Linli Guanwang Temple is located on the mountainside of South Yuquan in Linli Village, Yinying Town, a suburb of Yangquan City. Guanwang Temple is divided into two courtyards, internal and external, with the Main Hall of Guanwang as the mainstay, with the Dedication Hall, the Horse Hall, the North and South Auxiliary Halls, and the Opera Stage, the Falling Arrow Pavilion, and the Drinking Horse Pavilion in the Outer Courtyard, forming a staggered, magnificent, and ancient wooden building group with certain historical, artistic and scientific value.
The main hall of Guanwang Temple is the earliest surviving martial temple building in mainland China, which is the original original appearance of the Song Dynasty. The existing temple scripture "The Book of The Pot" records that "the Emperor Wanzai County Lord Qianqiu Wenwu Hundred Officials Changju Lu Zhao Guo Brother Nei Xining established the leap month on April 18, 18th of the fifth year", from which it is inferred that the Guanwang Temple was built in the fifth year of the Northern Song Dynasty (1072) and rebuilt in the fourth year of the Northern Song Dynasty Xuanhe (1122), and was repeatedly repaired by the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The main hall sits northwest to southeast and consists of four parts: the pedestal, the pillars, the beams and the roof. The face is three rooms wide, six rafters deep, the single eaves rest on the top of the mountain, the fold is gentle, the eaves are far-reaching, and the glass partridge is tailed.
The plan is square, sitting on a not too high pedestal, the front porch is a room, the double plate doors in the corridor are strong and heavy, and the three-sided broken windows between the two times show the ancient meaning. The material used for the arch under the eaves is fat and primitive, and the four thick gray columns of the front eaves are shuttle-shaped, the roll brakes are round and slow, and the forehead and pupaifang between the columns are applied, and the four corners of the pupai fang are out of the head. The plaque in the middle reads Zhongyizawa.
The flat beams are densely packed with shu pillars, and the ridge load is transmitted by the fork hand. 24 groups of five-paved bucket arches support beams and 240 roll-brake rafters out of the eaves. The four eaves are high and tall, the glass beast is exquisitely shaped, and the cast iron bells are hanging underneath, and the wind is moving and chirping.
Tooth pattern dripping tile and lotus leaf hook head tile four eaves are used, nine ridges and ten beasts four sets of heads are unique, the appearance of the main hall is elegant and simple, magnificent, although it has gone through vicissitudes, it still maintains the construction specifications of the Song Dynasty's "Building French Style", which is a treasure of ancient architecture.
Source: Shanxi Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics official website