[2025 Jishan Attraction] Travel Guide for Yuwangmiao (Updated Mar)

Jiwang Temple, built to commemorate Houji, the ancestor of agriculture, has a long history. The existing buildings, mostly in the Yuan and Ming Dynasty styles, carry the memories of ancient farming civilizations. The wood and stone carvings here are exceptional. Every pattern and design is vivid, as if telling stories of the past. The main hall is magnificent, and its layout and decoration showcase the exquisite art of ancient architecture. Standing in the square in front of the temple, take a panoramic photo with the whole temple as the background—it's sure to be a great shot. Inside the temple, take close-ups of people next to the ancient stone pillars, using the light and shadow to create a retro atmosphere. You can also take upward shots beneath the exquisite wood carvings to highlight the grandeur of the architecture.

Southern Shanxi has a tradition of worshiping Houji, and almost every county has a Jiwang Temple. The Jiwang Temple in Jishan was originally located on Jiwang Mountain, but was later moved to the county seat. It was first built in the Yuan Dynasty and rebuilt in the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty. The Jiwang Temple is famous for its "three wonders" of glazed tiles, wood carvings, and stone carvings. It is a national protected site, with an entrance fee of CNY 20. The Yuncheng Tourism Annual Pass is not accepted. Upon entering the mountain gate, the first thing you see is the Xian Hall and the Bell and Drum Towers (Figures 2–4). The glazed tiles on the roof ridge are very exquisite (Figures 5–6), but the most distinctive feature is the iron pieces in the center of the roof ridge, which are "Nine Phoenixes Facing the Sun," "Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl," and "Five Blessings Holding Longevity" (Figures 7–8). There is a stone carving on each of the east and west gable walls of the Xian Hall, depicting the "Eight Scenic Spots of Jishan" and a poem by Li Jingchun, the magistrate of Jishan, about the reconstruction of the Jiwang Temple. The wood carvings and dragon columns on the door frames in front of the main hall are exquisite (Figures 11–17). Only the two square stone pillars behind the hall are not (Figure 18). The final pavilion and Jiang Yuan Hall (Figure 19) are Yuan Dynasty buildings.

The ancient buildings of Jishan are a series of history books written in brick, stone, wood and tile, and are the artistic treasures deposited in the long river of time. When we set foot on this land, it is like walking into the scroll of history. ❤Recommended attractions: ✅Jiwang Temple, the ancestral temple for worshiping Hou Ji. Jiwang Temple has three unique ancient buildings, exquisite stone carvings, magnificent glazed tiles, and wonderful wood carvings, which are exquisite to the "ceiling"! The wood carving of Hou Ji teaching the people to farm and the wood carving of the bell and drum tower are even more unique! 📝tips: Free before National Day ✅Macun Brick Carving Tomb, the "Underground Siheyuan" created by the medicinal diet family. Three highlights, women open the door, the tomb is arranged in the form of a Siheyuan, and the "banquet" scene in the tomb. 📝tips: Free before National Day ✅Qinglong Temple, amazing Yuan and Ming water and land murals. A palace of art, murals of water and land Taoist fields composed of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. The characters in the picture are lifelike, as if they will walk down from the wall in the next moment, and there is also a huge monument of the Yuan Dynasty, "Yao Zhongsu Gong Shendao Monument". 📝tips: The murals are being repaired and are not open to the public ✅Dafo Temple, a thousand-year-old clay Buddha at a glance. The magnificent Buddha statue, evolved from the statue to the plastic statue. 📝tips: Free all year round ✅Yubi City Site, the birthplace of "Chile Song". Yubi City was the frontier town of the Western Wei Yuwen regime to resist the invasion of the Eastern Wei Gao regime. The well-known Northern Dynasty folk song "Chile Song" was written after Gao Huan's second attack on Yubi City was frustrated. 📝tips: Free all year round

|The Qing court paid compensation and begged for forgiveness, while the local government raised funds for farming. In 1842, the annual grain revenue of Jishan County in northern China was equivalent to about 42,000 taels of silver. In August of the same year, the Qing government signed a contract in Nanjing to pay the British a total of 21 million taels of silver. Li Jingchun, the magistrate of Jishan, presided over the restoration of the Jiwang Temple, spending about 10,000 taels of silver, but there was no approval from the central government. The magistrate paid 500 taels of silver for maintenance (similar to today's year-end bonus), and the rest was raised by local gentry and elders (handicraftsmen, rural people, and officials of all ranks in the county, ranging from silver to bricks, wood, and stone). It took half a year to raise the money. The magistrate confidently wrote the poem: "This temple is as close as heaven and earth." (Now seen on the west wall of the offering hall of Jiwang Temple) The following summer, in the countryside of the south, due to excessive taxation, a Hakka named Hong who failed the imperial examination began to persuade people to worship God. The collapse of the empire began. Nine years later, Li Jingchun resigned as the magistrate of Jishan County and returned to his hometown of Jianshui, Yunnan. His long-term career as an official in other places allowed him to unlock the modern national snack - Yunnan Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles, by using the outsider's way of eating one bowl for soup and another bowl for rice noodles.

[Jinshan Jimei·Jishan·Ancestor of the God of Agriculture, Three Wonders of Crown Beauty] Continue south and arrive at Jishan County. There are several national treasures hidden in the small county town. Jiwang Temple is located in the center of the county. It is a complete temple dedicated to Houji, the founder of farming. It is the largest of the existing Jiwang temples in Shanxi. When we went there, the venue was private and there were almost no people in sight. The wood carvings and stone carvings of the Qing Dynasty are worth savoring. The architecture is magnificent, especially the two bell and drum towers in front of the Xian Palace. They have unique shapes and exquisite carvings. I spent more than an hour visiting the small Jiwang Temple before leaving. Tips: Jiwang Temple has three unique features: 1⃣️Liu Li: The colored glaze of Jiwang Temple is divided into seven colors: yellow, orange, red, green, blue, blue, and purple, which are brilliant and ever-changing. The colored tiles on the roof and the flowers, flowing clouds, celestial horses, immortals, and mythical animals on the ridge are all made of colored glaze. The most exciting thing is that the main ridge of colored glaze in Houji Tower is more than 1 meter high, and there are about 5 feet high colored glaze ridges standing at both ends. Chi kiss. There are also glazed statues of Sun Bin, Pang Juan, Luo Cheng and Han Xin at the foot of Houji Tower as a backing up. 2⃣️Stone sculpture: The stone carvings in the Jiwang Temple are definitely based on the art of divine craftsmanship. The most praiseworthy ones are the two dragon stone pillars in front of Houji Tower. They adopt the hollow high-relief technique. One is a fire dragon passing through the flaming red bird. Stone pillars, one is a water dragon stone pillar with clouds surging, fish leaping and dragons flying. The walls on the east and west sides of the Xian Hall are engraved with the Eight Views of Jishan and the Seven Ancient Chapters of Li Jingchun respectively. 3⃣️Woodcut: The eye-catching wood carvings of Jiwang Temple use a still method to show the history of its walking. On the balustrades under the eaves of the front and rear halls, there are pictures of Hou Ji leading people to engage in agricultural activities.