Taizhou Magu Mountain Danxia Cave

Taizhou Magu Mountain Danxia Cave

Located at the western foothills of Misailang, the main peak of Kuocang Mountain: about four Chinese miles north along the mountain path from Fuxing Mountain, where China's Taoist Tenth Grotto-Heaven, Kuocang Cave, is situated, lies a place called “Magu Mountain.” With an elevation of 357 meters, its summit is known as “Magu Rock,” and the “Danxia Cave” is also situated within the mountain. Both “Magu Rock” and “Danxia Cave” are sacred sites where the legendary immortals Magu, Wang Fangping, Cai Jing, and others were said to have resided and gathered.

In Taoism, there are ten great grotto-heavens, thirty-six lesser grotto-heavens, and seventy-two blessed lands. The Danxia Cave on Magu Mountain in Xianju is recognized in Taoist history as the Tenth Blessed Land of Taoism in China. It is clearly documented in historical texts such as the Song Dynasty’s "Yunji Qiqian," as well as the "Chinese Taoist Dictionary" and "A Study of Taoism in Taizhou."

The "Jiading Chicheng Annals" from the Southern Song Dynasty and the "Xianju County Annals" from the Qing Dynasty’s Guangxu era record: “Magu Rock, also called Immortal Maiden Rock. A massive stone stands tall, strikingly resembling a person standing upright. In the past, Magu visited Wang Fangping and Cai Jing and often concealed herself here, hence the name of the rock. Above it is a cave, flanked by two towering stones over a zhang in height and depth each, commonly called the Wind Gate, with a statue of Magu still preserved there.” (“Above it is a cave” refers to the Danxia Cave.)

Pan Lai (1646–1708), a Hanlin editor from Jiangsu’s Wujiang during the Qing Dynasty’s Kangxi era, had a lifelong love for landscapes and traveled extensively to famous scenic spots. In the 30th year of Kangxi (1691), after visiting various mountains in Tiantai and Yandang in Wenzhou, he set off from Linhai, the prefectural city, on the intercalary eleventh day of the same year to explore the mountains of Xianju. He toured over ten mountains in Xianju, which are surrounded by cliffs, steep rocks, overlapping ridges, and ranges. Comparing Xianju with Tiantai and Yandang, he concluded that “Tiantai is serene and deep, Yandang is rugged and dramatic, while Xianju possesses both”—a verdict that remains widely quoted to this day. The first place he visited among Xianju’s mountains was Magu Rock. In his "Record of Visiting the Mountains of Xianju," he described the scenery of Magu Rock as: “Magu Rock features several massive stones standing jaggedly atop the mountain peak, like bird claws. Among them, one stone stands upright like a medicinal pestle, piercing the heart of the sky. Several ancient pines twist and cling to it.” Magu Rock can indeed be described as a uniquely spectacular sight.

Because Magu Rock and the Danxia Cave are adjacent to the Tenth Grotto-Heaven of Taoism, Kuocang Cave, in recent years, many experts, scholars, and visitors from abroad—such as Russia, Japan, and the United States—as well as from within China, have come to explore Kuocang Cave for Taoist studies, and they also visit Magu Rock for research. It is common to see tourists and worshippers climb Magu Mountain to burn incense and pray for good fortune before the statue of the fairy Magu in the Magu Stone Chamber.