Xiyuan Village, Hancheng City: Enter the Earthen Temple of the Jade Queen and admire the murals from the Qing Dynasty

In the northeast of Hancheng City, there is a Xiyuan Village. At the entrance of the village stands the Jade Queen Earth Temple, which is a temple dedicated to the Jade Emperor and Houtu Empress. On the morning of February 5, 2021, my colleagues and I came to Hancheng City and, accompanied by the staff, visited the Jade Queen Earth Temple here——

On the afternoon of October 4, 2018, my family and I passed through Hancheng City and came to this Jade Queen Earth Temple. At that time, the door was locked and entry was not possible. So, I used my drone to take aerial photos of the ancient buildings here. The majestic hall, neat layout and beautiful environment left a deep impression on me.

On April 20, 1992, the Jade Queen Earth Temple was announced by the Shaanxi Provincial People's Government as the third batch of provincial cultural relics protection units; in 2006 On May 25, it was announced by the State Council as the sixth batch of national key cultural relics protection units. Today, a "National Security" monument is erected outside the gate, and a "Provincial Security" monument is embedded in the west side gate.

Walking into the Jade Queen Earth Temple, there are nine stone tablets erected in the corridor on the west side. It is said that in a piece of "Inscription on the Complementary Engraving of the Earthen Temple of the Jade Queen and the Construction of the Xuandi Temple and the Repair of the Lishan Gate Stage" written in the 23rd year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1758), it is recorded: "There is no textual research on the time of its creation. In the 7th year of Tianshun (1463) On the right is the Sanyi Temple, which was built in the fourth year of Zhengtai (1453); on the left is the Xuandi Temple, which was founded in the first year of Chenghua (1465)."

The Jade Queen Earth Temple faces north to south and is symmetrically distributed along the central axis. The former mountain gate has disappeared, leaving only the theater building, the dedication hall, the main hall, and both sides of the dedication hall. The wing rooms, Xuandi Temple on the east side of the main hall and Sanyi Temple on the west side.

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The north side of the theater building is open, and the other three sides are walls. It is three rooms wide and two rooms deep. There are three characters "Lai Yi Lou" in the middle of the stage, and two characters "Sheng Shi" and "Qin Yun" on the left and right sides respectively; the Xian Hall and the Main Hall are tall in shape, with single eaves hanging from the top of the mountain, lifting beam style, and four rafters. Hao. The two main halls face each other from north to south, closely connected and integrated into one.

Theater

Xiandian and main hall

Here The Xian Hall and the Main Hall were built in the Yuan Dynasty, and the wooden structure preserves a large number of Yuan Dynasty architectural styles. There is a brick wall connecting the gables of the two halls. There is a coupon-shaped door with an inscription on the door forehead. In the east, it is "Hidden must be seen" and in the west is "Yang is also revealed".

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Both the Xian Hall and the main hall are rectangular, three bays wide and four rafters deep. In the past, the dedication hall was surrounded by walls and equipped with wooden doors and sill windows; now, the walls on the north and south sides have been demolished, revealing the full view of the dedication hall. Each room on the south side of the main hall has a screen door, and there are brick-carved couplets on the left and right sides. There seems to have been writing on the forehead of the door above. However, these couplets and the characters on the forehead have been erased and cannot be read, which is a pity.

Dedication of the Hall

Main Hall

Before leaving, The staff opened the main hall door, and we were fortunate enough to walk into the main hall and visit. This is also called the "Bedroom Hall" and is the main hall of the Jade Queen Earth Temple. It once housed sculptures of the Jade Emperor and the Empress Dowager. Today, the hall is empty, with only three remaining murals from the Qing Dynasty on the west side.

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In the center of the west wall, there is a rectangular "Landscape and Figures". The top of the picture is tall and straight mountains, and the bottom of the picture is the rough sea and mountains. There is smoke lingering between the sea and the sea, and eight old men in ancient costumes stand on the shore; on the west side of the north wall, there are two screens with four leaves, depicting four exquisite "Landscape Pictures" and "Flower Pictures" respectively.

The staff here told us that the middle and east sides of the hall were once transformed into classrooms, and the surrounding walls were painted to cover the former murals; The west side of the main hall was once transformed into a warehouse, where a large amount of grain was stored. The walls were not repaired, and the murals were preserved. In the future, if funds are available, the murals in the middle and east can be cleaned up so that everyone can appreciate the entire mural.

The west end of the inner side of the main hall

"Landscape and Figures"

"Four Screens"