Renovation work has started on the "Guangrenwang Temple" near Ruicheng County in the city of Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, which is believed to be the earliest extant Taoist building that dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The extensive repair project is estimated to cost around 2 million yuan, according to the Tourism and relics bureau of Ruicheng county.

Jing Hongbo, deputy head of the Bureau, said that the temple is in very bad condition. Its tile roof has suffered serious damage over the years and many decorative elements decayed and the walls cracked. A Qing-style (1644-1911) performing stage inside the temple was also put under repair, along with the main hall and the enclosing wall of the temple.

Jing said that the repair project is expected to complete next May. After that, the county will start to clean up the surrounding area of the temple so as to bring back to life a rare example of the temple art of the Tang Dynasty with all its unique charm.

The old Guangrenwang Temple complex was designed in the form of a traditional Chinese-style siheyuan (a compound building with houses around a square courtyard), covering an area of 47-meters wide east-to-west and 96-meters long south-to-north.

It is one of the only four survived examples of wooden buildings from the Tang Dynasty in China and the earliest extant Taoist temple with living quarters and inscriptions intact. Because of its long history of over 1117 years, the temple was designated a National Key Cultural Relic Protection Unit in 2001.

Edited by Roger Bradshaw