Chengdu Qingyang Palace Guide

Chengdu Qingyang Palace is located in the West Second Section of the First Ring Road in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and is known as the "First Taoist Temple in Western Sichuan" and "the First Jungle in the Southwest". It is also one of the famous Taoist temples in China. Qingyang Palace was originally built during the Zhou Dynasty, initially named Qingyang Si. In the first year of the Middle Harmony period of the Tang Dynasty (AD 881), during Huang Chao's rebellion, Emperor Xizong of Tang took refuge in Sichuan and used it as his temporary palace. In the third year of Middle Harmony (AD 883), it was renamed Qingyang Palace. During the Five Dynasties period, it was called "Qingyang Temple", and in the Song Dynasty, it was renamed "Qingyang Palace", a name which has been retained to this day. By the Ming Dynasty, the buildings constructed during the Tang Dynasty were destroyed in wars. The existing buildings were mostly rebuilt during the sixth to tenth years of the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty (AD 1667–1671), covering an area of about 120,000 square meters. The main structures of Qingyang Palace include the mountain gate, the Hall of the Three Purities, and the Tangwang Hall. The Hunyuan Hall within the palace is grand and majestic, and the Bagua Pavilion is the most completely preserved and exquisitely designed building, housing a statue of Laozi riding a green ox. The most valuable cultural relic in Qingyang Palace is a set of "Daozang Jiyao", which is the most complete version preserved in the world and has become a precious material for the study of Taoism. The original mountain gate of Qingyang Palace was built during the Ming Dynasty. On the left, there are statues of the Earth God and the Azure Dragon, as well as a Nine Dragons Stele of imperial grace erected in the winter of the tenth year of the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty. On the right, there is a statue of the White Tiger and the Seven Stars Pile, engraved with the secret Taoist celestial script Yunzhuan, arranged according to the Big Dipper in the northern sky, known as the Big Dipper Seven Stars Pile. There are also the Dragon and Phoenix Pile, a pair of large stone lions, and the Dragon King Well. The newly built mountain gate is solemn and magnificent, with overlapping flying eaves. Auspicious animal carvings of dragons and tigers are inlaid on the eaves and pillars, with delicate carvings and elegant shapes. Two dragons are sculpted on the roof of the hall, playfully vying for a magic pearl. The golden horizontal plaque "Qingyang Palace" hangs high above the mountain gate. This plaque is the calligraphy of An Hongde, the magistrate of Huayang County in Chengdu during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, with strong and vigorous strokes, and is a cultural relic of Qingyang Palace. The first main hall of Qingyang Palace is the Lingzu Hall, covering an area of about 400 square meters and about 20 meters high. The wall top is covered with glazed tiles, with white petals on the sides and red glazed lotus flowers in the center. On the right, there are statues of the Earth God and the Azure Dragon, and a Nine Dragons Stele of imperial grace erected in the winter of the twelfth year of the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty. The second main hall of Qingyang Palace, the Hunyuan Hall, was rebuilt during the Guangxu period, with 26 stone columns and 2 wooden columns featuring exquisite openwork carvings, with patterns such as deer, phoenixes gazing at the moon, and twin lions playing with a ball, lively and vivid. There are a total of thirty-six large columns in the hall, including eight wooden columns representing the eight great kings of Taoism; and twenty-eight stone columns representing the twenty-eight constellations in the sky, namely Horn, Neck, Root, Room, Heart, Tail, Winnowing Basket, Dipper, Ox, Girl, Emptiness, Danger, Chamber, Wall, Legs, Bond, Stomach, Hairy Head, Net, Turtle Beak, Three Stars, Well, Ghost, Willow, Star, Extended Net, Wings, and Chariot. This hall is grand and solemn in architecture. The Bagua Pavilion is located between the Hall of the Three Purities and the Hunyuan Hall. The stone base of the pavilion is divided into three layers: square, octagonal, and circular, to fit the Taoist principle of the round sky and square earth, the interdependence of yin and yang, and the harmony of the eight trigrams. Behind the Hall of the Three Purities is the only original Ming Dynasty building remaining in Qingyang Palace—the Doumu Hall, which is entirely wooden. The last important group of buildings in the Qingyang Palace complex is the three platforms in the back garden, with the "Birth Platform" on the left, the "Dharma Speaking Platform" on the right, and the Purple Gold Platform (also called "Tangwang Hall", with statues of Li Yuan and his wife and Li Shimin) in the center. The Hall of the Three Purities in Qingyang Palace enshrines the highest deities of Taoism, the Three Purities, namely the Jade Purity Primordial Heavenly Venerable, the Upper Purity Spiritual Treasure Heavenly Venerable, and the Great Purity Moral Heavenly Venerable, also known as the Grand Supreme Elder Lord and the Grand Supreme Ancestor of Tao. On both sides of the great hall, there are also twelve golden immortals, namely: Guangchengzi, Chijingzi, Huanglong Zhenren, Juliu Sun, Taiyi Zhenren, Randeng Zhenren, Manjusri Guangfa Tianzun, Samantabhadra Zhenren, Cihang Daoren, Yuding Zhenren, Daoxing Tianzun, and Qingxu Daode Zhenjun. In the Hall of the Three Purities in Qingyang Palace, there is a pair of brass-cast sheep, commonly known as the green sheep, which are the treasures of Qingyang Palace. On the left is a single-horned green sheep, and on the right is a double-horned green sheep. The single-horned bronze sheep was bought by the Grand Secretary Zhang Penghui from Beijing in the first year of the Yongzheng period (1723) and given to Qingyang Palace to bear its name. The base of the sheep has a commemorative poem: "The bronze sheep obtained at the capital's assembly, moved to the ancient Daoist site in Chengdu. The delighted local governor seems to recognize it, finding joy in Huayang that never ends." It is said that this bronze mythical creature was originally from the Meige Pavilion in Kaifeng, Henan during the Song Dynasty (the patch on the sheep's neck originally had the words "Red Plum Pavilion"). The other double-horned bronze sheep was cast by the craftsmen Chen Wenbing and Gu Tiren from Yunnan, commissioned by the Zhang family in Chengdu in the ninth year of the Daoguang period (1829), and presented to Qingyang Palace. The original green sheep has been preserved as a cultural relic in Qingyang Palace, while the replica bronze sheep was unveiled and blessed for the public to touch on the morning of June 9, 2004, at 10:30 am.