Zhongyuanmiao Temple
Zhongyuanmiao temple, originally called Taishici temple, has already come into existence during rule of King Hanwu of West Han Dynasty. It was originally used as sacrifice place to warship God of Mountains at Taishishan Mt. of Songshan and changed into a Taoist place as the custom of sacrificing mountains disappeared. However, the etiquette building style of Zhongyuanmiao temple has been preserved, which mainly belongs to etiquette architecture of Qing Dynasty. Zhongyuanmiao temple is the largest and most intact building group of the five great mountains of Songshan. The temple includes 39 palaces, pavilions and buildings in total with more than 400 rooms. With a total area of approximately 110,000 m2, the temple has 7 courtyards and 11 layers of spectacular buildings in total on the central axis. The main temple, Junjidian temple is the largest temple of all the temples on the five great mountains of Songshan. On the two sides of the central axis stand Gushengku temple, Siyuandian temple, corridors, Huoshenggong temple, Zushigong temple and other courtyards that are used as living and working quarters of Taoists. Inside the temple display 73 ancient stone tablets with inscriptions and grow over 330 ancient pine trees planted in the period from Han Dynasty to Qing Dynasty. The architecture of the building groups is concise, neat and harmonious with main temples distinctively different from the subsidiary ones. Zhongyuanmiao temple has been included in the fifth group of key national protection relics by the State Council in 2001.