The Hou Tu Temple in Jiezhou, Shanxi, is a masterpiece of glazed art, with its peacock blue color being particularly vibrant

The Hou Tu Temple is located on Miaodi Street in Jiezhou City, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province, and is a Taoist Quanzhen Sect temple building. The main buildings include the Three Purities Tower, Hou Tu Temple, Lu Zu Temple, Guan Di Temple, and Tu Shen Hall. Among the existing buildings, the Three Purities Tower was built in the Yuan Dynasty, and the rest are Ming and Qing Dynasty buildings. The Three Purities Temple houses a collection of thousands of colored statues from the Ming Dynasty, known as 'All Saints Chao Yuan', which are a combination of standing and wall sculptures of Taoist deities. The temple worships the 'Mother Earth Goddess' from ancient Chinese mythology, who is in charge of yin and yang reproduction, the beauty of all things and the beauty of mountains and rivers, and is known as 'Hou Tu Niangniang' among the people. The Hou Tu Temple is famous for its intricate glazed decorations found throughout the building, and is known as the 'Chinese Glazed Art Architectural Museum'. Various glazed decorations can be seen throughout the temple, such as the glazed kirin on the shadow wall in front of the temple, the yellow, green, and blue glazed tiles on the roof, and the dragon-shaped beasts on the eaves, all of which shine together. In particular, the 'peacock blue' glaze, which has remained vibrant after hundreds of years, is rare in China. The architectural style of the Three Purities Tower is very special. It is a double-storey building formed by connecting two buildings. The latter half is a reverse theater, with distinctive architectural features. The shadow walls on both sides of the theater are decorated with dragon and lion glazes, which are symmetrical. At the hanging points of the building, you can see exquisite colorful phoenixes playing with peonies, and there are huge and lifelike deep purple grapes on the Bo Feng board. Despite years of wind and rain, they are still rich in color. This makes the overall building a colorful and radiant three-dimensional glazed painting. 📍Detailed address: Hou Tu Temple: No. 99 Miaodi Street, Jiezhou City, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province Tickets: Free admission