Tongbai Palace

Tongbai Palace

Tongbai palace in Tiantai County, Zhejiang Province, formerly known as Tongbai temple and Tongbai Taoist temple, is the southern ancestral court of Quanzhen sect, the mainstream of Taoism. Tongbai palace is located on Tongbai mountain, 12.5km northwest of the county, surrounded by nine peaks and flowing in front of Bixi river. It is the southern ancestral court of Chinese Taoism. It flourished in Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty. At that time, there were thirty-six temples with towering towers, with the scale of thousands of monks and Taoism. As a leader, Tongbai temple was founded in 238, the first year of Wu chiwu. In its heyday, Tongbai Taoist temple alone was able to accommodate thousands of visitors. It has not only a hall for ordinary pilgrims, but also a kitchen, a daoliao and a flour mill, and even a Yuanming hall for senior officials and even emperors. The whole palace, the majestic and beautiful Pavilion in the dome, and the high and low Pavilion in the cloud window and fog, are all hidden in the mist of trees and trees. Magnificent.

Development history

In the first year of Wu chiwu in the Three Kingdoms (238), Gao Daoge Xuan came here to make alchemy and build Falun courtyard. In the second year of Tang Jingyun (711), Ruizong ordered to build Tongbai temple on the site of Falun courtyard ruins. It has one hall (HuangYun), two platforms (Fenggu, congmiao), three altars (Yuanchen, Chaozhen, Chaodou, Lianxing room, longzhangge) and is forbidden to fill in. It is forbidden to cut and hunt for 40 Li, and it is not allowed to move and bury for five li. During the reign of Yuanhe (806-820), Feng Weiliang also built Jiangzhen hall, Baiyun Pavilion, leisurely Pavilion and Shangqing room. During the reign of Taihe and Xiantong, Xu lingfu and ye zangyue renovated one after another. During the Kaiping period of the late Liang Dynasty (907-910), Tongbai temple was promoted to the palace. Song Xiangfu first year (1008), renamed Tongbai chongdao temple.

During the alternation of yuan and Ming Dynasties, because a large number of refugees swarmed into Tongbai palace, there was a fatal fire, and Tongbai palace was burned. After a hard struggle, in the early Qing Dynasty, due to the support of Emperor Yongzheng and the efforts of Taoist fan Qingyun, Tongbai Palace won the rare resurgence in China at that time. Along the central axis, six levels of buildings have been built, including Mountain Gate, Lingguan hall, Zhenwu hall, yubeiting hall, main hall and Ziyang hall, with Dragon carving buildings and dragon pattern foundations. There are dongdaoliao, Taiji hall, Yingxian tower, xidaoliao, Zhenjun hall, zhongmiaotai, abbot tower and so on along the east-west axis. Tongbai palace has such a brilliant history, the reason is that the support of famous mountains undoubtedly played a very important role.

In the sixth year of Zhenghe (1116), xuanming hall was built in Houshan according to the specifications of the palace, including abbot, Zhaitang, Yuntang, tuditang, Sanqing hall, Shangqing Pavilion and Yushu hall. Two stone bridges were built on Yusuo River in front of Guanqian, and Huixian pavilion was built on the bridge. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the Taiwei Cao Xun built the mountain gate, and there were six Taoist temples in the temple, including Jingzang, Sanyuan, Yanbin, Qingxu, Baiyun and Yuyuan. The court successively appointed Zeng Ji, Lu You, Zhu Xi, etc. The imperial gifts of the past dynasties were very rich, and the road industry flourished. It was built many times between Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty. The newly-built Tongbai palace, entering from the mountain gate, is Lingguan hall, Zhenwu hall, yubeiting, main hall and Ziyang building. There are side halls on both sides. On the left side of the hall is the Taiji hall, which is dedicated to ge Xianweng (Xuan) and on the right to Prince Jin. There are three halls on each side of the statue of Zhang boduan in Ziyang building. There are also three halls in front of and behind the eastern and Western Taoist temples, which are connected by corridors. Dormitories and kitchens are outside the walls. There are more than 100 temples and more than 800 stones in the incense field. The tenth generation master of Longmen sect, the abbot of Qingyu (Dongli), and his disciples, Fang dingfen (Lanfu), min Yide (Lanyun), etc., help to watch the events. The ancestral court of Nanzong flourished again. In modern times, the situation was not quiet, Tongbai's voice declined, ye Mingcang, Lin zhixia, Chen Zhixian and Yuan Lijing redeemed the fields to build the hall, and the incense flourished day by day. Since the Republic of China, Shi Zongbin and Wu Zhiyuan preached to cure diseases and save people, and they were deeply appreciated by their neighbors. In 1973, Tongbai reservoir was built to store water. The site of Tongbai palace sank to the bottom of the water. Some buildings and cultural relics were moved to Minghe temple.

First, the development of celebrities and the suitable natural environment are the premise of tongpai Palace site selection. From the perspective of Tiantai Mountain, sun Chuo (341-371) in the Jin Dynasty pointed out at the beginning of his "Ode to Tiantai Mountain" that "Tiantai Mountain is the God of mountains. There are abbots and Penglai when they are involved in the sea, Siming and Tiantai when they are landing. They are all the places of Xuansheng and Lingxian. It's the grandeur of a man, the beauty of Jiaxiang, the richness of the poor mountains and the sea, and the magnificence of human feelings! " (4) sun chuoyi's Fu is famous all over the world. Sun Chuo became famous, and Tiantai Mountain became famous from then on. Ge Hong (283-363) pointed out in baopuzi neipian that "all the small mountains can't bear the elixir of God, Dan and Jin. They all have the essence of wood and stone. The thousand year old spirit can make bad medicine. Only the mountain gods, such as Songzhen, Shaoshi, Jinyun, Luofu, xiaotai and so on, can help people and practice medicine." (5) according to the investigation, there are 665 kinds of wild plants and 495 kinds of medicinal plants in Tongbai mountain. These natural foods and medicines can nourish the body and prolong life. To meet the needs of those who advocate Taoism. In ancient times, Taoism regarded alchemy and health preservation as the main content of cultivation. Since the large and small platforms, namely the Tiantai, are very suitable for cultivation, this creates the most important prerequisite for the site selection of the palace.

