Guan Di Temple in Jiezhou, Yuncheng, Shanxi

The Guan Di Temple in Jiezhou was first built in the Sui Dynasty and has a history of more than 1400 years. After the Guan Di Temple was burned down by a fire, it took eleven years to rebuild in the 52nd year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1713), and the main structure is a Qing Dynasty building. As of 2023, it is the earliest, largest, highest-ranking and best-preserved Guan Di Temple. The total area of the Guan Di Temple in Jiezhou is 220,000 square meters, divided into the main temple and the Sworn Brotherhood Garden, with the Sworn Brotherhood Garden in the south. During the Xuanhe period of Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty, Guan Gong was included in the objects of official worship. According to the 'Song History·Volume 58·Ritual Eight', in the fifth year of Xuanhe (1123), after Guan Yu was conferred the title of 'Yiyong Wu'an King', he was worshipped in the 'Wucheng King Temple'. The lions of the Guan Di Temple in Jiezhou hold their heads high and chest out, mighty and strong; the iron men are in the image of foreigners, with high noses and deep eyes, and are foreigners who feed lions, which are exquisite castings of the Ming Dynasty. Not only does it have high value for studying the casting technology of the Ming Dynasty, but it also provides important physical evidence for studying ancient costumes. In 1988, the Guan Di Temple in Jiezhou was announced by the State Council as the third batch of national key cultural relics protection units. In 2005, the Guan Di Temple in Jiezhou was rated as a national AAAA level tourist attraction.