Temple of the Ten Directions (Luquan, Hebei)

The Temple of the Ten Directions ( 十方院 Shifang Yuan ) lies to the south of the Happiness Bridge in Luquan County, Hebei Province. Luquan County was originally named Huolu County. According to the County Annals, "the Golden Palace Temple ( 金闕宮 Jinque Gong ) or Temple of the Ten Directions lies outside the west gate……In the 7th year of the Kangxi Era (1668), county mayor Tang Yi and Daoist priests Tang Guoxiu and Zhang Zhigui built the temple." However, archeologists found recently that the decorative roof tiles on the hind wall of Hall of Original Years ( 元辰殿 Yuanchen Dian ) in the temple was of the form and manufacture of the Yuan Dynasty. Thus, the temple may have first been built in the Yuan Dynasty.

The temple's mountain gate is a triple-door archway with yellow glaze tiles on the roof. Entering the courtyard, one faces the Hall of the Numinous Official ( 靈官殿 Lingguan Dian ). Going deeper, one sees the Hall of the Jade Emperor ( 玉皇殿 Yuhuang Dian ) with a five-ridged mountain-sloping roof and cloisters around. Further back is the Hall of Three Ancestors ( 三祖殿 Sanzu Dian ) with an arch-bridge-style roof. Farthest is the Hall of the Pristine Ones ( 三清殿 Sanqing Dian ). The above-mentioned constructions are along the central axis. Along the eastern axis lie the Hall of the King of Medicine and the Hall ( 藥王殿 Yaowang Dian ) of Compassionate Navigation ( 慈航殿 Cihang Dian ). Along the west axis lie the Hall of the God of Fortune ( 財神殿 Caishen Dian ), the Hall of the City God ( 城隍殿 Chenghuang Dian ) and the Hall of Original Years. The whole courtyard is precisely constructed in magnificent size and delicate order.

Originally, beset in the front wall of the Hall of the King of Medicine was a tablet recording the rebuilding of the temple after an earthquake in the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty. Now the tablet is preserved in the government's department of cultural relics.

In spring of 1996, the Luquan city government decided to reopen the Temple of the Ten Directions as Daoist activity site in the charge of the Daoist Association. Now it is a famous Daoist temple in Hebei Province. 十方院道觀（河北鹿泉市）