In the northern and Southern Dynasties, Tao Hongjing (456-536), a bureaucrat, Taoist, scholar and scientist, played a role in promoting the popularity of Tiantai Mountain. In his book Zhengao, Tao Hongjing states: "Tiantai Mountain is 18000 feet high, and it's 800 Li in the Zhou Dynasty. The mountain is eight fold, and it's like one on all sides..." (6) from a modern point of view, except for exaggerating the height of Tiantai Mountain, the others are basically true. According to the ancient definition, the South Gate of Tiantai Mountain is Chicheng, the north gate is Jinting of Shengxian, the west gate is Shicheng of Xinchang, the east gate is wangaishan of Ninghai, and the eight hundred li of Zhouhui is more in line with the fact. The "big and small platforms" in Taowen include ancient Yuyao, jurzhang, Linhai, Tiantai and Shanxian counties, which are based on sea level, and the first one is Tiantai county. The second is pingchou where Tongbai palace is located. The third is Fangying mountain. The fourth is xiaotongbai, where Dongtian palace is located. The fifth is Yuxiao peak. The sixth, called Xieting in ancient times, is located in Shiliang town and Shanfu to the east of ketou, Shuangxi. The seventh is the location of Huading temple. The eighth is the location of the Sutra worship platform and Taibai hall.

Although the overall development of Tiantai county was relatively late, and it was even called a "wild land" in Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, the popularity of Tiantai Mountain has long spread. The earliest historical records in China, such as Shanhaijing, yizhouzhuan, Huainanzi, Huangdi Neijing · Shanjing, Zhengao, Shiji, Hanshu, etc., all record the landscape and fairy tales of Tiantai Mountain. The legend of Sanmao (Maoying, Maogu, Maozhong) in the Han Dynasty still leaves a series of place names such as sanmao'an, Sanmao stream, Sanmao village, Sanmao branch, maoshifu, xiyanmao, etc. It shows that the legend is well founded. During the Three Kingdoms period, Ge Xuan founded the Taoist Lingbao school in Tiantai. Youminglu, written by Liu Yiqing in the northern and Southern Dynasties, records the story of Liu (Chen) and Ruan (Zhao) who went to the rooftop to collect herbs and met immortals. It has been widely spread throughout China.

Second, the appropriate location is a necessary condition for the site selection of Tongbai palace.

（1） The application of the thought of cultivating immortals is the theoretical basis for the site selection of Tongbai palace.

The purpose of Taoist practice is to become an immortal. The ancient writing of the word "immortal" is the word "person" above the word "mountain". It can be seen that the ancients understood the immortal as "person on the mountain". Based on this idea, most believers choose the palace at the top of the mountain, or at the middle of the mountain, or near the cliff, so that they can have a good view of the world. At the same time, they can transcend the world and show the mysterious color. When people look up at the Palace in the clouds for a long time, they will think that "it is the medium between God and man, the transit station between heaven and earth, and a very sacred place." (8) to improve the status of the palace among the people. The site selection of Tongbai palace made use of this idea, and chose "mountain has eight levels, the second level, which is closest to the first level, that is, the human world. It is easy to gather a large number of believers, which is conducive to development.

（2） It is decided by the special geographical environment of Tongbai palace.

The Tang Dynasty's "Cui Shang Tong Bai Guan Bei" is the famous tablet of the Tang Ming emperor's title, the official minister's Cui Shang's composition, and the great calligrapher Han Zemu's Danshu. At the beginning of the monument, it describes the location of the Tongbai Temple: "it is one of the eight most important places, overlooking thousands of Ren, facing the sun and the shade, judging the situation, hundreds of steps from east to west, as well as from north to south. Lianshan towering, four fields are green, lush trees, four constant green. Before the big rock, above the Hengling mountain, the double peaks are the que, and the sky is wide open. The long stream flows southward, the springs are gargling, and a waterfall flows downhill. You can see the snow flying and listen to the wind rising. The stone beam, the green screen, and the Qi wood beads can be used for climbing. Xianhualingcao, spring and autumn competition, you bird Su ape, morning and evening sound, the letter is enough to taste. From Fengnan to Yunzhang, from Shanchuan to Yanling. In the East, Asia enters the sea, not far from Penglai; in the west, the mountains are vast, and there are no more people. All in all, the mystery is that depression is the most beautiful, and vitality is the most important. The place is thick and quiet. It's not the husband's God, the immortal's house, and the immortal's camp. Which of them can make this happen? " (9) according to the general ancient books, Tongbai "wood is Su Ya Lin Bi, spring is stone pulp gold pulp". "The Jinling of Wu You Ju, the more the Jinting of Tongbai, the three disasters do not live, the flood does not ascend, it is a blessed land that does not die, and it is a spiritual realm that fosters truth." We know that there are nine peaks around Tongbai palace, surrounded by mountains and water. There is a 300 meter high Tongbai waterfall at the water outlet, in which there is a famous waterfall poem by Tang Cao song: "Wanren is named cloud waterfall, which looks like a rooftop from afar. Don't doubt that a ruler is hard to measure, but a knife is easy to cut. Spray to the forest into summer snow, pour to the stone for spring thunder. If you want to know, it's the silver river. It's falling, but it's coming back. " (11) there are three wells in the waterfall, which are unfathomable and pass down to the sea

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