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Huize Xituzhu Temple
Qujing, Yunnan, China
At No. 421 Zhongping Road in Huize, the orange-tiled roofs of the Xituzhu Temple curve upward against the Yunnan sky. Built during the Ming Dynasty or earlier, this timber and stone sanctuary began as a home for the memory of Meng Yan. In 225 CE, the Shu Han statesman Zhuge Liang recruited Meng Yan, a local leader who subsequently led ten thousand tribesmen on northern military campaigns. Meng Yan earned the title of Assistant Han General, and his descendants built this ancestral hall to preserve his legacy.
Over the centuries, the temple evolved into a sacred space for the Yi people, dedicated to the deity Maha Kala, the Great Black Heaven God. Inside the courtyard, a mature golden osmanthus tree fills the air with a sweet, heavy scent, standing near ancient cypress trees and a quiet central pool. The architecture features traditional post-and-lintel timber framing and carved wooden windows that filter the mountain light.
The temple walls hold physical records of local life. Visitors encounter the Abacus Wall, where hundreds of dark-brown wooden abacus beads rest in silent rows. Nearby, the Bamboo Ware Wall displays nested back-baskets and utensils woven by local hands. These everyday objects share space with calligraphic scrolls, low wooden tables, and the quiet strings of a guqin.
In the early twentieth century, the temple became a sanctuary for political resistance. Following the 1927 establishment of the first communist branch in northeastern Yunnan, organizers Jiang Kaibang, Liu Wenming, and Dai Deming used these rooms for clandestine meetings. They coordinated local resistance under the cover of the temple's daily rhythms.
Today, the site serves as the permanent headquarters of the Huize County Yi Studies Association, established on January 22, 2022. The provincial government recognized its historical value as a protected revolutionary site in March 2012. Visitors now sit at low wooden stools in the temple's tea salon, drinking tea where ancient soldiers, revolutionary conspirators, and Yi scholars left their marks on the quiet stone floors.