China·Shanxi Ruicheng

Shengshou Temple. Shengshou Temple is located on Sheli East Street in Ruicheng County, where the Dharma flows continuously and the virtue shines in all directions, with eminent monks and great virtues emerging from Shengshou Temple. It was founded in the 10th year of Yongping during the Eastern Han Dynasty, and because Shengshou Temple enshrines the true body relics of Buddha Sakyamuni, it became one of the earliest Buddhist holy places in China. The pagoda of Shengshou Temple was built by Emperor Ashoka, originally named Ashoka Temple. The Buddhist pagoda of Shengshou Temple was rebuilt during the Song Dynasty's Tiansheng era (1023—1032), and after more than thirty years of construction, it became a royal building. Its architectural form, as well as the combination of Tang and Song dynasty styles, makes it the oldest, highest-level, and most well-preserved relic pagoda in the country. Ruicheng Guangrenwang Temple, named for the water deity enshrined within and titled 'Guangrenwang', is also known as 'Wulong Temple' due to the original Five Dragon Springs in front of the temple, where spring water gushes out along the temple's foundation. Located at the northern end of Zhonglongquan Village, 3 kilometers north of Ruicheng County in Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, it faces the Yuan Dynasty Taoist temple Yongle Palace to the southeast. Guangrenwang Temple was founded in the fifth year of the Tang Dynasty's Dazhong era (831 AD). Facing south with its back to the north, the temple covers an area of 4,560 square meters. Inside the temple, there are a stage, wing rooms, and the main hall, surrounded by walls, forming a courtyard layout. The stage is three bays wide and three rafters deep, with simple bracket sets on the column heads, with dragon heads protruding from the central bracket set's large bracket mouth, elephant trunks on both sides, and dragon heads protruding from the bracket mouths between the rafters. In 1965, Guangrenwang Temple was announced by the Shanxi Provincial People's Government as a key cultural relic protection unit of Shanxi Province. On June 25, 2001, Guangrenwang Temple was announced by the State Council of the People's Republic of China as the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.