Jin Shrines, Fengsheng Monastery, Jingqingmen (Fengshengsi Shanmen)  晉祠景清門 (奉聖寺山門)

Building Information

The Jin Shrines 晉祠 complex’s Jingqingmen 景清門, also know as Fengshensi Shamen 奉聖寺山門, is five bays wide and four rafters deep. Currently, the central three bays of the front and back facades are open, and tertiary bays and the gable ends are walled. Additionally, there is a central wall located under the roof ridge which divides the hall in half longitudinally. A single set of stairs leads from the ground to the top of the elevated platform roughly matching the width of the central bay. Above the pillars, the building has an arrangement of five puzuo 鋪作 bracket sets which are in “filled heart” style (jixinzao 計心造). These bracket sets include both brackets above the columns as well as a single intercolumnar bracket set in each bay, all of which are the same style. The bracket sets appear to be a third of the height of the columns. The roof is a ceramic tile hip-gable roof (xieshan 歇山). The platform and the bottom third of each bay are gray in color and show the brickwork. The area between the bracket sets and the gray brick is painted vermilion. The bracket arms and the eaves rafters are reddish-brown in color. The roof tile is glazed green-blue (qing 青) in color. The roof ridges are heavily decorated with blue/green dragon (qinglong 青龍) motifs. The central ridge is especially decorated with a model que 闕 tower in the center. The sides of the central roof ridge bear larger protruding dragons forms which are oriented so the dragon’s mouth is parallel to the roof ridge and its tail protruding vertically in the manner of chiwei 鴟尾 roof finials. Jingqingmen was moved to its current location in the 1980s.

The previous location of Jingqingmen was on the south bank of the Earl of Zhi Canal with bays open towards the Tower of the Beautiful Ying Island 晉祠勝瀛樓. At the previous site Jingqingmen was renovated in the 42nd year of the Jiajing 嘉靖 Ming dynasty reign period, about 1563. Additionally, at the former site was where Wu Xiaolian 武孝廉 composed his poem Sanjinmingquan 三晉名泉. 1