Zhongtian Temple is located in Heshun Ancient Town, Tengchong City. It is surrounded by the green hills and shaded by greenery. It was built in 1635 of the Ming Dynasty, and the front hall was built by the local villager Zhang Gongding. Zhongtian Temple is not only a holy place for the Buddhist activities, but also a place for the talent cultivation in the past.
History of Zhongtian Temple
From 1715 to 1775 of the Qing Dynasty, due to the earthquake, the houses in the temple collapsed a lot. With the alms from Myanmar and donation funds from the local villagers, the buildings were repaired. After that, the two chambers, the Tianmen Buddhist Temple, stone fence and auxiliary facilities were also completed one by one. The Sanhuang Palace was added in the 1930s. In the 1940s, the villagers planned to build the Sanqing Palace but were terminated because of the war.
Zhongtian Temple is built in an orderly structure along the main axis arranged in a reasonable layout. It is one of the largest temples in Heshun, covering an area of more than 5,000 square meters. In the old days, there were the east and west gates, Maitreya Hall, Guanyin Hall, Daxiong Hall, Guansheng Hall, Sanhuang Hall, Tian Gate, Jade Emperor Hall, Sun Hall, Taiyin Hall, Wuhuang Hall, Mawang Hall, Caishen Hall, opera house and other auxiliary buildings.
During the 1960s, many halls and statues of the Buddha were destroyed, except for the Dongxiang Monastery, the Caishen Hall, the ancient plum trees and one monument. In 1980, the local villagers proposed to rebuild the Zhongtian Temple. The fund was supported by Mr. Zhang Xiaowei, an overseas Chinese living in Thailand, who is a converted disciple of the old monk.
At that time, Zhang was invited to the temple to preside over the whole restoration work. With the strong support from the scholars and the overseas Chinese, after more than ten years of the hard work, the old palaces have been basically restored. The "Zhongtian Temple" plaque hanging on the main gate was written by the Zhao Puchu, a famous Buddhist scholar in China. Also, many literati and scholars wrote poems and articles for the temple.