Xièxiàn

Xie lies in southern Shanxi beside the salt lake of Hedong, whose production brought merchants and revenue to the region. It is also associated with Guan Yu, the celebrated general of the Three Kingdoms, who came from the district. The great temple at Xiezhou honours him as a god, its halls and inscriptions bearing witness to centuries of devotion. The temple suffered repeated destruction and rebuilding. An earthquake damaged it in 1555, and fire struck again in 1702. Reconstruction after the latter disaster took more than a decade. Imperial inscriptions, including tablets by the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors, reflect the esteem in which Guan Yu was held by the Qing court as well as by worshippers across the country.