[2025 Xinjiang Attraction] Travel Guide for Sanguan Temple (Updated Jun)

📍 Shanxi · Yuncheng · Xinjiang 📖 "Outside the city gate there is a Ten-Mile Street, on which there is a Renqing Lane, and in the lane there is an ancient temple. Because the place is narrow, people call it the Gourd Temple." 🔸 The story of "Dream of the Red Chamber" begins with this "Gourd Temple." It's said that after Cao Xueqin sought refuge with the Cao family in Jiangzhou, he lived in Kang Family Lane, just steps away from the Gourd Temple. 🔸 This temple is located at the intersection of Han Family Lane and Renyi Road in the bustling Jiangzhou Ancient City. It was commonly called the "Gourd Temple" because there used to be a large stone gourd in front of it. Its official name is the Three Officials Temple. 🔸 The Three Officials Temple is an exquisite miniature temple established in 1341 during the Yuan Dynasty, with renovations during both Ming and Qing dynasties. 🔸 The existing offering hall and main hall share the same axis. The offering hall has a cross-shaped xieshan roof, while the main hall has a suspended gable roof. The north and south walls of both buildings are connected (with a side door at the southern wall junction and a window sill on the northern side). The eaves intersect to form a gutter, and the front eaves of the offering hall face the street. The total building area is just over 100 square meters. 🔸 There was originally a stage opposite the temple that was demolished in 1978 during street expansion. According to stone inscriptions, the original Three Officials Temple was of extremely high status, but sadly, most of its halls no longer exist due to the passage of time. 💫 The main hall is dimly lit, housing exquisite statues. On the altar sits the Primordial Heavenly Lord in the center, the Supreme Dao Lord to the north, and Laozi to the south. All three ancestors are seated on sumeru thrones with their feet on sumeru pedestals. The statues have dark faces with vividly carved clothing folds, characteristic of southern Shanxi sculpture. 🔸 There are also colorful statues of generals Tianpeng and Heisha, along with 4 scholar statues, 2 elder statues, and 2 beast-faced human-bodied guardian deities. 🔸 The main hall architecture and colored clay sculptures serve as physical evidence of Taoist cultural prosperity during the Yuan Dynasty. 💫 The Three Officials Temple was once grand in scale with numerous halls—at least six large halls and market rooms—and of very high status. After passing through difficult times, not everything was preserved. It's truly fortunate to see this small temple still standing in the busy marketplace today! 🎯 The Xinjiang Three Officials Temple is a national protected site that was previously closed to the public. Before, visitors needed an introduction letter from the Cultural Preservation Center to enter. Now it's finally open to the public, allowing orderly visits to see this mysterious small temple. 🕑 Recommended visiting time: Half an hour 🚗 Transportation: The Three Officials Temple is in the most prosperous area of Xinjiang. If you're staying in the county town, you can reach it on foot. 🎫 Admission: The gates are open for visitors. ⏰ Opening hours: Monday to Sunday, 9:00am-5:00pm

A small temple in a small alley in Xinjiang, Yuncheng, which looks very inconspicuous, is actually a national treasure from the Yuan Dynasty! The Sanguan Temple was built in the first year of the Zhizheng period of the Yuan Dynasty (1341), and was rebuilt in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It used to be called the Gourd Temple, but unfortunately, the big stone gourd in front of the door has been destroyed. Does this remind you of anything? The staff said that this is the prototype of the Gourd Temple in "Dream of the Red Chamber". The two clay sculptures on the left side of the entrance are so damaged that they are unrecognizable (Figure 8), but they are a bit cute and adorable. In fact, two of the statues in the hall are replicas of their original appearance. Do you think they look a bit like they used to? There are also many exquisite Yuan Dynasty clay sculptures in the hall. The faces of the main sculptures of the "Heaven, Earth, and Water" statues have been restored, but due to poor craftsmanship, they appear stiff and clumsy. On the contrary, several small statues may not have been restored because they were not valued, and they retain their original charm and are very vivid. The folds and sleeves of the painted sculptures are beautiful, and the luster of the mineral pigments can still be faintly seen, which is incomparable to chemical pigments. Address: Sanguan Temple, Xinjiang, Yuncheng, Shanxi It just opened on May 1 this year, so don't miss it! You can take photos, but don't use the flash.

