Mount Beiwudang

North Wudang Mountain, also known as Zhenwu mountain, is located in the middle of Luliang Mountain range and the northeast of North Wudang town, Fangshan County, Shanxi Province. It is composed of 72 peaks, 36 rocks and 24 streams. The total planning area of the scenic area is 80 square kilometers, and the developed and open scenic area is about 20 square kilometers. The main peak, Xianglu peak, is 2280 meters above sea level, 753 meters higher than Mount Tai (1545 meters above sea level), the top of the five mountains, and 668 meters higher than Wudang (1612 meters above sea level).

Mount Beiwudang

North Wudang Mountain, also known as Zhenwu mountain and Longwang mountain in ancient times, is located in Fangshan County, Lvliang City, Shanxi Province. It is in the middle of Lvliang mountain range, 32 kilometers from Shiqu in the South and 216 kilometers from Taiyuan in the northeast. The North Wudang Mountain scenic spot is composed of 72 peaks, 36 cliffs and 24 streams. The main peak is Xianglu peak, with an altitude of 2254 meters and a total area of about 80 square kilometers.

North Wudang Mountain is a combination of "majestic, strange, dangerous and beautiful". It is a bright pearl of Luliang Mountain and known as "the first famous mountain in the three Jin Dynasties". It is one of the sacred places of Taoism in North China.

North Wudang Mountain is particularly remarkable for its various Exotic Pines and lifelike rocks. The mountain is composed of granite. After weathering and erosion for a long time, the rock is exposed today. The main peak is protruding, towering and straight. There are almost cliffs all around. The natural landscape is magnificent and beautiful. There are many murals and stone carvings in the temple. In 2016, it was promoted to national AAAA scenic spot, and the peak period of tourism is from May to October every year.

In February 2020, novel coronavirus pneumonia was widely opened to medical practitioners. The area was open to health care professionals from December 31, 2020 to December 31, 2020.

Development history

According to the existing inscriptions on the northern Wudang Mountain, there were Taoist activities as early as the Tang and Song dynasties. The name of the mountain was originally Longwang mountain. In the 25th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1597 AD), a tablet with the common name of "notes on the construction of Xuantian god palace in Longwang mountain" called this mountain "the great view of the north". Zhongyi peak is isolated and precipitous. There is a couplet in Xuandi temple on it. The beginning and end of zhaochuang have nothing to do with it. The Xuandi temple should be the Zhenwu temple, and the so-called "zhaochuang's beginning and end have nothing to tell" indicates that the Zhenwu temple in northern Wudang Mountain may also have been founded in the Yongle period of emperor Chengzu of Ming Dynasty. In the 25th year of Wanli, the so-called "new Xuantian god palace" was actually an extension of the original Xuantian temple into a larger palace. Why expand? The inscription said: "emperor Cheng Zuwen built a palace in Wudang Mountain and worshipped the emperor. He believed Emperor Xuan was the God of the North Pole." The northern Wudang Mountain "since its opening up, it seems that once the spirit of yingshuang has been established, there are tens of thousands of people who show it clearly, who are willing to give without false solicitation, and who are willing to do things without waiting for persuasion.". When it comes to the situation of building temples on the mountain at that time, the inscriptions also describe it as follows: "the visitors to the building list the stars, all of them are magnificent and magnificent. Although they can't make contact with the square track on the South roof, that is to say, the scale is magnificent and the system is broad enough to be divine. But it's no accident that they will look forward to it."

What is really worth our attention here is that the writer of this monument not only directly linked the construction of Xuantian palace in northern Wudang Mountain at that time with the belief of emperor Xuandi as the God of the north pole, but also called Wudang Mountain in Hubei as the "South Summit". In the edition of Shanxi Tongzhi mountains and rivers volume published in 1734 A.D., we found that the people in the northwest area at that time generally called the northern Wudang Mountain "Beiding". It turns out that the main peak of Wudang Mountain in Hubei and North Wudang Mountain in Shanxi is called "Jinding". Therefore, "Nanding" and "Beiding" became the most concise common names of Wudang Mountains in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The northern Wudang stone square and Xuantian stone square still preserved in Ming and Qing Dynasties on the northern Wudang Mountain, as well as the Taihe Palace (commonly known as Zhenwu Palace) at the foot of Caojiagou, which is basically complete and rebuilt during the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty, can not only be used as the physical coordinates for us to investigate the history of the northern Wudang Mountain, but also confirm that the northern Wudang Mountain in Shanxi is the same as Wushan mountain in Hubei Province Doubts are also historical Taoist mountains worthy of the name.

The northern Wudang Mountain in Shanxi is not only famous in history, but also has unique natural scenery. Mr. Wu Guanzhong, a famous Chinese painter, once went to the North Wudang Mountain twice. He thought that the small sacred granite stones and rare pines on the North Wudang Mountain should belong to the Huangshan people, regardless of their natural shape or distribution. Lu Yunting, a professor of Beijing Normal University, a contemporary tourism geographer in China, thinks that the northern Wudang Mountain has the advantages of Taishan Mountain, Huangshan Mountain, Huashan Mountain, Emei Mountain and Qingcheng Mountain. There is a peak just south of Jinding of North Wudang Mountain. Two huge stones are formed on the top of the peak. In the west, it looks like a giant turtle. In the East, it looks like a snake. When the clouds float on the mountain top, this pair of natural snakes and tortoises are even more vivid. People who come to the North Wudang Mountain for tourism all look at them and marvel at them, which undoubtedly corresponds to the Taoist allusion that "the seven stars in the north of heaven look like turtles and snakes, that is, Xuanwu". Many experts believe that the "turtle snake stone" on the northern Wudang Mountain should be regarded as the first-class treasure among the natural Xiao shaped stones in nearly a thousand famous mountains in China. Mr. Wang Chaowen, a famous aesthete, saw that the peak of "turtle snake stone" on the northern Wudang Mountain was named "water fire peak", which is more in line with the Taoist doctrine and has cultural color.

