Dai Temple (Daigong / Dongyue Temple)

The Dai Temple at the foot of Mount Tai in Tai'an city is the principal temple dedicated to the mountain deity — the god of Mount Tai (Dongyue Dadi), traditionally believed to preside over life and death and to receive the petitions of the dead. The temple complex covers 96,000 square metres and follows the layout of an imperial palace, reflecting the mountain's status as a site of state ritual.

The main Tiankoang Palace, built in 1009 CE, is one of the most important surviving buildings in China — its scale, age, and the continuous Song Dynasty mural that covers three interior walls place it in the first rank of Chinese architectural heritage. The mural alone justifies the visit: a panoramic procession of several hundred figures painted between 1009 and 1012 CE, it is one of the longest figurative mural sequences to survive from medieval China. Entry is included in the general Mount Tai ticket (¥127).

things to do sight
A story
The Dai Temple's main hall — the Tiankoang Palace — was built in 1009 CE and ranks among the three greatest surviving wooden structures of pre-modern China, alongside the Forbidden City's Taihe Dian and the Confucius Temple's Dacheng Dian in Qufu. The hall measures 48 metres by 19 metres and contains a continuous Song Dynasty mural painting covering three walls, depicting the deity of Mount Tai making an imperial progress — a 62-metre panorama of gods, generals, attendants, and ritual that is one of the largest surviving pre-Ming murals in China.