Taizhou Tongbai Palace

Taizhou Tongbai Palace

Tongbai Palace is located on Tiantai Mountain in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province. Originally named Tongbai Guan and Tongbai Chongdao Guan, it is nestled among nine peaks with a clear stream flowing in front, and is the ancestral temple of the Southern School of Taoism in China. The golden age of Tongbai Palace was during the Tang and Song dynasties, when there were thirty-six towering structures with a scale of “a thousand monks and ten thousand Taoists.” Tongbai Guan was first built in the first year of the Chiwu era of the Wu Kingdom (238), established by Ge Xuan under the commission of Sun Quan. At its peak, the Taoist complex could accommodate a thousand people, featuring not only guest quarters for pilgrims but also corresponding kitchens, storage facilities, Taoist lodgings, and even a Yuanming Hall that could receive the emperor. The entire complex, with its majestic towers and pavilions, its high and low cloud-windowed chambers, was all subtly hidden within the lush forests and emerald mists. Its splendid decoration and beauty were beyond compare.

In 1959, the Tiantai County government constructed the Tongbai Reservoir and a power station to benefit the local people. The reservoir’s completion and subsequent water storage caused the original site of Tongbai Palace to sink beneath the waves. The new Tongbai Palace is now headed by Taoist Master Zhang Gaocheng. The architecture was meticulously designed by Professor Gong Hua from the College of Architecture at Tongji University in the Song Dynasty style. The palace complex is grand in scale, with numerous halls and fully equipped supporting facilities, offering complete religious and cultural functions. Once completed, it will not only serve as a place for Taoist practitioners to reside and cultivate, but also become a site of reverence for people from around the world, as well as a destination for wellness and leisure.