 This temple is located at the fountainhead of the Jinshui River twenty – five kilometers southwest of the city of Taiyuan. The weather here is warm in winter and cool in summer, and the land is beautiful. Ancient buildings, blue spring water, and superb clay sculpture have been attractions to tourists for centuries.
Legend says that the Memorial Temple of Jin was first built in the twelfth century B.C. The first attraction here is the “Immortal Spring,” so named because the spring water has flowed steadily for centuries. If you walk along the spring and down the stone steps, you will find a big pool of crystal – clear water that gushes out from the walls. Bypassing the pool, you will come to the uniquely constructed “Flying Bridge over the Fish Pond Spring” in front of the Hall of Holy Mother (Shengmudian). This double wooden bridge in the shape of a cross is supported by thirty - four stone posts embedded in the spring. Crossing the bridge you come to the Hall of Holy Mother, the center of the temple. The Holy Mother was regarded as the noble model of motherhood in feudal Chinese society. Flanking the sculpture of Holy Mother is an array of forty-two young maidens, each with distinct expression and posture. They are perfect examples of the skill of the sculptors of the Song Dynasty. Not far from the hall is a grove of ancient cypress trees, one of which is said to have been planted during the Western Zhou Dynasty, making it more than two thousand years old.
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