Zhenguo Temple, Buddhist temple in Hadongcun, Shanxi, China

Zhenguo Temple is a Buddhist temple in Hadongcun, about 10 km from Pingyao in Shanxi Province, and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Ancient City of Pingyao. Its walled complex opens south through the Tianwang Hall, followed by the Ten-Thousand Buddha Hall of 963 and the Qing-dynasty Sanfo Hall, with two courtyards between the three main buildings.

The temple was founded in the 10th century during the Northern Han period, making it one of the oldest surviving wooden structures in the country. Later dynasties added or restored parts of the complex, but the main hall kept its original form through those changes.

The temple holds painted sculptures from the Five Dynasties period, among the oldest surviving Buddhist figures in China. Visitors can stand close to these works and notice fine details in the coloring and the expressions carved into each figure.

Zhenguo Temple lies about 10 km from Pingyao, in Hadongcun village, and is reached by hired car or taxi. It is inscribed with Pingyao and Shuanglin Temple as a single World Heritage site, so a half-day loop linking the three is the usual arrangement. The complex opens to the south, with the Tianwang Hall serving as the entrance gate.

The Wanfo Hall's corner and column-top brackets are of the seventh degree, the most complex class in the Yingzao Fashi building manual, and stand nearly 2.5 metres high, about 70% of the column height. Nancy Steinhardt reads these oversized brackets on a small hall as an attempt by the Northern Han rulers to build something grand with limited resources.