Kuixing Tower in Chengde

　　

　　

Located in the Chengde City of Hebei Province, the Kuixing Tower is one of the famous Taoist buildings in North China. It was first built in 1828 by Hai Zhong, a magistrate in Chengde, to pray for the cultural prosperity of the place he managed. Kuixing (God of Literature) of Taoism was enshrined at here, so it was called as the Kuixing Tower. In the view of Chinese people, Kuixing can bless students to pass the imperial examinations. So there were buildings of this kind in many places before the 20^th century.

　　

　　The Kuixing Tower in Chengde is the biggest Taoist temple enshrining Kuixing in China at present, and it becomes the largest and the only Taoist temple, and the venue for Taoist activities. Large rituals and temple fairs are held here regularly, and people in the surrounding areas come here to worship the god one after another on such occasions.

　　

　　The existing Chengde Kuixing Tower covers 66,000 more square meters. The main buildings are built according to the mountain's hypsography. From above to below, the buildings include towers, corridors, halls, pavilions and gardens, showing the distinctive style of Taoist architectures. The magnificent principal building is on the mountaintop, and Kuixing is enshrined in it. A lot of ancient stone inscriptions, woodcarvings and landscape paintings can be found on the corridor at the mountainside. Many Taoist immortals are enshrined in the Rongshi Hall and the Lezhen Hall below the corridor. The downmost building is the Gate Hall, which features a serial of frescos, such as the fresco Zhang Celestial Master, the God who Protects Taoist Doctrine.