In the 12th year of the Republic of China (1923), after the Jiangdu County Government built Fuyun Gate on the east side of Chaoguan, the market on Gengzi Street gradually lost its former prosperity. In the 19th year of the Republic of China (1930), the wife of Yangzhou wealthy salt merchant Xiao Yufeng funded the construction of Yuansheng Temple on the site of the original Zhu Changling Pawnshop and Jingde Hall as the lower courtyard of the Changsheng Temple.
Yuansheng Temple is the last temple built in Yangzhou City. It is located at No. 146 at the north end of Genzi Street. It faces east and west. There are eight-character walls on both sides of the main entrance.
There are a total of 4 entrances to the temple: the first entrance is the Shanmen Hall, which is a building with 5 rooms at the top and bottom. It has three doors. There is a "Yuansheng Temple" stone inlaid above the main door. Opposite the original door there is a screen wall. There is a pair of stone lions in front of the door; the second entrance is the Mahavira Hall, with 3 wing rooms on each side in front of the hall; the third entrance is the Sutra Collection Building, with 4 rooms at the top and bottom, with aisles on both sides, and 2 wing rooms on each side in front of the building. room; the fourth entrance is a three-corner wall room, with a back door with an aisle on each side of the back of the hall.
There are 90 houses in the whole temple. According to old residents nearby, there used to be a back door at the southeast corner of Yuansheng Temple in the old days, which led directly to the Xie Zongmen in Dash Lane.
Yuansheng Temple has a history of nearly a hundred years. Although it has gone through many vicissitudes, has been repeatedly occupied, and its facilities have been damaged. However, except for the screen wall and stone lions in front of the door and the Yuansheng Pavilion, which have been demolished, other buildings are still basically preserved. It is a temple with the characteristics of the Republic of Yangzhou. A temple in period architectural style.
