Martial temples (), also translated as military temples or warrior temples, are Chinese temples dedicated to worshiping outstanding military leaders and strategists (excluding kings and emperors). They were often built by the governments as the counterpart of civil temples (''wenmiao'') or

Temple of Confucius A temple of Confucius or Confucian temple is a temple for the veneration of Confucius and the sages and philosophers of Confucianism in Chinese folk religion and other East Asian religions. They were formerly the site of the administration of t ...

. Temples that worshiped both civil and military gods are called

Wenwu temple A Wen Wu temple or Wenwu temple () is a dual temple in China venerating the two patron gods of civil and martial affairs in the same temple complex. In southern China the civil god or Wéndì () is Wenchang (), while in the north it is Confucius ...

(''wenwumiao''). Martial temples originated from China in 731 AD, initially for worshiping 11 strategists, among whom

Jiang Ziya Jiang Ziya ( century BC – century BC), also known by several other names, was a Chinese noble who helped kings Wen and Wu of Zhou overthrow the Shang in ancient China. Following their victory at Muye, he continued to serve ...

was the dominant figure. The rest of the 10 strategists with comparatively inferior status were called ''Shizhe'' (十哲), which means "Ten Wise Men", among whom

Zhang Liang Zhang Liang is the romanization of common names like 張良, 張亮 and 張梁. 張良 * Zhang Liang (Western Han) (died 189 BC), early Han dynasty strategist ** Zhang Liang, an animation character from the animated TV series ''The Legend of Qin'' ...

had the highest status, only below

. It was supposed to be worshipped in spring and autumn, and the formality would be similar to the worshiping of the

. The people being worshipped in the temple however changed in subsequent periods of history. In the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

Guan Yu Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...

(as Guandi or Wudi, the God of War) became the major god in the martial temples. Offerings may be made to Guandi on the 15th day or the second month and the 13th day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. After the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

established in 1912, the government promoted the joint worshiping of

and

Yue Fei Yue Fei ( zh, t=岳飛; March 24, 1103 – January 28, 1142), courtesy name Pengju (), was a Chinese military general who lived during the Song dynasty, Southern Song dynasty and a national hero of China, known for leading Southern Song force ...

, the latter was considered a

national hero The title of Hero is presented by various governments in recognition of acts of self-sacrifice to the state, and great achievements in combat or labor. It is originally a Soviet-type honor, and is continued by several nations including Belarus, Ru ...

in defending

Southern Song The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

dynasty from the invasion of

Jurchen Jin Jurchen may refer to: * Jurchen people, Tungusic people who inhabited the region of Manchuria until the 17th century ** Haixi Jurchens, a grouping of the Jurchens as identified by the Chinese of the Ming Dynasty ** Jianzhou Jurchens, a grouping of ...

. 24 other strategists in history were also worshiped alongside Guan Yu and Yue Fei, but with lower status. After the People's Republic of China established in 1949, the communist government no longer officially promoted martial temples.

References

*《

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

· 志第五禮樂五》 *《 History of Song· 志第五十八禮八》 Chinese culture Confucian temples {{religion-stub Miao shrines

See also

References