Qingshansi

Qingshan Temple is located on the west side of the lush green Qingshan Mountain, 8.2 kilometers south of Jiaxiang County. It is an ancient building complex with Huiji Temple as the main body, covering an area of ​​about 6,000 square meters. Huiji Temple was originally named Jiaowang Temple. According to the old Jiaxiang County Annals, "King Wu conquered the south and conferred the title of Jiao on the descendants of Shennong, who were called Jiaowang in the world." The original Jiao was in Shan County, Hongnong (now Shan County, Henan), and after being conferred the title, the city was moved to the foot of the eastern Qingshan Mountain in Jiaxiang. There are now East and West Jiaocheng villages in the east of Qingshan, and the ruins of the ancient Jiaowang City.

There is no record of when the Jiaowang Temple was first built. According to the "Reconstruction of Huijigong Temple Stele" written by Zhao Hengzheng, a professor of Yuan Dongchang, "There is a stele from the first year of Jianning in the Han Dynasty (168 AD) on the left of the temple, which is destroyed and cannot be verified. On the right is the Song of Yong'an in the Jin Dynasty, but the text is peeling off and difficult to distinguish..." In 1102 (the first year of Chongning in the Song Dynasty), Jiaowang was conferred the title of Ningyinghou; in 1121 (the third year of Xuanhe in the Song Dynasty), he was renamed Huijigong; the following year, the Jiaowang Temple was rebuilt and renamed Huijigong Temple. After many reconstructions and expansions in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it has its current scale. Because the temple is located in Qingshan, the people usually call it Qingshan Temple.

Qingshan Temple faces east and west, following the mountain terrain, with layers rising up, ingenious design and unique style. The tall buildings are hidden among the ancient trees and cypresses, and the scenery is quite spectacular. Looking from the foot of the mountain, there are 6 levels of buildings on the central axis, namely: Taishan Palace Archway, Sanmen, Huijigong Hall, Sleeping Hall, Taishan Palace, Jade Emperor Temple. On both sides of Huijigong Hall, there are also ancillary buildings such as Baiyu Palace, Xiangdian, Zimu Hall, Wanfo Pavilion, Guandi Temple Reception Hall, etc.

The Taishan Palace Archway is located at the foot of Qingshan Mountain. It was built by Zhu Shouyong, the hereditary King of Lu Su in the Ming Dynasty in 1638 (the 11th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty). It is a three-door stone building imitating a pavilion. The four stone lions on both sides of the middle gate are finely carved and vivid. The outer side of the door is engraved with "Taishan Palace" and the inner side is engraved with "Yunlin Shengjiang", with vigorous and powerful strokes. The images of floating dragons and unicorns are carved on the lintels of the doors on both sides, with skillful knife skills and vivid lifelike. The entire archway roof imitates the form of wooden buildings, with stone carved brackets, hip roofs, chiwen, tile ridges, tile ends..., especially the relief of "Ming Lu Wang Jin Met Jiao Wang" on the lintel of the middle door, with the host, guest, and servants each with their own expressions, and lifelike. The entire archway can be called a group of works of art with harmonious style and exquisite craftsmanship, and has high artistic value. There is a mountain road from the Taishan Palace Archway to the east, leading directly to the three gates. The Sanmen is the main gate of Huiji Temple, which was rebuilt in 990 AD (the first year of Chunhua in the Northern Song Dynasty). It is a gray tile hard-roofed building. There are three rooms in the middle gate and one door on each side.

The main building of Qingshan Temple is the Huijigong Hall, which was built on a 1-meter-high stone platform. It was renovated twice in 1334 (the third year of Zhizheng in the Yuan Dynasty) and 1389 (the 22nd year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty). The hall is 5 rooms wide, 17.3 meters long from north to south, 6 meters wide from east to west, and about 9 meters high. It has a five-ridged hip roof, painted brackets, green tiles and shawls, which are majestic and spectacular. There are 4 tall stone pillars under the front eaves, all of which are flatly carved with flowers. The hall is decorated with carved beams and painted buildings, murals, and a tall red lacquer niche. There was originally a 2.5-meter-high golden statue of Huijigong. In front of the hall is a dragon head stele built in 1929. In front of the stele, an octagonal jade liquid pool is built, with a diameter of 3 meters and carved with stone railings.

There is a mountain spring behind the main hall, named "Induction Spring". The spring water gushes out from the dragon's mouth at the bottom of the monument through the secret passage at the bottom of the hall. It never stops all year round, like pearls and jade, pouring into the Jade Liquid Pool. It does not overflow even in long rains and does not dry up even in droughts. The pool water is as clear as green and the bottom is visible. The spring and the pool are separated by the hall. If people do not pay attention, they often do not know where the spring comes from and where the pool water goes. This fantastic scenery is both the work of nature and the ingenuity of the builders. On both sides of the exquisitely carved dragon head monument, there is a couplet engraved with "The mountains are hazy and the place of human enjoyment; the sound of water is like a cave outside the world"; on the north side of the monument, there are 18 poems titled "Eighteen Musics of Qingshan" by Wang Junqing, a Jinshi in the late Qing Dynasty. There are five rooms on both sides of the main hall, together with three doors, forming a small courtyard. Although the courtyard is not large, it is elegant and beautiful. The monuments and stones in the courtyard are graceful, the springs are gurgling, the pines are vigorous, and the green cypresses are towering. The unique and wonderful scenery attracts tourists to linger.