Fire breaks out at 1500-year-old Yongqing Temple in Jiangsu

A fire broke out at the reconstructed historical temple, Yongqing Temple, in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu on Wednesday. 

The incident occurred at 11.24 am.

The three-story wooden Wenchang Pavilion within the temple caught ablaze, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the air. 

After the fire, only the concrete frame of the pavilion remained. No one was injured or killed in the incident, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

​With a history of 1500 years, the temple was built in 536 in the Southern Liang dynasty on Fenghuang Mountain. It was also referred to as one of the "four hundred eighty splendid temples" of the Southern Dynasties in the poem composed by the famous Tang Dynasty poet Du Mu. 

Wenchang Pavilion in the temple was the hermitage of Shi Naian at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, where he wrote Water Margin, which is considered one of the four masterpieces of Chinese literature. 

​However, the current pavilion was reconstructed in 1993, after the original building was demolished and the monks were dismissed in 1958.

Source - The Standard HK