San Guan Temple, also known as Gourd Temple, is located at the west entrance of Hanjia Lane, Xinjiang County, Shanxi Province. It was built in the first year of the Yuan Dynasty (1341) and is a temple dedicated to the Taoist Three Pure Ones. The existing buildings include the Xian Hall and the Main Hall, both of which were built in the Yuan Dynasty. The Xian Hall is one room wide and two rooms deep, with a cross-hipped roof and six wooden doors on the front. The main hall is two rooms wide and three rooms deep, with four single eaves and a hanging mountain roof. The hall houses 15 colored sculptures from the Yuan Dynasty, which are of great historical and artistic value. On June 25, 2006, San Guan Temple was listed as the sixth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Sanguan Temple, commonly known as Hulu Temple. I don't know if Cao Xueqin ever came here, and Jia Yucun lived in Hulu Temple. Hulu Temple has no Hulu monks, but two or three enthusiastic cultural protection sisters. 📸Sanguan Temple Wooden structure·Only the Xian Hall and the main hall are left, built in the Yuan Dynasty, the Xian Hall has a cross-hipped roof, and the main hall has a single-eave overhanging gable roof, and the two mountains are five-flower gable walls. Statue·The Xian Hall displays the statues damaged by the heavy rain in Shanxi in August 2022. I don't know how many cultural relics didn't survive at that time. The main hall has two 1:1 restored statues. I wonder if you can tell which one is the restored one? Eleven colored clay sculptures of gods, maids, etc., with fat bodies, short proportions, and slightly confused expressions. Tickets🎫: Free Transportation🚌: Xinjiang County has a train station, with few trains, the neighboring city Houma high-speed rail is very convenient, and there are many public buses in the two places Nearby ancient buildings🐝: Jiangzhou Shu Scenic Area, Longxing Temple, within walking distance ✍🏻️Off-topic Starting from the Hanging Temple, there is a question: Why do the eyes of Taoist gods and immortals look up? It is completely opposite to Buddhism's looking down at all beings.

San Guan Temple in Shanxi Yuncheng has been closed for over 20 years, and it seems to have opened recently, but the map still shows it as (not open to the public). I went there directly and indeed was met with a closed door. During lunchtime, I called the temple keeper, and the auntie put down her chopsticks, rode over on her little electric scooter, and opened the door for us, even expressing her apologies. It feels like the attitude of temple keepers in Shanxi is getting better and better, Shanxi is mighty, Shanxi's culture and tourism are mighty... What are the Three Officials? Heavenly Official, Earthly Official, Water Official Deities in Taoism 🏯 About San Guan Temple There are two existing halls, the main hall and the offering hall, with inscriptions from the Yuan dynasty on the wooden pillars. Both the Ming and Qing dynasties have made repairs. The main hall worships the Three Officials, with colored sculptures of maids and courtiers on the side, and on both sides are the exaggerated facial expressions of Tian Peng and Tian You, Hei Sha and Zhen Wu, four marshals (feels like the Four Heavenly Kings in Buddhism), most of which are original colored sculptures from the Yuan dynasty. A lot of them have big mouths, isn't Tian Peng Marshal supposed to be Zhu Bajie? Why does he also have a Super Saiyan hairstyle... The three main statues of San Guan Temple are absolutely stunning, the three brothers with expressionless faces and slightly dark complexions, exuding a bit of arrogance amidst their seriousness, their eyes looking upwards, not deigning to look directly at people... Probably because we mortals are not worthy... The national heritage site that has been closed for over 20 years I finally caught up with it‼️

In an alley in Xinxing, Yuncheng, there is a small temple that doesn't look impressive at first glance, but upon closer inspection, it reveals a treasure trove of exquisite Yuan Dynasty clay sculptures. Previously, it was not open to the public and was even used as a storefront by a hardware store. The Xieshan-style front hall, facing outward, is a beautifully crafted small building from the Qing Dynasty. In the corner of the hall stand two damaged clay sculptures with their features washed away, revealing the yellow clay underneath, yet they appear endearingly naive. The main hall of the Yuan Dynasty, with its Xuan Shan style, is separated by a row of wooden doors, and its sunken design gives it an especially profound and mysterious feel. It enshrines the 'Heaven, Earth, Water' Three Officials, and even more impressive are the surrounding images of marshals such as Tian Peng, Tian You, Hei Sha, and Zhen Wu, with their hair standing on end and eyes wide open in anger, which are truly awe-inspiring. The current status of the three most notable cultural heritage sites in Xinxing: 1. Xinxing Baitai Temple was officially opened to the public during this year's May Day holiday. 2. Fusheng Temple is undergoing major repairs and is expected to be completely open after the National Day holiday. The Guanyin crossing the sea is surrounded by scaffolding; it is visible but not accessible. 3. The Three Officials Temple has been orderly opened to the public after the May Day holiday.