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing - are displayed. These form a tangible textbook of Chinese calligraphy history and an open-air museum of calligraphic art. The inscriptions include works by masters such as Zhao Mengfu, Huaisu, and Dong Qichang, serving as stone archives of historical documents. ☀️Useful Tips☀️ 1️⃣Beiyue Temple has a Quyang Museum which, though small, is worth visiting. It's hidden and easy to miss. 2️⃣Admission is 40 yuan per person, but sometimes it's reduced to 20 yuan when Dening Hall is closed for maintenance.