Main Hall of Fan Kuai Temple

Period: Yuan Dynasty Address: Beizhuying Village, Qinghua Town, 3 kilometres south of Bo'ai County seat

Facing south, the Main Hall of Fan Kuai Temple is a gable-roof building constructed in the Yuan Dynasty. It spans three bays (8.70 metres) in width and three bays (8.60 metres) in depth. The entire building stands on a 1-metre-high stone platform with a rugged and simple style. A moon terrace with six stone steps is built in front of the hall.

The hall is equipped with a front veranda. The front eaves columns are small octagonal stone columns with tapered column tops, featuring column inclination and upward camber. The column bases are inverted lotus plinths carved with floral patterns. Under the eaves are four-interlayer bracket sets with single downward cantilevers, turning inward into five-interlayer irregular brackets. On the front eaves, two inter-column brackets are installed in the central bay and one in each side bay. On the rear eaves, only one inter-column bracket is set in the central bay, with none in the side bays.

The bottom block of the inter-column bracket is ribbed melon-shaped. Inside the wall lie sequentially the horizontal arch, upper horizontal arch, column head purlin and central rafter purlin. The timber width is 8 centimetres. The thin and flat cantilever tip is 3 centimetres thick and shaped like a curved qin surface. The rear end of the cantilever extends upward, fitted with intersecting blocks and cloud-scroll arches. The tail of the bracket arm stretches together with a slanting bracket to the single arch set under the main eaves purlin, and the lower part of the slanting bracket is carved into cloud scrolls.

The rear part of the column-head bracket projects a single upward arm, and the tail of the bracket arm bears the beam head; the rest of the structure is consistent with the front eaves. A horizontal tie beam is erected between the main eaves columns without an upper flat tie beam above it. Single arch sets are laid on the tie beam: two sets in the central bay and one set in each side bay.

The indoor beam framework adopts rough-hewn beams, including three-rafter beams and four-rafter beams. The front and rear ends of the four-rafter beam rest on the main eaves columns and rear eaves columns respectively. Bracket sets on short posts support the tie beam, above which struts and short posts are arranged. The short posts carry small brackets to hold up the ridge purlin, reinforced by tie blocks on both sides. Between the indoor purlins and ceiling beams are transverse bracket sets and tie beams.

The roof is covered with grey cylindrical tiles, decorated with five ridges and six mythical beast ornaments. Tile ends and gable tiles are carved with tiger heads, coiled dragons, as well as characters symbolizing blessing, official rank and longevity. The ceiling uses wooden boarding. Since all beam heads face north, local people call it the "Inverted Beam Temple".

Traces of coloured paintings remain on the bracket sets, horizontal tie beams and inner walls. More than ten murals featuring landscapes, flowers, figures and animals under the eaves basically retain the artistic features of the Song and Yuan dynasties.

The Main Hall of Fan Kuai Temple is a typical Yuan Dynasty building. Its small octagonal stone columns, brackets, bracket arms, indoor beam frames and struts all fully embody the architectural characteristics of the Yuan Dynasty. As one of the relatively early ancient buildings in Henan Province, it bears great significance for the research on the history of Chinese architecture.

On September 25, 2000, the People's Government of Henan Province designated it as one of the Third Batch of Provincial Key Cultural Relic Protection Units