1500 year old, incense or candle the cause of the accident
A massive fire has devastated part of China’s 1,500-year-old Yongqing temple complex in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, destroying the three-story Wenchang Viewing Pavilion. The flames sent thick smoke into the sky, while video footage appearing on Mandarin social media showed the wooden structure turning to ash.
Regarding the incident which occurred on November 12, the authorities confirmed that there were no victims and that the firefighters contained the fire without spreading it to the surrounding wooded areas, assuming the probable cause, based on initial reconstructions, to be the improper use of incense or candles by a visitor. Although Yongqing Temple dates back around 1,500 years, its current buildings are only modern reconstructions: the original one was founded in the Liang Dynasty (around 536 AD), but fell into disrepair. Reconstruction began in the early 1990s, based on historical documents. Specifically, the Wenchang Pavilion, which burned down, was built in 2008-2009 and, according to the authorities, did not house any cultural relics.
The Wenchang Pavilion was a multi-storey wooden building, designed in a traditional style with elegant cornices: while modern, the architecture imitated classical Buddhist architecture, using wooden structures under tiled roofs, reflecting the tradition of the Jiangnan region.
Yongqing Temple stands at the foot of Fenghuang Mountain and was historically counted among the “480 Temples of the Southern Dynasties”, a group celebrated in classical poetry. The site also held literary significance in earlier times: it was associated with Shi Nai’an, the famous author of “Water Margin,” who is said to have stayed in the Wenchang Pavilion.
