The Cao'e Temple (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

:曹娥庙) was built to honor Cao E, a young girl who was drowned when she tried to save her father in an act of filial piety. The temple was built for the first time in the year 151, and has been relocated, rebuild, restored and expanded several times. The last time this temple was rebuilt was in 1929 after a huge fire, the restoration lasted until 1936.

Location and description

The Cao'e Temple is situated in the Shangyu District, Shaoxing,

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

Province, China. The temple faces to the east and overlooks the

Cao'e River The Cao'e River () is one of the largest rivers in Zhejiang Province of East China, named after Cao E, a Han dynasty girl venerated for her filial piety. Its main source is in Pan'an County in the Dapan Mountains, and the river empties into the Ha ...

, with on the rear side of the temple a view of the Phoenix mountain. The temple is built on an area of 6000 square meters, the temple itself measures 3840 square meters. Inside the temple, several wall paintings have been created describing the story of Cao E. The temple has been built with many

stone carving Stone carving is an activity where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by the controlled removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, stone work has survived which was created during our prehistory or past time. Work carried ...

and

wood carving Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation ...

. In 1093 Emperor

Song Zhezong Emperor Zhezong of Song (4 January 1077 – 23 February 1100), personal name Zhao Xu, was the seventh emperor of the Song dynasty of China. His original personal name was Zhao Yong but he changed it to "Zhao Xu" after his coronation. He reig ...

had a main hall built in the temple. There are more than 30 steles donated by famous people and exhibited in the temple in honor of Cao E, some of these famous people are: Mi Fu,

Tang Yin Tang Yin (; 1470–1524), courtesy name Bohu (), was a Chinese painter, calligrapher, and poet of the Ming dynasty period. Even though he was born during the Ming dynasty, many of his paintings, especially those of people, were illustrated with el ...

Zhu Yunming Zhu Yunming (; 1461–1527) was a Chinese calligrapher, poet, writer, and scholar-official of the Ming dynasty, known as one of the "Four Talents of Wu" (Suzhou). Most admired for his accomplishment in calligraphy, he is also a popular cultural ...

, Wen Zhengming,

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

Cultural

The Cao'e Temple has a rich cultural heritage of nearly 2,000 years and has a high artistic taste, and is renowned at home and abroad for its carvings, murals, couplets and calligraphy. Since 1989, the Cao'e Temple has been included in the list of protected national and cultural relics. Every year from May 15–22, there is a festival in the Cao'e Temple, with a Cao E memorial service at the temple on May 22. The temple is called the first temple of

Jiangnan Jiangnan or Jiang Nan (; formerly romanized Kiang-nan, literally "South of the River" meaning "South of the Yangtze") is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, incl ...

Photo Gallery

References and notes

Website * * (zh
Cao E temple
on the site of Baidu Baike {{coord missing, Zhejiang Temples in China Buildings and structures completed in 1929 Buildings and structures in Shaoxing