Longevity eight immortals Palace

Longevity eight immortals Palace

Wanshou eight immortals palace, referred to as "Eight Immortals Palace", is the largest and most famous Taoist temple in Xi'an

Located in changlefang, Dongguan, Xi'an, it is part of the former site of Tang Xingqing palace. It is the main stream of Taoism Quanzhen sect. According to folklore, Wanshou eight immortals palace is the place where Lu Dongbin in Tang Dynasty came to realize Tao when he met Zhongli in Han Dynasty.

Wanshou Baxian palace, formerly known as Baxian temple, was built in an unknown age. According to Qianlong's annals of Xi'an Prefecture and Jiaqing's annals of Xianning County, Zheng was born in changlefang in Song Dynasty and met eight immortals, so he built an nunnery to offer sacrifices. It is said in the book of true immortals of all ages that Lu Yan met Zhong Liquan here in Huichang of Tang Dynasty. He realized it in a dream of Huang Liang and then entered the Tao, which is the origin of the story of "Eight Immortals". In 1900, the eight powers invaded Beijing. When Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu took refuge in Xi'an, they lived in Baxian nunnery, gave money to renovate it, and awarded the temple "Wanshou Baxian Palace", hence the name of Wanshou Baxian palace.

Wanshou eight immortals palace is the most complete Taoist temple in Xi'an. It is the first batch of cultural relics protection units in Shaanxi Province. It is the seat of Shaanxi Taoist Association and listed as the national key Taoist temple.

Historical evolution

Wanshou Baxian palace, formerly known as Baxian temple, was built in an unknown age.

Under the first archway of Wanshou eight immortals palace, there is a stone tablet of "Chang'an wine shop" with the inscription "where Mr. Lu Chunyang meets Mr. Zhong Liquan and becomes a Taoist". This stone tablet refers to the legend that Lu Chunyang (LV Dongbin), one of the eight immortals, met Zhong Liquan. According to the legend of immortals, Lu Zu first met Zhong Liquan in an officer's wine shop, and was enlightened by Zhong Liquan. Lu Zu realized that he wanted to live in the world. After leaving, Zhong Liquan tried his heart ten times. Later generations set up ancestral temples here to commemorate. This is a statement about the origin of Wanshou Baxian palace. Another theory is that according to Qianlong's Xi'an Prefecture annals and Jiaqing's Xianning county annals, "in the Song Dynasty, Zheng Sheng saw eight immortals manifest here because of the construction of an temple."

Wanshou Baxian palace is part of the former site of Tang Xingqing palace. It is recorded in the book "a general mirror of real immortals and Taoism in all dynasties": Lu Yan met Zhong Liquan here during the Huichang period of emperor Wuzong of Tang Dynasty. He was enlightened by Huang Liang Yimeng and entered Taoism, which is the origin of the story of "Eight Immortals". Eight immortals are eight immortals in Taoist legends, namely tie Guai Li, Han Zhongli, Zhang Guolao, he Xianggu, LAN Caihe, LV Dongbin, Han Xiangzi and Cao Guojiu.

During the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, Quanzhen Taoism was practiced, and a large-scale construction project was built here, named Baxian temple. At this time, the architecture of baxian'an had a large scale. From Yuan Dynasty to Yuan Dynasty, the king of Anxi believed in Taoism. Because of "praying for the heirs", he ordered the chief manager of Yelv to play the imperial concubine Jili's interpretation and order to build an nunnery.

During the reign of Chenghua, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Shangzhen, the Yongshou king of the Qin Dynasty, had a dream of the eight immortals at night, so he carried out a comprehensive maintenance of the eight immortals nunnery and inscribed the plaque of "Penglai" in his own handwriting. During the Zhengde period of Ming Dynasty, because of the rise of thunder from the nunnery, the supernatural image appeared in the clouds. The Taoist custom built the eight immortals hall and added the Leizu hall here. In the Ming Dynasty, ten key Taoist temples were formed, which were the main places for Taoist believers to teach and learn Taoist knowledge. At the end of Ming Dynasty, Baxian temple was destroyed by war.

At the beginning of the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, the local scholars raised funds to revive Baxian temple. They urged the famous Taoist Ren Tianran to be the abbot of Baxian temple. They rebuilt the hall and corridor, expanded the east crossing courtyard, and opened the altar to release the precepts in Baxian temple, which made Baxian temple a very important part of the Quanzhen School of Taoism. In its heyday, it covered an area of nearly 100 mu. The palace was stacked, surrounded by buildings, and there was endless incense. At that time, the wife of the governor of Shaanxi prayed for God's recovery and donated money to build the two halls of Doumu and Longhu. Taoist Li Mingyang bought more than 200 mu of land with the raised funds, and then planted hundreds of pines and cypresses under the leadership of Li dewu. In 1727, Taoists Gao Yongqin and Dong Qingqi carried out large-scale maintenance. In 1806, Dong Qingqi, the "barefoot Dong Zhenren", the abbot of baxian'an, reorganized the system of shifangcong and built the xikuayuan. During the reign of Daoguang (1821-1850), Wanshou Baxian palace was rebuilt. According to the records in the stele of Shifang jungle in the 12th year of Daoguang (1832), "after Dong Qingqi, Han Heyi and Liu helun opened the altar to release the precepts, and Zhu Jiao founded the west garden first." In the early years of Tongzhi, the war destroyed the central hall and all the ancient cypresses. In 1871, Taoist Liu Yongzhen restored the destroyed temple.

