The forgotten "Temple of The Lone Soul" is expected to reappear

Yu Yingying Qiqi

"The 'Temple of Lonely Souls' was the place where I always ran to play when I was a child, and I didn't expect it to be broken like this." Thankfully it was discovered early! Praise must be given to the meticulous work of the procuratorial organs in protecting cultural relics! After learning the news of the opening of the administrative public interest litigation case for the protection of cultural relics in Dongyue Tianqi Temple, Wang Mou, a resident who once lived near the temple, said.

According to the records, Dongyue Tianqi Temple, commonly known as the "Lone Soul Temple", was built during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, and is located in the Erdao Lane of Yuyuchi In Yuquan District, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and is an autonomous region-level cultural relics protection unit. Because the temple enshrines Huang Feihu (that is, Emperor Dongyue) in the "Fengshen Yanyi", it is named "Dongyue Tianqi Temple". Later, due to the famous "Lone Soul Beach Incident" that broke out in the area, Dongyue Tianqi Temple also became an important patriotic education base.

In the first half of 2020, the Yuquan District Procuratorate conducted a field survey of the protection of cultural relics in the district according to the cultural relics protection list. Just when the prosecutors planned to go to the Dongyue Tianqi Temple to investigate, they found that the temple was "missing" - through the intelligent navigation software, it could not retrieve and locate the Dongyue Tianqi Temple.

In order to find the Dongyue Tianqi Temple, prosecutors repeatedly went to the fish pond to inquire and look for it, but most of the residents knew nothing about the temple. In the end, it was under the guidance of several elderly people that the procurators found this forgotten "Temple of Lonely Souls". However, the sight before them left the prosecutors quite distressed: the Dongyue Tianqi Temple was surrounded by a residential compound, in disrepair, and now only the main hall remains. The courtyard is full of debris, the cultural relics protection signs are obscured by random vegetable fields, and there is no clear protection area and control zone around the temple. The only thing that was fortunate was that the main hall was full of beasts and the wadang was intact.

Protecting the Dongyue Tianqi Temple cannot be delayed. In June 2020, the Yuquan District Procuratorate issued a pre-trial procuratorial recommendation to the District Bureau of Culture, Sports, Tourism, Radio, Film and Television, urging it to perform its cultural relics protection duties in accordance with the law, improve the protection measures for the Dongyue Tianqi Temple, and announce the implementation according to law. The District Bureau of Culture, Sports, Tourism, Radio, Film and Television replied that it would actively adopt the procuratorial suggestions and take effective measures to rectify them.

In October 2020, when the Yuquan District Procuratorate "looked back" at the rectification of the procuratorial suggestions, it was found that the Dongyue Tianqi Temple was still the same. After verification, the "rectification" of the District Bureau of Culture, Sports, Tourism, Radio, Film and Television has been in the stage of reporting to the higher authorities, and there has been no substantial progress.

"It's not okay to drag it out like this!" In order to prevent the damage from continuing to expand, the Yuquan District Procuratorate filed an administrative public interest lawsuit against the District Bureau of Culture, Sports, Tourism, Radio, Film and Television in accordance with the law. A few days ago, the case was heard. During the trial, the person in charge of the Yuquan District Bureau of Culture, Sports, Tourism, Radio, Film and Television said that now that the bidding for the repair project of dongyue Tianqi Temple has been completed and the funds are being implemented, the Dongyue Tianqi Temple will soon enter people's vision with a new look. It is hoped to work with the procuratorial organs to strengthen the protection of cultural relics and cultural heritage, and is also willing to accept the follow-up supervision of the procuratorial organs.

Sentencing in the case will be scheduled.

Source: Bengbu Inspection