History of Huguo Temple

The Imperial Protectorate Temple was first built in the Tang Dynasty and expanded in the Song Dynasty. The "(Jiaqing) Dongtai County Chronicle" of the Qing Dynasty records that the temple was built in the Song Dynasty and is a thousand-year-old temple. The existing Main Hall and Tianwang Hall still maintain the architectural style of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The temple has three entrances from the front and back. The Shanmen Hall has a single eaves and a mountain roof, with upturned corners and brackets. On the forehead of the door is engraved "Edict to seal the National Protectorate Temple". According to legend, in the 19th year of Tang Zhenguan (646), Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty conquered the East. When he led his troops to inspect the mouth of Liao River (today's Liao River), he was suddenly attacked by Gaisu Wen, the Goryeo general. Taizong's horse was frightened and lost its way, and was later moved. Thousands of miles away, he hid in a small dilapidated temple in Qixingzhuang (that is, Daijiaze, then part of Hailing County, Huainan Road, now Dainan Town), a deserted village on the seaside, and was able to save his life. In the spring of the 20th year of Zhenguan (647), Li Shimin ordered Yuchi Jingde to supervise the construction of a Zen temple at the dilapidated small temple in Qixingzhuang, and wrote the inscription "Guoguo Temple" to express his contribution to "protecting the Tang Dynasty". The wooden plaque above the original Maitreya Wei Tuo shrine in the temple has the words "Shangsha was built in the Tang Dynasty". The Song and Yuan stone gate piers in the temple have vivid and lifelike patterns of birds and animals. These historical relics bear witness to the past of the temple. In front of the Tianwang Hall, there is also a worship stone where the King of Tang Dynasty knelt. It has a deep knee socket. Although it has been baptized by thousands of years of dust, it still has eye-catching traces, silently telling people about the history of the hero's end and the iron horse fighting. A man has gold at his knees, let alone Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty! That loud sound of kneeling down faintly came from the tunnel of history, tapping our eardrums, and looking around, the temple was speechless, the palace was silent, and we felt a kind of weight in the silence.