Sanshan Ancestral Temple

The Sanshan Ancestral Temple was called the Mingkuang Temple originally. It’s also called the Lintian Ancestral Temple and the Sanshan King Temple. It’s commonly known as the Great Temple. It faces the Rongjiang River and leans against Jade Peak. It was built in the Sui Dynasty, thrived in the Tang Dynasty and was damaged in the Song Dynasty. It has a long history of 1400 history. It was rebuilt for many times.  Especially in the 1980s, the temple was restored to its ancient glory. There is a stone arch bridge in front of it. Enter the gate and one clay statue of general stands at the each side of the gate. A clay white horse stands near each statue.  The sitting statue of Sanshan King is placed at the main hall. The statues of all officers and arhats are at the two sides of the main hall. The statue of the wife of Sanshan King is at the back hall. There are nearly one hundred statues in total. They are all sculptured livingly.

People in East Guangdong have always looked on Sanshan King as their numen. There are a lot of legends that Sanshan King and his attendants defended the country and protected its people. Many Sanshan Temples have been built in Shantou, Xingmei, Dongjiang, South Fujian and even Taiwan , Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.