The Zhongyue Temple, listed by the State Council as a key national temple of Taoism, is located on Songshan Mountains in Dengfeng County, Henan Province. Songshan Mountains is a famous beautiful scenic spot. Many religious sites have been constructed here since ancient times. The famous Shaolin Temple is located here. In addition, there are many Taoist buildings, among which the Zhongyue Temple is extremely well preserved.
The Zhongyue Temple is situated at the foot of Huanggai Peak, which is at the southern side of Taishi Mountain of Songshan Mountains. It was first established in the 3rdcentury BC. After Empress Wu Zetian came here for worship in 688, the Zhongyue Temple began to flourish. The temple had been repaired many times and had 900 rooms of various buildings by 1013, but subsequently declined to a certain extent. Now, there are over 400 rooms, covering an area of 100,000 square metres. It is the extant ancient Taoist architectural complex that is the most complete and has the largest scale. The main buildings include the Zhonghua Gate and the Tianzhong Pavilion, etc., spanning 6,500 meters from south to north. There are many precious cultural relics in the temple. Especially, its numerous inscriptions on tablets are now the important materials for calligraphic research. The principal building is the Main Hall, which displays very delicate craftsmanship and is the most grandiose building in the Zhongyue Temple.
At present, the Zhongyue Temple can receive 1.5 million person-times of tourists and disciples every year.
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