Yu Palace, also known as Wang Yu Temple and Tushan Temple, is a temple dedicated to the daughters of Dayu and Tushan Stone, and it is also the largest Taoist temple at the top of the mountain in China. The whole building complex covers an area of more than 3000 square meters, overlooking the mountains and rivers, with extraordinary momentum. On both sides of the mountain gate, there are ten vigorous and simple characters: "The empty mountain hangs on four walls, and the ancient temple is absolutely unique", which has been known as "the first temple in the world" since ancient times.
A stone tablet in front of Yu Palace is engraved with the words "Xiadi Temple", indicating that it is dedicated to Wang's parents. According to Yuan Simiao's Records of Famous Places in the World in the Tang Dynasty, in the 12th year of Emperor Gaozu (195 BC), Liu Banglu visited the Dayu site by way of Tushan, in order to make future generations remember Dayu's achievements in water control forever, so he ordered to build this Dayu temple at the top of Tushan.
Because of the meritorious service of controlling water and benefiting the people, Dayu became the most revered great man in ancient China, including Liu Che, Cao Cao, De Renjie, Liu Zongyuan, Su Shi and other celebrities who visited here and left a lot of poems and songs. Among them, Su Shi's "Seven Wonders of Earth Mountain in Haozhou" and the inscription of Deng, a famous calligrapher in Qing Dynasty, are still clearly visible today.
It is worth mentioning that Tushan Jade Palace has never been damaged for two thousand years. In the Tang Dynasty, the imperial court demolished more than 1700 temples on the grounds that there were too many temples in the south, leaving only the remaining temples alone. The existing Xiangliao Pavilion in the courtyard was built in the 42nd year of Wanli of Ming Dynasty (16 14), with a height of 3.66m, exquisite design and ingenious structure. It is the only remains of incense in the Ming Dynasty in northern Anhui, which has high research value and cultural relics value.
For thousands of years, Yu Palace has undergone many repairs and expansions. During the most prosperous Ming Wanli period, it had five halls, ten halls, nine courtyards and more than forty halls. Later, the building collapsed due to the earthquake. At present, the main buildings in the palace are Wang Yu Hall and Qi Mu Hall. In the main hall, Wang Yu Hall, there is a clay sculpture statue of Dayu. Couplets on both sides of the icon: "The two instruments are still clear and turbid; The coats of many countries bow to the pearl crown "was inscribed by Lin, the last governor of the Qing Dynasty.
There are two male and female ginkgo trees with a chest circumference of nearly 6 meters in the Jade Palace. According to legend, it was planted more than 4,000 years ago when Dayu married Tu Shanshi. There has always been a beautiful legend among local people that "there were trees first, then there were mountains, and Dayu asked about trees for thousands of years". Later, the old tree was killed by lightning. However, it is incredible that a peach tree with a height of more than ten feet has grown on the dry trunk. Su Shi once wrote a poem to express this wonder: "There are picturesque green hills outside the mountain, and the years are unknown on the trees."
A stone road leading to Yu Palace at the top of the mountain is called "Yuchao Road". Every spring, the local people will follow this road to the Yu Palace to worship and pray. Besides Yu Palace, there are many historical sites related to Dayu beside Chaolu. According to legend, more than 4200 years ago, after Tu Shanshi's daughter married Dayu, Qi, the monarch of the Xia Dynasty, was born on Mount Tai beside the road.
Legend has it that on the third day after Tu Shanshi married Dayu, there was a flood in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in the south. Anxious Dayu led a flood control army to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to control water. During the period of 13, he searched the house three times and refused to go in. Later, he fell ill in Huiji, Zhejiang (now Shaoxing). Since Dayu went out, his wife Tu Shanshi came to Tu Shan every day to look up and look out, expecting her husband to return and become the "King Mi Shi of Tu Shan" for a long time.