King Guangren's Temple, also known as Five Dragons Temple, is located in Ruicheng's Longquan village, North China's Shanxi province.

With a history of over 1,280 years, King Guangren's Temple is known as the most ancient Taoist building existing in China to date and one of China's four timber buildings built in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). It was listed as a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level in 2001 by the State Council.

King Guangren's Temple [Photo/Xinhua]

However, this ancient temple has been out of repair for many years. As a result, the main hall's roof was seriously damaged and most of its structural components decayed. Even the walls were cracking.

In echoing such condition, the local heritage administration started the reconstruction of the temple's load-carrying structures from June 2013, with the support of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

The reconstruction, which has lasted one and a half years, was carried out on the principle "repair the old as old", according to Jing Hongbo, vice-head of the Ruicheng administration of cultural heritage. Actually, the temple went through a renovation in 1956, which has changed slightly the main hall's style in the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, for lack of historical records, the latest reconstruction has faced difficulty in recovering the temple’s old look thoroughly.

To date, a total of 1.3 million yuan ($209,525) was cost in the reconstruction of the temple's has main hall, a stage that built in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and the bounding walls. The temple now resumes its former architectural style featuring simple and sublime.

The local authority plans to reconstruct the temple's surrounding environment in the next stage, said Jing.

Edited by Michael Thai