Wugong Mountain Worship Site

Wugong Mountain Worship Site

The Wugong Mountain Worship Site is a cultural heritage site protected by Jiangxi Province.

The Wugong Mountain Worship Site is located in Qianshan Township and Taishan Township of Anfu County, at 114°10’ east longitude and 27°27’ north latitude. It centers around the main peaks of Golden Summit, including the Ge Xian Altar, Chongying Altar, Wang Xian Altar, Qiushi Altar, and Baihe Peak Temple, and extends to areas such as Guanyin Rock, Santian Gate, Jiulong Mountain, Jiyun Hermitage, Jifeng, Xingtai, Nanping, and Wenjia, covering an area of 3,000 hectares scattered across a 60-square-kilometer range.

The Golden Summit, at an elevation of 1,918.3 meters, is hailed as “a sublime landscape between heaven and earth, a blessed land of immortals.” Located at the junction of the Wu and Chu regions, it has since ancient times been a sacred site where people from Hunan and Jiangxi provinces worshipped and prayed to the heavens. The cultural essence of Wu and Chu has evolved, developed, and enriched the worship culture of Wugong Mountain. The tradition of heaven worship and prayer has remained unbroken through the ages. Even during the Ming Dynasty, historical records still document local officials leading people in worship ceremonies on the mountain.

Since the Chiwu era of the Three Kingdoms’ Wu Kingdom, Ge Xuan entered the mountain—pioneering Taoism on Wugong Mountain. Many Taoist followers came to cultivate themselves here in later generations. Ge Xianweng (Lord Ge Xuan) also became the principal deity worshipped by religious devotees throughout the history of Wugong Mountain.

From the Tang and Song dynasties onward, Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism merged on the mountain, gradually forming a landscape with multiple sects, deities, and altars. Taoist monks, Buddhist monks, pilgrims, and Confucian scholars came here in an endless stream to pay homage. By the Ming Dynasty, just at Bafa Temple alone, there were “a thousand ordained monks,” and at its peak, up to 10,000 pilgrims visited the mountain. By the mid-Qing Dynasty, there were as many as a hundred temples, altars, and hermitages around the main peak.

The worship customs of Wugong Mountain incorporate elements of both nature worship and religious veneration. As pilgrims come from vast areas of Hunan and Jiangxi, these customs integrate diverse regional traits of Wu and Chu cultures. The worship culture of Wugong Mountain possesses unique charm, with its material expression taking the form of “stone construction culture.”

The Ge Xian Altar was first built during the Jin Dynasty. Its full name is “The Altar of the Taiji Thunder Department of the Eastern Wu.” It faces northwest and enshrines Ge Xuan, the patriarch of the Lingbao School of Taoism, and his grandnephew Ge Hong, a renowned alchemist and physician of the Jin Dynasty. Peng Guinian, the magistrate of Anfu County during the Song Dynasty, and Cheng WenDe, Chen Huaizhi, and Wu Yingming, magistrates during the Ming Dynasty, once prayed for rain under the altar, and when rain did come, they erected stone inscriptions to commemorate the event.

The Chongying Altar was first built during the Yuan Dynasty’s Zhiyuan era, facing northeast. According to the *Wugong Mountain Chronicles* by Ming Dynasty’s Zhang Cheng: “The Chongying Altar is the place of Daoist Li—.” “Daoist Li, named Daozhen, encountered an immortal while gathering firewood during the construction of the Ge Xian Temple in the Zhiyuan era and thus built the Chongying Altar. He also co-founded the Tuping Hermitage with Shi Gu-chan.”

The Wang Xian Altar was first built in the late Ming Dynasty, facing northwest. It is the site where Wang Keshou, the prefect of Ji’an in the Ming Dynasty, received a divine blessing. Wang Keshou, styled Yixu and also known as Jing’an, was from Huangmei, Hubei. In the 20th year of the Wanli reign (1592), he served as the prefect of Ji’an. The locals referred to Lord Wang as “Wang Ye” (Lord Wang) and regarded him as the guardian deity of Wugong Mountain.

The Bai Fa Temple Ruins at Guanyin Rock currently feature remnants such as the Guanyin Hall, Dragon King Temple, Longtian Well, Liberation Pond, the tomb pagoda of “Monk Baiyun,” the Nirvana Pagoda, the “Tower of Three Voids” from the fourth year of the Tianqi era (1624), and cliff inscriptions from the 22nd year of the Wanli era (1584) reading “Fairy Path.”

The Santian Gate Ruins of the Confucian-Taoist-Buddhist Site, also called Tuping, are surrounded by mountains. The valley within the mountains originally held Taoist structures such as Tuping Hermitage, Taiji Palace, and Guangji Palace, the Buddhist Yongzhen Hermitage, and the Confucian Wenchang Pavilion—now only ruins remain.

The Jifeng Jade Emperor Hall Ruins once included structures such as the Jinting Palace, Jade Emperor Hall, Yuanjue Palace, Yunfang, Yueyuan, Yuanzong Hall, Danxia Chamber, Shuzhen Pavilion, and Huixian Tower—all destroyed by the end of the Qing Dynasty and early Republican period.

The Jiulong Mountain “Shengfo Chanlin” (Victorious Buddha Monastery) Ruins: Jiulong Mountain gets its name from nine mountain ridges resembling reclining dragons. During the Ming Dynasty’s Jiajing era, Master Ningzhou of Gushuang Temple built Buddhist structures here, including the Buddha Hall, meditation rooms, bell and drum towers, mountain gate, dining hall, 18 Buddha stupas, and Zhijing Bridge—all now gone, leaving only stone shrines, broken steles, and fragmented Buddha statues.

The Jiyun Hermitage Ruins: Known as the “Little Peach Blossom Spring” when people fled chaos during the Qin Dynasty. After Ge Xuan ascended to heaven in the second year of the Chiwu era of the Three Kingdoms’ Wu Kingdom, a hermitage was built to worship him. Original structures included the Yuqing Palace, Taiqing Palace, and Miaoyou Palace, none of which survive today, leaving only ruins.

The Xingtai Ruins: A couplet inscribed by Zhu Shishou, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice and local gentry of Anfu County during the Ming Dynasty’s Wanli era, remains: “To ascend the highest peak and worship heaven, first bow at Xingtai.” The horizontal scroll reads “The First Pass of Wugong.”

The Wenjia “Nuanshui Shrine” Ruins: Located in Wenjia Village, Taishan Township, this site features geothermal spring water reaching 80°C. During the Qing Dynasty, the “Nuanshui Shrine” was built here. Now only the shrine gate and plaque remain. Not far from the shrine, a cave on Nanping Mountain hosts the Nanping Shrine, a niche-style stone structure.

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Jiangxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units