Shangqing Temple at Longhu Mountain

Shangqing Temple at Longhu Mountain

The birthplace of the Celestial Masters Daoism — Shangqing Temple. As Lu Xun aptly put it: “The root of China lies in Daoism.” And the birthplace of Chinese Daoism is right here at the original site of Shangqing Temple at the foot of Longhu Mountain. In the mid-Eastern Han Dynasty, the first Celestial Master, Zhang Daoling, led his disciples to Yunjin Mountain to establish their base and refine the Nine Heavens Divine Elixir. “When the elixir was completed, dragons and tigers appeared,” and thus Yunjin Mountain was renamed “Longhu Mountain.” The fourth Celestial Master, Zhang Sheng, returned to Longhu Mountain and built the “Ancestral Celestial Master Temple” to worship the founding master. During the Three Yuan Festivals, he would ascend the altar to pass on scriptures, attracting Daoist learners from all over, creating a bustling scene described as a “land of immortals that shines day and night.” Through the vicissitudes of time, the “Celestial Master’s Seed” has undergone several renovations and name changes. It was renamed “Shangqing Temple” during the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty, a name it retains to this day. The current Shangqing Temple was rebuilt on the original site in the architectural style of the Song Dynasty, incorporating some rational structures and artistic features from the Ming and Qing periods. The entire complex features gray tiles and white walls, exuding an air of simplicity, elegance, grandeur, and ethereal grace.

With the fall of feudal society, Daoism declined, and its temples survived amid turmoil. In 1947, when Kuomintang troops were stationed at Shangqing Temple, a fire caused by a stableman on the night of their departure reduced this thousand-year-old temple — the birthplace of Chinese Daoism, the ancestral court of the Orthodox Unity Sect, and the center for the ancestral worship and teaching activities of the hereditary Celestial Masters and their disciples — to ashes, marking a great loss in history.

Inspired by religious faith and tourism development, during the fourth Chinese Longhu Mountain Daoist Cultural Festival in 1994, the Longhu Mountain Scenic Area Administration invested in rebuilding the temple’s courtyard walls.

The current Shangqing Temple was rebuilt on the original site in the architectural style of the Song Dynasty, incorporating some rational structures and artistic features from the Ming and Qing periods. The entire complex features gray tiles and white walls, exuding an air of simplicity, elegance, grandeur, and ethereal grace.

Address: Rural Road 964, Guixi County, Yingtan City

Time needed: 1–2 hours

Type: Historical Site

Phone: Longhu Mountain Scenic Area Hotline: 400-8853-766

Ticket Information:

No separate ticket required. Admission is included in the Longhu Mountain Scenic Area ticket (175 RMB)

Opening Hours

Peak Season (April – October): 7:30–17:30

Off-Season (November – March): 8:00–17:00

Information Source: Yingtan Municipal People's Government