Fu Xi Temple was originally built to commemorate Fu Xi, a legendary ruler of great antiquity. It is said that Fu Xi was born in Tianshui. Fu Xi Temple was built in 1490 of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and rebuilt in 1524 of Qing Dynasty (1616-1911). The temple has three rows of buildings, with the front gate facing south.
From south to north are the memorial archways, temples, the terrace, stele pavilion, the main hall and the ancient cypresses in the 3,700 mu (1 mu equals 0.0667 hectare) of the temple yard. The  construction of the temple is of typical Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) style with symmetric structures, formed and precise layout, and marvelous carved beams and painted rafters.
The Hall of the Deceased King built on the open terrace in the central yard is the main building in Fu Xi Temple. With double eaves and corbel brackets (set of brackets between crossbeams and columns, each set consisting of tiers of outstretching arms called gong, cushioned with trapezoidal blocks called dou), colored glaze pantiles and the ornamental design of dragon mouth, the whole building looks very primitive but elegant.
Guyue (meaning drums and music) Pavilion, located to the south of the Hall of the Celestial King, is said to be the place where Fu Xi played music and wrote poems. The Crane Pavilion is opposite to Guyue Pavilion and it is said that when Fu Xi played music, the crane flied here and listened to him.
In Taiji (Taiji means Supreme Ultimate, the primary source of all created things) Hall of the temple compound, there is a colored clay statue of Fu Xi. In Xiantian (pre-life) Hall in the back temple compound, there is a statue of Yan Emperor (Shennong, the god who invented farming in the mythology of ancient China). In Fu Xi Temple, there used to be 64 strong cypress trees, arranged in the shape of the 64 Trigram Configuration of I Ching. Today, only 37 of them remain alive. |
