Entity
Eryuan City God Temple
Dali, Yunnan, China
Water and fire shaped the destiny of the Eryuan City God Temple, historically known as the Langqiong City God Temple. Originally, Ming dynasty builders erected this Daoist sanctuary in a low-lying basin of the county seat. When severe floodwaters inundated the valley, the local community physically carried their deity and rebuilt the temple high on the forested slope of the back hill in Cibihu Town. This dramatic escape from the waves inspired a famous poetic duel. The Langqiong scholar Wang Song traded sharp, witty couplets with rival scholars from neighboring Dengchuan, immortalizing the relocation in local folklore.
The temple stands on Wenquan Street within the Yuhu Community of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan. It sits directly behind the Eryuan Confucian Temple, rising along the natural mountain slope. The air here carries the faint, sulfurous warmth of the town's natural hot springs. Visitors climbing the hillside encounter classic regional architecture: cool blue-tiled roofs, sturdy red columns, carved beams, painted rafters, and flying eaves that point toward the sky.
The hillside safety proved temporary. In 1856, during the regional Du Wenxiu Rebellion, violence swept through the county, leaving the temple damaged. Local hands painstakingly restored the sanctuary in the years that followed, preserving its sacred layout.
On October 23, 2013, the government designated the complex as a fifth-batch Dali Prefecture-level Cultural Relic Protection Unit, officially preserving it under the joint title of "Eryuan Confucian Temple (including City God Temple)." During the annual City God Assembly, the community gathers on these slopes, continuing a centuries-old Daoist tradition of festival and faith.