National Heritage Check-in: Xuanmiao Temple's Sanqing Hall (National Grade II)

Xuanmiao Temple's Sanqing Hall is located in the center of Suzhou city, at No. 94 Guanqian Street, Gusu District. It is a second batch national key cultural relics protection unit, dating back to the Song Dynasty, and is classified as an ancient architectural site. Legend has it that Xuanmiao Temple was originally built during the Jin Dynasty, named Zhenqing Daoist Temple, and was renamed Xuanmiao Temple in the Yuan Dynasty. The Sanqing Hall within the temple was built in the sixth year of Chunxi of the Song Dynasty (1179) and is the largest ancient wooden structure in the south of the Yangtze River. The hall is nine bays wide and six bays deep. The use of upward-arching bracket sets in the hall is an important physical example for studying the construction methods of Song Dynasty wooden structures. Inside the Sanqing Hall, there is a brick-made Sumi seat, a stele with a portrait of Laozi praised by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, which is said to be painted by Wu Daozi and inscribed by Yan Zhenqing. The ancient and exquisite stone carved balustrades in front of the hall, and the Sumi seat on the terrace, are all precious relics from the Song Dynasty.