The unique chrysanthemum caisson of the Guandi Temple in Jiezhou

Guandi worship is a unique cultural aspect of Chinese folk belief. This real-life character from the Three Kingdoms era, known for his loyalty and valor as well as his wisdom and martial prowess, has been consecrated by emperors over the ages as a great emperor. He is revered alongside Confucius as one of the two saints of literature and martial arts, and is also honored as the god of wealth. He is a deity worshipped without controversy by all three teachings of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Wherever there are Chinese people, there is almost certainly a Guandi temple. Guan Yu's hometown is Yuncheng in Jiezhou, hence the Guandi Temple in Jiezhou is considered the ancestral temple. It was first built during the Sui dynasty, and its main structures have been repaired, expanded, and rebuilt multiple times during the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The temple's architecture is of a very high rank, with wood carvings and stone sculptures, the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, and dragons soaring powerfully and majestically. The most beautiful sights are the two caissons in the temple. One is the octagonal wooden caisson above the Imperial Book Tower, topped with a Bagua pattern (Image 2); the other is the unique chrysanthemum caisson on the roof of the Spring and Autumn Pavilion (Image 1), which houses a statue said to be the most resembling the true likeness of Lord Guan. A caisson, in modern terms, is a decorative ceiling and a symbol of splendor in ancient architecture. The ancients believed it symbolized a 'passage from the human world to heaven', embodying the concept of 'the unity of heaven and man, and the coexistence of heaven, earth, and humanity'. The more prestigious the ancient building, the more likely it is to have a caisson. Every time one looks up at the caisson for a long time, it's like looking through a kaleidoscope in childhood, feeling dizzy as it spins 360 degrees, extending into the infinite unknown mystery. The caisson inside the Guandi Temple is not the common upward bulging well shape, but an inverted floral column made of more than 200 pieces of wood interlaced in a mortise and tenon structure, resembling a blooming chrysanthemum hanging upside down above the beams. The petals stretch out, blooming to their fullest, extremely beautiful. It is said that there used to be a mechanism to rotate the petals, but for preservation, it is now immovable. This is the only place in the country where such a feature exists, very rare.