Zhouwang Temple

Zhouwang Temple, also known as Heroic Temple or Zhouxiaohou Temple, is located in Dumiao Lane in Yicheng Town, Yixing, Jiangsu, China. It is one of the local-level units of cultural relics’ protection of Jiangsu Province. It was established in West Jin Dynasty for Zhou Chu, a general of the time. A story goes that Zhou Chu used to be a bully when he was young. People were afraid of him and considered him as one of the three scourges in Yixing. The two other scourges were the ferocious tiger in Tongguan Mountain in the southwest of Yixing, and the evil flood dragon under Chang Bridge. Yet, Zhou Chu didn’t know that he was a scourge in people’s mind.

One day some one persuaded him to get rid of the three scourges. Zhou Chu was fairly brave and strong. He killed the tiger and fought against the flood dragon for three days. People thought he was dead and celebrated for getting rid of the three scourges. However, Zhou Chu finally killed the dragon and went back to the village to ask about the third scourge. He was astounded to learn that he was the third scourge and people were celebrating for his death. Then he suddenly felt ashamed of his past conduct and made up his mind to mend his ways and turn over a new leaf. He took lessons from a famous scholar and eventually become a great general who sacrificed his life to defend the country. He was later granted Pingxi General and Qingliuting Marquis by the emperor.

Zhouwang Temple now retains three rows of buildings. The first row was rebuilt in 1994. The second row has a hall. In the middle of the hall stands the statue of Zhou Chu. On two walls of the hall, there are two paintings which reveal how Zhou Chu killed the two scourges. There are many steles with inscriptions on either side of the hall. The inscription written by Wang Xizhi is the most famous.