Dajue Temple · Wanshou Pagoda

Dajue Temple stands on North Street in downtown Yanjin County. It was first built during the Tianbao reign of the Tang Dynasty (724–755). A Buddhist administrative bureau was set up here in the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty, and the temple underwent a major renovation in 1426 (the 6th year of the Xuantong reign) under the monk Dingyuan.

The temple features a three-bay main gate and a three-bay secondary gate. Its principal hall is the Mahavira Hall, a three-bay structure enshrining Sakyamuni, the Buddha. To the right of the Mahavira Hall stands a stone stele inscribed with Record of the Eternal Lamp, handwritten by Zhao Mengfu, a distinguished calligrapher of the Yuan Dynasty.

Flanking the main hall are two side halls: the Hall of Ksitigarbha on the right and the Hall of Ksitigarbha’s Dharma Protectors on the left. Behind the main hall lies the Water-Land Ritual Hall, which was renamed the Grand Earth Pavilion during the Wanli reign. Each of these three halls spans three bays. Today, only the Mahavira Hall survives.

Wanshou Pagoda sits within the compound of Dajue Temple. Its original construction dates back to the Tianbao reign of the Tang Dynasty, and reconstruction began in the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty. Builders completed two storeys before work halted due to insufficient funds. Subsequent construction proceeded intermittently, and the pagoda was finally topped out in the 13th year of the Wanli reign, with a bronze vase (pagoda finial) weighing over 500 kilograms cast and installed at its summit.

The reconstruction spanned the reigns of three emperors and fifteen county magistrates, taking thirty-six years in total. The pagoda is listed as a Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Unit of Henan Province.