Jieyang - Chenghuang Temple

Jieyang Chenghuang Temple is located in Rongcheng District, Jieyang City, Guangdong Province, and was originally built in the tenth year of the Shaoxing period of the Song Dynasty (1140). The existing temple was rebuilt in the second year of the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty (1369) and has a history of more than 600 years. It is currently the oldest, largest, and best-preserved Chenghuang temple ancient building in Guangdong Province in terms of historical longevity, scale, and preservation of traditional forms and craftsmanship. The main building of the Jieyang Chenghuang Temple is a Xieshan-style hall, three bays wide, with a mixed beam frame of lifting beams and penetrating tie beams. The original buildings that are still preserved today include the mountain gate, main gate, two tigers, main hall, health-preserving pool, stone arch bridge, and the lady's hall, etc. The main gate has a penetrating tie beam frame, three bays wide and two bays deep, with a hard mountain-style roof. The main hall is three bays wide and four bays deep. In the health-preserving pool of the rear courtyard, there are two ancient water pines, which are said to have been planted during the construction of the temple in the Song Dynasty, and are over 800 years old, making them precious ancient trees within the county. The beam frame structure of the main hall and the lady's hall of the Chenghuang Temple are both stacked with two to four layers of chiseled overlapping brackets. The front columns of the main hall's beam frame also use a wood-stone structure, with the lower half made of stone and the upper half made of wood, combining flexibility and rigidity. The lady's hall is located behind the main hall, with a rectangular health-preserving pool in front of the hall. The pool water has a secret passage connected to the creek and river, fluctuating with the tides. The pool is surrounded by stone railings, with a stone arch bridge in the middle, dividing the pool into two parts. Fish in the pool have disappeared, but turtles fortunately survive, the larger ones about a foot long, and the smaller ones the size of a fist. The beam frame structure of the lady's hall is similar to that of the main hall. On both sides of the central large dou, there are reliefs on the middle and downward facing sides. The middle side features lotus and algae reliefs, while the downward side has simpler algae reliefs, with sharp and simple carving techniques, all carved during the Ming Dynasty. The figure paintings on the front dou should have been painted during the Qing Dynasty restoration. The stone columns of the hall and corridor are mostly wide four-petal shapes. The main entrance of the Chenghuang Temple is inscribed with the three large characters “城隍庙”, accompanied by couplets of “风调雨顺；国泰民安”, and the left and right door plaques are inscribed with “你来了么？” and “也有今日！” horizontal plaques. The main hall's worship pavilion has multiple couplets such as “为恶不灭祖宗必有余德德尽必灭；为善不昌祖宗必有馀殃殃尽必昌”, with plaques in black lacquer and gold lettering.