In 1900, during the gengzi incident, Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi took refuge in Chang'an and lived in the West Garden of Baxian nunnery. Li Zongyang, abbot of Baxian nunnery, was granted the title of "jade crown and purple robe immortal" and was rewarded with a thousand taels of silver to expand the palace. Empress Dowager Cixi granted the inscription "Yuqing Zhidao", and Guangxu wrote the inscription "Baolu xianzhuan". Empress Dowager Cixi's imperial edict was named "Wanshou eight immortals palace in Qingmen, Dongguan, Xi'an". Since then, the name of Wanshou eight immortals palace has been inherited, and Cixi also granted two imperial sticks to Taoists.

During the revolution of 1911, Qian Ding, the deputy commander of the Qin longfu Han military government, was killed in Weinan. The military government held a public sacrifice in baxian'an.

In the early years of the Republic of China, in order to support the local education, baxian'an set up a free school with temple property and enrolled more than 100 students. When Yang Hucheng presided over the Shaanxi Administration, he tried his best to protect the Taoist heritage because he respected Huang Lao's way. In 1933, Tang Xu'an, a member of the prison academy, received financial support from General Yang Hucheng and others to renovate the temple and set up a monument to record the event. In 1935, General Yang Hucheng took the lead in donating money. Shao Lizi, Yu Youren, sun weiru, Dai Chuanxian and others actively participated in the donation. They led the industrial and commercial circles in Xi'an, and raised more than 24000 yuan to help Tang Xuan in the comprehensive maintenance of all the temples. Later, Taoist Guo Hexi changed the wooden archway into brick archway. So far, the scale of Wanshou Baxian palace has been finalized, including four groups of buildings: the middle road palace, the east courtyard, the West courtyard and the west garden. By the end of the Republic of China, Wanshou Baxian temple was still the largest Taoist temple in Xi'an. In addition to its own land of more than 730 Mu and 108 permanent Taoists, it also took changchungtang, huizhenan and xiangzidong in Lantian as the lower house.

In the early period after the founding of new China, the Wanshou eight immortals palace was protected and repaired by the government in 1952. In the land reform movement, according to the actual number of Taoists, the people's government left 126 mu of land for Wanshou Baxian palace, and the rest was distributed to nearby farmers. In the autumn of 1955, an agricultural production cooperative was set up in Wanshou Baxian palace. The next year, it became a senior agricultural production cooperative. In 1958, it became a production brigade under the xingqinggong people's commune. Before the "Cultural Revolution", the Daoists engaged in normal religious activities as well as self-supporting activities. In 1957, the grain output of the whole palace reached 28600 kg, more than 260 kg per capita. In addition to Taoist rations, the palace also completed the task of paying public grain to the state and selling surplus grain. At that time, the agricultural society was rated as the red flag unit of agricultural production in Xi'an. By 1958, the number of Taoists in Wanshou Baxian palace had dropped to 63 due to the death, removal and return of some Taoists (15). In that year, in addition to the effective water conservancy construction and the stable grain production, the total economic income reached more than 26000 yuan (including agricultural income of 18015 yuan, rent of 4200 yuan and incense of 4000 yuan), and the per capita income was more than 400 yuan, basically reaching the level of self-supporting. By 1962, the number of Taoists had dropped to 50, and the total income was nearly 22000 yuan. In addition to the expenditure, the annual surplus was more than 8000 yuan. The average monthly income of Taoists is the lowest 7 yuan and the highest 21 yuan. At the beginning of the "Cultural Revolution", Wanshou Baxian palace was impacted, most of the Scriptures were burned, steles and statues were also greatly damaged, and Taoists left one after another. After that, the palace buildings were occupied by Xi'an Machine Tool Factory No.2 and the comprehensive factory of Xincheng deputy bureau of agriculture. All the 15 Taoists who stayed in the palace took part in the labor of the comprehensive factory, and religious activities stopped. In November 1981, Xi'an Religious Affairs Office reported to the higher authorities that Wanshou Baxian Palace "belongs to the provincial cultural relics protection unit, which should be protected, the occupied unit should be vacated, and managed by Taoists under the leadership of Xi'an religious affairs office."

In 1982, according to the religious policy, the eight immortals palace was approved by the State Council as a national key open palace and listed as a key cultural relic protection unit in Shaanxi Province. The "Eight Immortals Palace Management Leading Group" was established. In 1985, all the factories were moved out of the occupied houses and halls. In 1991, min zhiting was elected as the prison and Zeng Jiaofeng as the Deputy prison. In 1996, the "Eight Immortals Palace Management Committee" was established.

In 1985, all the occupied units moved away and more than 100000 damages were paid. Since then, under the leadership of the Taoist temple management team, the palace buildings have been fully repaired. After six years, the cost is more than 1.6 million yuan (including 360000 yuan allocated by the Religious Affairs Bureau of the State Council and Xi'an City, 200000 yuan loaned by the bank, and more than 1 million yuan raised). A total of 8200 square meters of ancient buildings have been repaired, and a commercial street with a total area of 2000 square meters has been built. In addition to the west garden to be re planned and constructed, the halls of the middle road and the East-West courtyard have been renovated. On May 16, 1992, Wanshou eight immortals palace held a ceremony of restoration and completion, the opening of the statue, and the promotion of the prison to the throne, which is a grand event in the contemporary history of Wanshou eight immortals palace. Since then, the religious management system of the palace has been improved, with a prison and eight deacons, and more than 40 Taoists.

architectural composition

Wanshou Baxian palace covers an area of more than 73000 square meters. The existing palace buildings are mainly of Ming and Qing Dynasties style, with simple style and rigorous layout.

Wanshou Baxian palace is located in changlefang street, with a large screen wall in the South and a large brick archway in the north

Chinese PinYin : Wan Shou Ba Xian Gong