Jade Spring Temple on Mt. Hua (Huayin County, Shanxi)

Lying at the north valley entrance of Mt. Hua in Huayin County, Shanxi Province, Jade Spring Temple ( 玉泉院 Yuquan Yuan ) was the place where Chen Tuan, a famous Daoist of the Northern Song, isolated himsedf for cultivation. After his passing away, Chen's disciples built the Xiyi Shrine in memory of him, in the Chunyou Era of the Northern Song. Enlarged several times in the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed Jade Spring Temple after a pure spring which, according to legend, connects to the Jade Well in the Mountain Guarding Temple ( 鎮岳宮 Zhenyue Gong ) on the mountain top. Repaired many times with its long corridor enlarged, the temple is now splendid in green and gold with many pavilions, platforms and towers. It has three parts in east, middle and west. The main structure in the middle is the Xiyi Shrine ( 希夷祠 Xiyi Ci ), a quadrangled courtyard. A statue of Chen Tuan sits in the Main Hall of Ancestor Chen Tuan. A Guesthouse and dorms, simple in black bricks and blue tiles, lie along the east and west. In the courtyard lies the Tablet for Establishing Offerings ( 建醮碑 Jianjiao Bei ) by Chen's disciple Jia Desheng. The Tablet is precious material for the study of offering rituals in Northern Song Dynasty. To the west of Jade Spring Temple lie a cloister, a stone ship, the Carefree Pavilion, the Purity Hall, Xiyi cave, Mountain Herb Pavilion, etc. Legendarily built by Chen Tuan, the Mountain Herb Pavilion stands on a huge rock beside a Carefree Tree, also legendarily planted by him. The lively stone carved image of Chen Tuan in Xiyi cave is a fine and ingenious masterpiece of Song Dynasty. At the east of the Jade Spring Temple lie Tomb of Huatuo, a cloister and twelve caves, etc. Availing itself of the beautiful natural environment, Jade Spring Temple is a garden of interest combining mountain and river with bamboo, fog, peaks, pavilions, and cloisters. In 1982, it was approved as one of the key temples of the nation.