World Cultural Heritage: Mt. Qingcheng and Dujiangyan (4)

Mt. Qingcheng is located 15 kilometers to the southwest of Dujiangyan City in Sichuan Province, western China and is on the south side of the Dujiangyan Canal Headwork. It is part of the Qiulai Mountains and was called Mt. Zhangren in ancient times. It has a circumference of about 100 kilometers, with its main peak standing at 2,434 meters above sea level. It is a famous Taoist mountain and a key national scenic spot and also the important birthplace of Chinese Taoism hailed as a "cave paradise," "earthly fairyland" and the "deepest and quietest place under heaven." As early as the second century B.C., the Qing Dynasty had listed Mt. Qingcheng among the 18 mountains for national sacrificing activities. In 143 A.D., Zhang Daoling, the founder of Taoism, founded Taoism on Mt. Qingcheng and settled in the Tianshi Cave the following year. He established 24 parishes. Since Zhang Sheng, Zhang Daoling's great-grand son, built the Tianshi Mansion on Mt. Longhu, every Taoist master must make a pilgrimage to Mt. Qingcheng for ancestor worship.

Mt. Qingcheng is the fifth cave of 10 Taoist caves, owning the most concentrated Taoist palaces and temples in China which were established in the Jin Dynasty and became prosperous in the Tang Dynasty. All the Taoist palaces and temples were established around the Tianshi Cave, including the Jianfu Palace, Shangqing Palace, Zushi Temple, Yuanming Palace, Laojun Temple, Yuqing Palace and Chaoyang Cave. The existing temples of the Tianshi Cave were established in the late Qing Dynasty, preserving grand and refined statues of Zhang Daoling and his 30th generation descendent Zhang Xujing. Three stone carved emperors of the Tang Dynasty are enshrined in the main temple of Sanhuang Hall. Among the existing stone and wood carved inscriptions in the hall, the most famous include the inscriptions written by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and the former and second Chu Shi Biao written by Zhuge Liang and copied by Yue Fei.

There also are some scenic spots such as the San Dao Shi, Xi Xin Chi, Shang Tian Ti and Yi Xian Tian. The Jianfu Palace was established in the 18th Kaiyuan Year of the Tang Dynasty in 730 A.D. and the existing buildings had been reestablished in the Guangxu Year period of the Qing Dynasty in 1888 A.D. It now has a treble-hall, enshrining the Taoist figureheads and deities, and an antithetical couplet of 394 words on the column of the hall and was hailed as the "special scenery in Mt. Qingcheng." The Natural Picture Pavilion is located at the ridge of Mt. Longju and is a ten-horn pavilion with multiple eaves. It was established in Guangxu Year period of the Qing Dynasty between 1875 A.D. and 1909 A.D. These buildings have fully reflected the Taoist idea of pursuing nature. Adopting traditional symmetrical methods and based on topography and landforms, these buildings were cleverly built and the architectural decorations also reflected Taoist pursuit of good fortune, longevity and eternity.