Jinci Temple


"Jinci", the ancient Buddhist temple, is located at the source of the Jin River by Xuanweng Mountain 25km
southwest of Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province.

The Jinci Temple was first built before the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) to memorize Shu Yu, the
second son of King Wu of the Zhou Dynasty (11th century - 256 BC). After defeating the Shang Dynasty
(17th century - 11th century BC), King Wu offered official posts to his followers and Shu Yu was assigned
the post in Tang area, and he changed title of his fiefdom to Jin because of the Jinshui River. His offspring
named the Jinci Temple for the same reason.

The main buildings are distributed along the central axis from east to west. All the buildings are in
compact and strict structures of a temple in a sense, but it is also an imperial garden from another perspective. The cypresses grown in the Zhou
Dynasty and pagoda trees of the Sui Dynasty (581-617) are still vigorous, lush and green. Despite the trials and hardships of thousands of years,
their old branches form a crisscross network and are reputed with the restless the Nanlao Spring, wonderful portraits of the maids in the Song
Dynasty (960-1279) as three matchless works in the Jinci Temple.

When you enter the temple, the first major structure come to you is the Mirror Terrace, a Ming building which served as an open-air theatre. To the
west of the Mirror Terrace is the Zhibo's Canal, which cuts through the temple complex with a bridge named Huixian Bridge above it. The bridge
provides an access to the Terrace for Iron Statues, which displays figures cast in 1097.

The Saintly Mother's Hall, built from 1023 to 1032 during the Song dynasty, is the most magnificent and oldest building in Jinci Temple. It is
regarded an important example of Song dynasty architecture. Inside, the 43 painted clay figures of maids wear natural expressions, vividly
recreated from their human counterparts.

Jinci Temple was, to a certain extent, an imperial garden. The most famous stele was written by the
Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty in 646, and it was kept in a pavilion which is now known as 'Zhen
Guan Bao Han Pavilion'. The time from which he inherited the throne from his father became known as the
Prosperity of Zhenguan, and people referred to the calligraphy written by him as ' Bao Han', meaning a kind
of treasure.