Jiutian Holy Mother Temple stands on a mound west of Donghe Village, Beishe Township, 10 kilometers west of Pingshun County seat. According to a stele recording renovations in the 2nd year of the Yuantong reign of the Yuan Dynasty (1334), the temple was first built in the Sui Dynasty. The Holy Mother Hall was reconstructed in the early Northern Song Dynasty and renovated again in 1101, the 1st year of the Jianzhongjingguo reign. The largest-scale overhaul in its history was carried out in 1632 during the Chongzhen reign of the Ming Dynasty. Multiple repairs were also conducted in the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China period.

Facing south, the temple features a single courtyard, shorter from north to south and wider from east to west. The complex consists of a gate and opera tower at the front, an offering pavilion in the middle, the Holy Mother Hall at the northern end, and side halls on both flanks.

The east and west courtyards preserve various buildings including King Li Jing Hall, Three Deities Hall, Yama Hall, Ten Generals Hall, Guan Gong Hall, Fertility Hall and Dressing Tower. The halls are laid out in a well-proportioned arrangement with diverse roof styles. Steep cliffs and crisscrossing gullies surround the temple on the south, north and west, while the east side connects to a farm yard.

In front of the gate and opera tower lies a rectangular platform. Beneath it are three bluestone arched caves arranged facing south. A flight of 67 bluestone steps built at a 45-degree incline leads straight up to the main gate. The gate passage is constructed with blue brick arches, topped with a projecting eaves structure covered with cylindrical and flat tiles, which serves both as decorative ornament and shelter from sun and rain.

The gateway runs through the central bay on the ground floor of the opera tower, whose two side bays are enclosed rooms. The opera tower is three bays wide and supported by four sets of rafters, with a single-eave hip-and-gable roof. Equipped with round columns, square architraves and exquisite bracket sets, it dates back to the Jianzhongjingguo reign of the Northern Song Dynasty.

The offering pavilion sits between the Holy Mother Hall and the opera tower. Built on a high stone platform enclosed with bluestone, it has open sides on the east, west and south with stone steps leading up. Spanning three bays in width and five in depth, it adopts a full hipped roof. The interior follows an open beam design with all structural components fully exposed. Its stone columns and round beams are hewn from raw timber, retaining typical architectural features of the Yuan Dynasty. The roof is paved with ordinary tiles and decorated with grey ridge ornaments and mythical beasts. Such full hipped roof structures are unique in the Shangdang area.

Behind the offering pavilion stands the Holy Mother Hall, also erected on a high platform. Nearly square in plane, it is three bays wide and three bays deep, with a single-eave nine-ridge roof. Its column bases feature large carved lotus petal patterns. The eaves columns show obvious outward tilting and rising curves. Massive timber is used for beams and bracket sets, supported by bamboo-shaped genuine cantilevers. The hall is fitted with five-panel leaf-patterned lattice doors and vertical lattice windows, presenting a simple, vigorous and archaic style. The roof is adorned with glazed ridge ornaments and trimmed with glazed tiles, with a gentle roof slope and far-reaching upturned eaves resembling spreading wings. Despite renovations across the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, it still largely retains the architectural style of the Song Dynasty.

The Dressing Tower in the east courtyard faces west. Three bays wide and three bays deep, this two-storey building has four layers of projecting eaves and a wooden balustrade around its upper open gallery. Lattice doors and windows are installed on all sides, with a main door in the central bay and vertical lattice windows on the side bays. Richly painted beams and carved rafters make the tower delicate and elegant. Its double-eave hip-and-gable roof looks magnificent and striking, representing a typical pavilion architecture of the Ming Dynasty. Most other halls are three bays wide with gable roofs, dating from the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.

More than 20 stone steles recording renovations from the Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing dynasties and the Republic of China are preserved inside the temple, mostly erected in the offering pavilion. The inscriptions chronicle the construction, expansion and restoration of the temple.

This site boasts remarkable historical value. First, it gathers well-preserved architectures of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties within one compound, a rare treasure among extant ancient buildings in China. Second, the renovation stele of 1101 records that the opera tower was built alongside the restoration of the Holy Mother Hall in the Northern Song Dynasty. It proves that opera and dance arts had reached a fairly developed stage back then, and were closely integrated with religious culture. Stone inscriptions documenting ancient opera stages are extremely rare in Shanxi Province and across the country; apart from the record of a Song-dynasty opera stage at Guan Gong Temple in Qincheng County, this temple is another precious example. Third, an offering pavilion with a full hipped roof is also uncommon, embodying extraordinary architectural design.

As one of the Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected in Shanxi Province, Jiutian Holy Mother Temple is of great value for cultural preservation and academic research