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Xiyue Temple

Taoist temple in Huayin, Shaanxi, China

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 30, 2026
Entity authorityQ2598395
Source-derived summary

The Xiyue Temple (西岳庙) is a Chinese Taoist temple located at the foot of Mount Hua of the city of Huayin in the northwest of the Shaanxi Province. Here the emperor sacrificed to the god of Mount Hua. Its magnificence is compared to that of the Imperial Palace in Beijing and it is called the "Forbidden City of Shaanxi".

History

The temple was built in 134 BC by Emperor Wu of the Western Han dynasty. Emperor Wu built the first worship temple of Emperor Xiyue, the god of Mount Hua, at the foot of the mountain. He named the temple Jilinggong Palace. In the following East Han dynasty, the temple was moved to the present location and its name was changed to Xiyue Temple.

The temple was renovated several times in subsequent dynasties. The current buildings date from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Xiyue Temple has been on the list of monuments of the People's Republic of China (3–126) since 1988.

Editorial summary

“Xiyue Temple” enters the record as taoist temple in Huayin, Shaanxi, China. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Xiyue, Temple and Taoist can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA strong orientation record where physical form, institutional use and historical geography need to be read together. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1988—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Xiyue, Temple and Taoist.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Xiyue Temple” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Xiyue, Temple and Taoist provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2598395. Authority coordinates are 34.581, 110.102. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1988.

Critical limits

Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Xiyue Temple”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Xiyue Temple primary sources, Xiyue Temple archive and Xiyue research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Xiyue Temple”?
  2. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
  3. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Xiyue Temple” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.