Xianju Kuocang Cave

Xianju Kuocang Cave

Kuocang Cave is a natural ancient cave located at the tail end of China’s Kuocang Mountain Range. Situated at the foot of Kuocang Mountain on the border between Xianju County and Linhai County, it is the ancestral Taoist site of Xianju in Taizhou. Taoism is China’s indigenous ethnic religion. As a religion, it was founded during the Eastern Han Dynasty — specifically in the first year of Emperor Shun’s reign, known as the Year of Han’an (142 AD), by Zhang Daoling on Mount Heiming in Sichuan. Between 168 and 189 AD, it was introduced to Zhang’an (now Taizhou) by the preacher Zhao ? from Yongkang County. At that time, Xianju County was under the jurisdiction of Zhang’an, and during this period, Taoism spread to Kuocang Cave in Xianju.

Nationally, Taoism recognizes Ten Great Grotto-Heavens, Thirty-Six Lesser Grotto-Heavens, and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands. Taizhou has them all, and Xianju has the most complete collection — among which, Kuocang Cave is the Tenth Great Grotto-Heaven. As a Taoist grotto-heaven, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, the immortal Xu Lailue came to Kuocang Cave to assume his official duties, overseeing a 300-li radius around the cave and managing blessings and misfortunes related to floods and droughts. By the third year of the Yonghe era during the reign of Emperor Mu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (347 AD), Xianju was established as a separate county (initially named Luan County). The county’s first magistrate, Yang Xin (from Hubei), had a brother named Yang ?? who came to Xianju to live in seclusion and cultivate immortality in Kuocang Cave, eventually becoming a celestial being. Other notable Taoist masters who once practiced in Kuocang Cave include Wang Yuan of the Han Dynasty, Zuoci and Ge Xuan and Cai Jing of the Three Kingdoms period, Zheng Siyuan and Pingshongjie of the Jin Dynasty, Ye Changzhi of the Tang Dynasty, and Chen Huizhen, Ma Zishan, and Zhang Wumeng of the Song Dynasty.

Over the centuries, although the Numinous Palace of Kuocang Cave has weathered many changes, the foundations of the cave, shrine, and temple still remain. There is also the restored main hall, along with surviving relics such as the “True Source” stone inscription, the plaque reading “Another World Within,” the Elixir Well, the “Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land” stone stele, and the former alchemy site. From 1970 to 1979, an artificial lake, the Kuocang Reservoir with a capacity of 8.5 million cubic meters, was built beside Kuocang Cave, and the cave underwent minor renovations. In the 1980s, resident Taoist priests spontaneously raised funds to carry out slight repairs and recast over 20 Taoist and Buddhist statues inside the cave. With the embellishment of the Kuocang Reservoir, the landscape of Kuocang Cave developed a unique charm. On November 21, 1984, the German national Hartmut (Chinese name Han Tao) visited Kuocang Cave for investigation. On October 26, 1986, Wei Qiao, Vice President of the Zhejiang Academy of Social Sciences, and Pan Yiping, Director of the Local Chronicles Publishing Department of Zhejiang Province, also came to inspect the site. They humorously remarked, “Now Kuocang Cave is a place where Taoism and Buddhism coexist peacefully!” Since then, Kuocang Cave has gained fame both domestically and internationally.

In 2007, villagers discovered a stone stele inscribed with the word “Grotto Palace,” erected during the Southern Song Dynasty (under Emperor Gaozong of Song, Zhao Gou), at Mayakengtou in Yangpengtou Village, Xiage Town. The discovery of this stele fully demonstrates that Kuocang Cave had reached its peak during the Southern Song Dynasty, and it is of great significance for further exploring the historical and cultural heritage of our county.

To further explore and organize the historical Taoist culture of Xianju and promote the building of a harmonious society, in March 2007, the County Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau issued a document approving the establishment of the Restoration Preparatory Group for Xianju’s “Tenth Great Taoist Grotto-Heaven Numinous Palace.” The document was submitted to the Municipal Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau for record. In April, the Municipal Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau officially approved the Tenth Great Grotto-Heaven Numinous Palace as another Taoist activity site.