Huangliangmeng Lu Xian Shrine

Huangliangmeng Lu Xian Shrine

The Huangliangmeng Lu Xian Shrine is a national AAA-level tourist attraction and a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.

The Huangliangmeng Lu Xian Shrine is located in Huangliangmeng Town, about ten kilometers north of Handan City. It was built based on the Tang Dynasty legendary tale "The Pillow Book" (枕中记) by Shen Jiji and was initially constructed in the early Northern Song Dynasty. It has undergone renovations throughout various dynasties and has withstood a thousand years of history. The current site was rebuilt in 1984 and officially opened to the public in October 1986. It is a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the Provincial Level in Hebei Province, covering an area of 14,000 square meters with a built-up area of over 6,000 square meters.

The Huangliangmeng Lu Xian Shrine is the only tourist attraction in China themed around dream culture. The site features a variety of ancient architectural styles, numerous calligraphic works by masters, lifelike clay and wax figures, exquisite stone carvings, a unique garden design, and rich folk legends. Dream culture research has become an international topic, and Huangliangmeng provides tangible material for such studies. As research deepens, the global recognition and influence of Huangliangmeng will continue to grow. As early as the 1950s, the Japanese elementary school textbook included the story “The Sweet Dream,” and Japanese folk dramas adapted and staged “The Record of Handan.”

The mountain gate of the Huangliangmeng Lu Xian Shrine is a flush-gable structure, and the plaque hanging above the lintel inscribed with “Ancient Temple of Handan” (邯郸古观) was written by Qi Gong. Most temple and Taoist gates face south, so why does the Huangliangmeng Lu Xian Shrine gate open to the west? There are two explanations for this. One says that the shrine lies west of the ancient imperial road, which was bustling with traffic and pedestrians, making it convenient for worshippers to pay their respects, hence the west-facing gate. Another explanation is that to the west of Handan lies the Purple Mountain (紫山), perpetually shrouded in purple mist, and orienting the gate westward helps Taoists absorb the auspicious purple energy.

The Huangliangmeng Lu Xian Shrine follows the layout of traditional Chinese ancient architecture. Its central axis consists of the mountain gate, Eight Immortals Pavilion, Alchemy Room, Eight Trigrams Pavilion, Noon Gate, Hall of Zhongli Quan, Hall of Lü Dongbin, and Hall of Lu Sheng. Flanking the central axis are the East and West Wings, including the Official Reception Halls. The shrine also features landscapes such as a lotus pond, plank bridges, and rockeries. It is a rigorously laid out, typical Taoist relic integrating temple and garden elements, and is the largest existing Lu Xian Shrine in northern China. The Hall of Lü Dongbin is the main hall, spanning and deepening three bays each, with a single-eave hip-and-gable roof covered in green glazed tiles, featuring a front porch. Its bracket sets and beam structures exhibit distinct local Ming Dynasty styles. The Huangliangmeng Lu Xian Shrine is world-renowned for its unique legends. Over the centuries, literati and scholars who visited left behind numerous poems and inscriptions, with nearly 30 steles still preserved in the shrine. The layout of the Huangliangmeng Lu Xian Shrine is clear and symmetrical, centered around the central axis, with east-west balance. It is divided into inner and outer courtyards by the Noon Gate. On the east and west sides are the Cixi Temporary Palace and the Guangxu Temporary Palace, built when Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu fled to Xi’an via this area during the invasion of Beijing by the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900, and returned the following year. The eastern section of the scenic area also hosts China’s only Chinese Dream Museum, showcasing numerous classic Chinese dreams through thematic murals. It is currently a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the Provincial Level in Hebei Province.

In May 2013, the Huangliangmeng Lu Xian Shrine was announced as part of the seventh batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level.

Huangliangmeng Town: Huangliangmeng Town (Huangliangmeng Zhen) is situated in the northern part of Handan County, 11 kilometers from the county seat. It has well-developed transportation. Covering an area of 63.1 square kilometers, it had a population of 51,300 in 2002. The town administers 26 administrative villages. It boasts abundant natural resources as well as rich tourism resources, with many scenic spots.

Huangliangmeng Town enjoys convenient transportation. The Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, National Highway 107, and the Beijing-Shenzhen Expressway run north-south through the town. The town government is located in Huangliangmeng Village. Within Huangliangmeng Village lies the historical site of the Lu Xian Shrine, which is a provincial-level key cultural relic protection unit.

- Administrative Code

130…… Detailed Information on Huangliangmeng Town++

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Hebei Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level