Yong'an Temple Introduction
Yong'an Temple is oriented southeast to northwest, with a spacious temple ground covering more than 300 ping, featuring a three-room, five-gate design. The front hall is decorated with twin dragons facing the celestial, and divine generals riding a green dragon. The middle ridge displays a colorful phoenix spreading its wings, with vibrant figures, while the two side ridges feature green dragons soaring with vitality. The ridge adornments showcase dragons and phoenixes, and the carved single dragon columns support the red terrace (Chí), flanked by human-bird figures. The octagonal base and wall decoration of the Ten Thousand Immortals Array are lifelike. The central hall is dedicated to the Heavenly Holy Mother, while the rear hall houses a statue of Guan Yin Bodhisattva, and the second floor is dedicated to the Buddhist and Taoist deities. Visitors to Yong'an Temple can admire its rich paper-cutting artworks, along with some interesting small details. For instance, upon entering the temple, there's a plaque on the flower cover of the worship hall inscribed with "Eternal Blessings for Peace," symbolizing the spirit of Yong'an. Additionally, the couplet at the entrance holds a clever point: "The holy virtue matching the heavens, the vast grace ever extending and enduring; the maternal image gloriously reigning, the Yangtze River calm, celebrating peace and tranquility." This couplet, unlike the common head-hidden format of temple names, merges the first character of each line into "Holy Mother," with the temple name hidden in the second-to-last character, succinctly highlighting the main deity worshipped and the location.