The origin of mountain name

North Wudang Mountain is also called true Wudang. It is said that Xuanyuan, the prince of jingle, was a sincere monk when he was 14 years old. After 42 years of trials and hardships, he cultivated Zhengguo in Wudang Mountain, Hubei Province, and was honored as the God of the north. This is the God of Taoism, Zhenwu emperor. After being appointed as the God of the north, Emperor Zhenwu decided to look for a mountain in the north as a palace. In order to find this mountain, he traveled to the north for 99 times. When he traveled to the north for the 99th time, one day, he drove Xiangyun to Guandi mountain area in Luliang area and found that there was a mountain between the peaks. Suddenly, his heart brightened and he praised: "what a wonderful mountain and beautiful peak.". However, he felt that the main peak was a little lower, so he held the peak with his fingers and lifted it up slightly. The peak immediately rose by 99 feet, far higher than the surrounding peaks. He happily said, "another Wudang Mountain!" from then on, North Wudang Mountain officially got its name and has been used until now.

Main attractions

The main peak of North Wudang Mountain is almost surrounded by steep cliffs, with only one man-made "ladder" to climb. At the foot of the mountain, after passing Wuli loess and Wuli sand road, there are more than 1450 stone steps built on the mountain. Where there are steep places, there are iron rope handrails. The stone steps are stacked one by one, looking up from below, just like the "ladder of heaven". Visitors can hear the melodious "stone sound" at every step of climbing, forming a unique "Stone Music" scenery. Along the stone steps, strange pines and stone carvings of temples are hidden in the lush forest vegetation, interspersed with each other.

The main mountain and stone landscapes are: Ancient ape watching the sun, stone pig suffering, Jiulong cave, stone elephant guarding the mountain, Tianhu dew, stone sheep pilgrimage, stone turtle laying eggs, stone tiger, stone toad, turtle and snake fighting wisdom, etc. It is said that the tortoise and the green snake are not at ease to practice Taoism and fight with each other. After 49 days of fighting, the tortoise is losing and the green snake is pressing. At that time, it happened that emperor Zhenwu came back to the palace. When he saw this, he could not move with a little finger. From then on, he stayed here forever and became a unique one for thousands of years. "Snake stone" was covetous, and "turtle stone" was close to the cliff. Ten thousand kilograms of heavy stone stood on the side of the cliff. When he pushed hard or blew by the wind, he was about to fall, which made people feel worried. Therefore, it was also called "wind stone". It is one of the rare landscapes in China.

The main exotic pine landscapes are: Yuanyang pine, Yingke pine, tuotian pine, mother and son pine, etc. The most amazing one is the "chingtiantanhaisong", which stands on the half way of the stone steps. It has two branches, one of which pierces the sky and the other overlooks the peaks. The stone steps near Jinding are carved with the word "Qiao song" on the precipice beside them. It is recorded as the handwriting of Wang Jixian, a herdsman of Yongning Prefecture in the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty. The diameter of the existing tree stump is nearly one meter, so we can imagine its former magnificence.

The main cliffs are: Qianren cliff, Sheshen cliff, Yingzui cliff, etc. There are also vertically distributed vegetation, whose color and flowering period change with the seasons, giving the northern Wudang Mountain a "Spring Pink, summer bright, autumn red, winter white" dress. When you climb to the top of Wudang, you can see the vast mountains, the wind of pines and the flowing white clouds. You can only hear the waves of pines, the murmur of mountain springs and the chirp of birds, which are like the light plucking of strings. In summer and autumn, it is like a clear sky, under the Golden Summit, the forest landscape is like a colorful brocade. In the distance of white clouds, the mountains are continuous, which are like the rolling of dragons.

North Wudang Mountain not only has wonderful natural scenery, but also has a long history. According to the textual research of Yongning annals, North Wudang Mountain had formed a Taoist pilgrimage site before the Tang Dynasty, and the Xuantian hall was built on the top of the mountain. As for when it was built before the Tang Dynasty, it remains to be examined. Later, with the development of time, most temples were destroyed and repaired many times. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty alone, two major repairs were carried out. At that time, King Qingcheng, the capital of Fenzhou, you Jing, the founder of Zhenwu, did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to transform the climbing Road into stone steps, and renovated the Xuantian hall, which had already been destroyed. Therefore, Longwang mountain was renamed North Wudang Mountain.

On May 4, 1720, the 59th year of Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty, Xuantian hall was destroyed. In the second and third year of Yongzheng reign (1724-1725), a brick kiln without beams was built at the top of the mountain

Chinese PinYin : Bei Wu Dang Shan