Ruins of the Xu Fu Temple

Ruins of the Xu Fu Temple

The ruins of the Xu Fu Temple are a cultural tourism attraction.

The Xu Fu Temple was built in Xujia Village, Fengpu’ao, at the eastern foot of the majestic Dapeng Mountain. Inside the temple stands a statue of Xu Fu, above which hung a one-meter-long, half-meter-wide black plaque with golden characters inscribed with “The Blessing of Xu Fu.” Unfortunately, the golden plaque has been destroyed. The surroundings of the temple are serene and open. Though they lack the rugged grandeur of the mountain’s hinterland—“billowing winds, roaring thunder, echoing caves, and shifting landscapes”—as well as the striking beauty of its peculiar caves, bizarre rocks, perilous cliffs, red maples and green thorns, and deep valleys, it is still a mountain hollow where white waterfalls cascade into pools, stream water dashes against stones, and green pines and bamboos thrive. The murmuring streams and rustling forests also remind visitors that this is an ideal harbor for setting sail eastward to Penglai.

Xu Fu, referred to as “Xu Shi” in “The Basic Annals of Emperor Qin Shi Huang” in Records of the Grand Historian, was a fangshi (master of esoterica) during the Qin Dynasty, hailing from the State of Qi (present-day Ganyu, Jiangsu). His courtesy name was Junfang, and his family had been practicing medicine for generations. From childhood, he studied the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon and became proficient in elixirs that cured diseases and prolonged life. In 209 BCE, during Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s fifth imperial tour to the east, he was captivated by the extraordinary scenery of the lush and steep Dapeng Mountain. Eager to obtain an elixir of immortality, the emperor sent the fangshi Xu Fu with 3,000 young boys and girls to seek the divine medicine on Penglai in the East Sea. Failing to retrieve the medicine from the sea, Xu Fu crossed the ocean to the Japanese archipelago (known as Wa at the time), bringing with him new cultural elements such as rice farming, sericulture and medicine, metal smelting, pottery making, and shipbuilding. These innovations contributed to the birth and development of Japan’s Yayoi culture.

After Xu Fu’s eastward voyage, his descendants built this Xu Fu Temple in the picturesque Fengpu’ao, hoping for his eventual return.