Located in the Mingfeng Mountains, seven kilometers to the east of Kunming City, Yunnan Province, Golden Temple in the Taihe Palace is the largest Taoist Tongwa (bronze-tiled) Temple in China, and is the only Taoist Temple to have survived to the modern era totally intact.
The Golden Temple was first built in 1602 during the Ming Dynasty. In that period, Yunnan was commanded to send the bronze ore from Dongchuan to Central China in order to make coins. However, this was prevented when war blocked the route from Dongchuan to Central China. As a result, The governor of Yunnan, Chen Yongbing, and Qian Guogong, the Duke of Guizhou Province, Mu Changzuo, decided to use all of the bronze that had been designated for coin-making to construct a temple resembling the Taihe Palace and the Golden Temple on Tianzhu Peak in the Wudang Mountains, Hubei Province- the home of Daoism. Later, the temple was moved to Jizu Mountains in the west of Yunnan Province, and was rebuilt by a general called Wusangui during the Qing Dynasty. The total weight of the temple s bronze comes to more than 200 tons, and the walls display colorful paintings and engravings. There is a big bell called The Great Bell of the Ming Yongle Era on the top of the mountain behind the temple, which weighs 140 tons, is 2.1 meters tall and 6.7 meters long. Cast in 1424 during Yongle era, the bell was used as a timekeeping device for the public in Xuanhua Mansion in Kunming, but later moved to the Golden Temple.
The Golden Temple was first built in 1602 during the Ming Dynasty. In that period, Yunnan was commanded to send the bronze ore from Dongchuan to Central China in order to make coins. However, this was prevented when war blocked the route from Dongchuan to Central China. As a result, The governor of Yunnan, Chen Yongbing, and Qian Guogong, the Duke of Guizhou Province, Mu Changzuo, decided to use all of the bronze that had been designated for coin-making to construct a temple resembling the Taihe Palace and the Golden Temple on Tianzhu Peak in the Wudang Mountains, Hubei Province- the home of Daoism. Later, the temple was moved to Jizu Mountains in the west of Yunnan Province, and was rebuilt by a general called Wusangui during the Qing Dynasty. The total weight of the temple s bronze comes to more than 200 tons, and the walls display colorful paintings and engravings. There is a big bell called The Great Bell of the Ming Yongle Era on the top of the mountain behind the temple, which weighs 140 tons, is 2.1 meters tall and 6.7 meters long. Cast in 1424 during Yongle era, the bell was used as a timekeeping device for the public in Xuanhua Mansion in Kunming, but later moved to the Golden Temple.