The Wanrong Dongyue Temple sits in the southeast corner of the Xiedian Town in Wanrong, Shanxi Province.
Although the exact construction year of the Wanrong Dongyue Temple is unknown, it has existed since the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and underwent large-scale renovations between 1291 and 1297.
Sitting in the north and facing south, the current temple’s main constructions include the Feiyun Building, front gate, the Xian Hall, the Xiang Pavilion, the Dongyue God Hall and the Yama Raja Hall. Most of these constructions were built during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), except the Feiyun Building, which was rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Square in shape, the three-storied Feiyun Building is 40 meters high and has a cross-shaped gable and hip roof supported by four columns stretching from bottom to top. The second and third floors both have a balustrade, and a side room was built on each of the four sides making the temple cross-shaped. The eaves on each floor are raised up containing 307 overlapping bracket sets beneath. Various kinds of wind-bells are suspended on the eaves. A set of wooden steps leads to the top of the temple where the county can be seen in full view. Feiyun Building is important to Chinese wooden architecture for its complicated and exquisite structure, as well as its tall and elegant artistic design.
The front gate is seven bays wide and six rafters deep. It has a gable and hip roof with single-layered eaves. Built on a simple girder with evenly distributed bracket sets, the gate has the typical architectural style of the Yuan period (1271-1368). Xian Hall is seven bays wide and six rafters deep, with a flushed gable roof. Xiang Pavilion is square-shaped and has a cross-shaped gable and hip roof decorated with glazed beasts on its ridges. The pavilion’s balustrade contains carvings of floating clouds and snaking dragons made in the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty. The width and depth of Dongyue God Hall is five bays and it is square in shape. Most of the hall’s girder structures were built using round columns. Glazed beasts sitting on the hall’s ridge are relics of the Qing period.
(Source: chinaculture.org)
