Longxing Temple in Caizhou is the place where Yan Zhenqing, a great calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty, died. When Yan Zhenqing persuaded the traitor Li Xilie to surrender, he was imprisoned in Longxing Temple in Caizhou and hanged here at the age of seventy-seven. Caizhou Longxing Temple is located in Qiujing Village, Hexiao Town, Runan County, Henan Province today. In the third national cultural relics census in our province, the Runan County cultural relics census team discovered two stone tablets related to Longxing Temple, which provided important research clues and physical data for studying the place where Yan Zhenqing was martyred.
In addition to Longxing Temple in Caizhou, there are several other places with the name of Longxing Temple, but they have nothing to do with Yan Zhenqing’s story. For example:
The ruins of Qingzhou Longxing Temple, located in Qingzhou City, Shandong Province, were built in the Northern Wei Dynasty and destroyed in the early Ming Dynasty. They lasted for more than 800 years and were one of the famous temples in the country at that time. Many exquisite Buddhist statues were unearthed from the Longxing Temple site in Qingzhou, known as the "Oriental Venus".
Longxing Temple in Pengzhou, Sichuan Province is located at the north entrance of Pengzhou City, Sichuan Province. It was built in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and was once one of the largest Buddhist centers in the southwest. Longxing Temple in Pengzhou, Sichuan has a long history and rich cultural connotation. It is an ancient temple integrating religion, art, architecture and gardens.