祝融殿, Temple of Zhurong in Hengyang, China.
The Temple of Zhurong is a place of worship in Hengyang featuring traditional building design with detailed stone carvings and ornate roof tiles throughout its structure. The layout includes various sections designated for different types of prayer and religious practice.
A building stood on the summit of Zhurong Peak before the Sui dynasty; Li Chongzhao's Tang-era Nanyue Xiaolu records it as the Sitian Huowang Temple, predecessor of the Nanyue Grand Temple, which later moved down the mountain. The summit shrine was repeatedly wrecked by cold weather and rebuilt. In 1574 the censor Li Shi built the Kaiyun Ci on the site, later abandoned; in 1751 an imperial order raised the present Zhurong Dian. He Jian, Hunan's governor, funded repairs in 1932, and the Nanyue administration renovated it in 1982.
The temple takes its name from Zhurong, the fire god, and is also called Laosheng Hall, Tianchi Hermitage and Yunjian Temple. It stands on the summit of Zhurong Peak, the highest point of Mount Heng, where wind and cold have repeatedly damaged the structure; it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times.
The hall stands on the summit of Zhurong Peak, the highest point of Mount Heng, reached on foot by stone steps; the summit is exposed and cold, and the unnamed temple there was repeatedly damaged by weather and rebuilt. The building is a protected cultural relic of Hunan Province, so visitors should stay on paths and avoid touching the structure.
The temple stands on the summit of Zhurong Peak, about 1,290 m up, where cold weather repeatedly destroyed earlier shrines; the unnamed summit temple was ruined and rebuilt several times before the 1751 Qing reconstruction. Before the Sui dynasty a temple already stood here, recorded in the Tang text Nanyue Xiaolu as the Sitian Huowang Temple, predecessor of the Nanyue Grand Temple.
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