Jinan City God Temple is located in Jinan’s Lixia District. It faces Jiaozhai Street to the east, Pangong Street to the west, and Xueqian Street to the north. As one of the important deities generally worshipped in the Chinese religious cultures, City God is the god in Chinese Taoism folks to protect the locals.
Introduction of Jinan City God Temple
The city and the god originally refer to the city walls and moats. Later, city god was deified as the god to protect the city. Almost each city has its own City God Temple.
Jinan City God Temple was built in 1369 of the Ming Dynasty with a history of more than 600 years. There were three courtyards in history, covering an area of 3,600 square meters, followed by the screen wall, main gate, second gate, Jiexiao Temple, opera stage, main hall, apse, and east and west corridors.
Jinan City God Temple sits to the south with the roof covered with the yellow-green glazed tiles and decorated patterns. The main gate is entirely built of the large blue bricks and stones without any wooden beams. A stone plaque is inlaid directly above the lintel of the main gate and three Chinese characters "Du Cheng Huang" can be vaguely seen.
The ruins of the main hall on the north side have been demolished to build the houses. Only the main gate, the front hall and the collapsed opera stage are left. It is one of the few oldest existing buildings in Jinan City as well as the largest surviving City God Temple in Shandong Province.
Jinan City God Temple was expanded and rebuilt in 1460 during the Ming Dynasty. It was destroyed by fire in 1639 and rebuilt the following year. Later, it was expanded many times. Most of the existing buildings were built from the late Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. Until the beginning of the Republic of China, there used to be the lively performances on May 11 of the lunar calendar every year.