Deqing Shuaixing Taoist Temple

Deqing Shuaixing Taoist Temple

Deqing Shuaixing Taoist Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Shuaixing Taoist Temple is located on Nanshan of Shangcao in Baziqiao Village, Xiuzhu Lake, Deqing County, Zhejiang Province. It was first built during the Southern Song Dynasty and was originally named “Huji Nunnery.” During the Tongzhi era of the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed “Shuaixing Taoist Temple,” a name that has been used ever since.

Shuaixing Taoist Temple was first built in the Southern Song Dynasty. Legend has it that when the Southern Song emperor settled in Hangzhou, he often visited the Yangfen area, which served as a summer retreat and leisure destination for the Southern Song imperial family. One day, while the emperor was at Yangfen, he stopped to rest and enjoy tea at the home of an elderly farmer. The farmer’s daughter, who had not received formal etiquette training, accidentally revealed her small bound feet when stepping out of the kitchen doorway to serve the tea. The emperor, who happened to be in a bad mood, scolded her for being frivolous and punished her by ordering her to become a Taoist nun as an act of penance. Seeing that the girl’s parents were old and helpless, but unable to retract his imperial decree, the emperor had a nunnery built on Nanshan Mountain and bestowed upon it the name “Huji.”

By the time of the Tongzhi era in the Qing Dynasty, Huji Nunnery was under the administration of Shengxuan Guan on Jichou Mountain, and Quanzhen Taoist priests were dispatched to renovate and manage the site. It was then renamed “Shuaixing Taoist Temple,” and the following year, a subordinate temple called “Shuaixing Nunnery” was built. Both the upper and lower temples still had resident Taoist priests after the liberation period, but later they were used as residences for educated youth and residents under the “Five Guarantees” welfare system. Only the temple halls and buildings have been preserved to this day. The temple is now overseen by Taoist priest Ding Luoqin.