Yongjia Dragon Mother Temple

Yongjia Dragon Mother Temple

Yongjia Dragon Mother Temple is located on Cangshanjian, near Yantou Town in Yongjia County, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province. The Dragon Mother Temple is the oldest religious site in Yongjia. Locals also call it the “Dragon Mother Goddess Temple,” “Goddess Temple,” or “Black Dragon Goddess Temple.” It was first established during the Ming and Qing dynasties to worship the “Zhou Family Black Dragon Goddess Temple.”

The majestic Kuocang Mountain features undulating ridges, towering peaks, and swirling clouds. Its main peak rises over 1,400 meters above sea level, and its branches sprawl like a giant dragon coiled across Yongjia, Xianju, and Linhai counties. It is the highest peak in southeastern Zhejiang and was listed as one of the famous Taoist mountains in the Jiangnan region in the Tang Six Codes. Cangshanjian is the main peak of Kuocang Mountain within central and southern Yongjia, standing at 854 meters above sea level, making it the most prominent religious mountain in Yongjia. The Dragon Mother Temple on the mountain features gray walls, black tiles, upturned eaves, and an ancient, solemn appearance. The central hall enshrines the Second Zhou River Dragon Mother, along with other shrines such as the Thunder Department. Legend has it that the Dragon Mother of Cangshan once resided here. Recently, a Prince Hall was newly built 200 meters away from the Goddess Temple on a cliff edge, commonly known as the “Cangshan Dragon Palace,” with a Prince Pavilion constructed in front. The stone tablet at the Dragon Palace is inscribed with the mysterious legend of the Dragon Mother of Cangshan accidentally swallowing a dragon egg, bringing down sweet rain, and ending a drought.

Legend has it that during the Later Jin Dynasty (937–951), the Zhou family lived in Zhou Liao’an. At the foot of Cangshan Mountain, there was a well connected directly to the East China Sea. One year, a severe drought struck. The elderly father of the Zhou family instructed his daughter-in-law and daughter to carry water to irrigate the seedlings. The Third Prince of the Dragon King, infatuated with the young lady of the Zhou family, took the opportunity to turn into a multicolored stone egg and place it in the well. While fetching water, the Zhou family’s daughter accidentally discovered the colorful stone egg. As she picked it up and held it in her arms to examine it closely, her sister-in-law tried to snatch it away. In a moment of panic, the Zhou family’s daughter put the colorful stone egg in her mouth and ended up swallowing it. This seemingly small act set the stage for the story of the “Nine Dragons Flying to Heaven.”

It turned out that what she had swallowed was indeed a dragon egg, and thus she became pregnant with a dragon child. Her belly grew larger day by day, and she became increasingly restless, yearning only to go to higher ground. Eventually, she prepared some dry rations, instructed her family to wait for her, and set off alone for the nearby highest peak, Cangshanjian, telling them to come and fetch her after forty-nine days. The girl left the village, walked through the forest, and headed straight for Cangshanjian.

After their daughter went up the mountain, the Zhou couple missed her dearly and anxiously waited. On the forty-eighth day, they climbed up to Cangshanjian and found their daughter in a stone crevice by the Heavenly Pool, with many little snakes crawling all over her body. They quickly tried to drive the snakes away with bamboo sticks. Seeing her parents arrive earlier than expected, the Zhou family’s daughter panicked and bit off the last baby dragon that had just emerged from her mouth, severing its tail. Instantly, three dragons soared into the sky amid thunder and lightning. The third dragon, having lost its tail, bled profusely, circled in the air, and finally plunged into a pool, where it remained in Yongjia—now known as the “Black Dragon Pool.” The Dragon Mother, the Zhou family’s daughter, spoke a few words to the sky, and the other two baby dragons each flew off into the sky, one heading to Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou and the other to Yandang Mountain in Yueqing, to bless and protect the people.

Therefore, the rock where the Dragon Mother gave birth is called the “Parting Rock,” also known as the “Shattered Body Cliff.” Beneath Shattered Body Cliff is the “Shattered Body Temple,” a newly built structure in recent years, surrounded by fluttering flags and the scent of incense. Looking back, you can also see several winding stone patterns overlapping in the steep cliffs above the temple, evoking images of hidden dragons.