Feicheng Taoyuan Taoist Temple

Feicheng Taoyuan Taoist Temple

Feicheng Taoyuan Taoist Temple, located on the northern hill of Xishangli Village, about 4 li southwest of Xincheng Subdistrict Office in Feicheng City, Tai’an, Shandong Province【Xishangli Village is said to have taken initial shape as a settlement as early as the Tang Dynasty. According to the Li Family Genealogy: The Li family originated from Taiyuan and settled in the eastern province, enduring through the Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties. After the founding of the Ming Dynasty by Emperor Hongwu in 1368, his brothers named Cheng and Shao, one settled in Sanwang Village of Dongping, the other in Xishangli Village. Additionally, according to the Li Family Stone Genealogy: the ancestral residences in this locality were known by three names: Dongli, Xili, and Shangli】. Originally named Xuan Di Miao【Xuan Di Miao was built atop a massive natural rock, constructed against the mountain and facing south. The structures included the Xuan Di Shrine, Ling Guan Hall, San Qing Hall, Bai Yun Cave, Taoist living quarters, bell and drum towers, and enclosing walls—all built entirely of stone】. Its original construction date is unknown, but it underwent multiple renovations and expansions after the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong era. The mountain features a cave called Bai Yun Dong (White Cloud Cave). In front of the cave stand two stone tablets from the Ming Dynasty’s Wanli era, five inscribed stelae recording historical renovations and donations, and three fragmented stone statues of deities, along with several broken stone carvings. To the northwest of the Xuan Di Shrine lies the foundation of a building. Judging from the base, it had a width of two bays, faced south, measured 5 meters in width, and 4 meters in depth, likely serving as Taoist living quarters. Three meters below the Xuan Di Shrine lies Bai Yun Cave, with an entrance 2.1 meters high, 10.6 meters wide, and 12 meters deep.

The Volume One “Fang Yu Zhi. Mountains and Rivers” of the Feicheng County Annals from the 17th year of the Guangxu reign (1891) states: “Bai Yun Mountain, located 25 li southwest of the county seat in Dongli She, has a cave in its mountainside called Bai Yun Cave. Bending low to enter through the cave mouth, you’ll find jagged stone walls over a pace wide and more than ten feet long, with a deep, unfathomable aperture inside. Outside the cave, ancient cypresses tower to the sky.” In front of Bai Yun Cave lies an artificial terrace, 17 meters long east-west and 10 meters wide, with eight stone tablets commemorating various historical reconstructions erected on it, most of which are now damaged. The “Reconstruction Stele of Xuan Di Shrine” from the Qianlong Dingmao Year (1747) reads: “When one ascends to the peak of Bai Yun Mountain north of our hometown and gazes into the distance, to the east lies Mount Tai (Tai Shan), to the west the sacred domain (Qufu), to the north Tao and Niu Mountains (Tao Shan and Niu Shan), and to the south Phoenix Mountain (Feng Huang Shan). Surrounded on all sides, it is a place of beauty that visitors find hard to leave. As the ancients said, ‘A mountain need not be high—it is the presence of immortals that makes it divine.’ That is why the Xuan Di Shrine was established on the sunny side of the peak.”

In the first month of 2008, Li Wanqing, the 26th-generation disciple of the Huashan Sect of the Quanzhen School, in fulfillment of a solemn vow and committed to promoting the Great Tao of the Supreme Dao, respectfully adhered to ancestral teachings—refusing to solicit connections, donations, or alms—and reconstructed the Xuan Di Shrine. It now features three bays in width and two in depth, with a flush-gable roof covered in gray tiles and a coiling dragon ridge. To the east of the shrine, another structure was erected: the Nine-Bay Hall of the Queen Mother of the West, featuring a front porch. It spans 10 meters in width, 8 meters in depth, with a 2-meter-deep porch, and covers a floor area of 100 square meters.

In the same year, during the autumn season around the birthday of the Queen Mother of the West (Jade Pool Golden Mother), the construction was completed with one hall each for the God of Wealth, the Holy Mother, the Mountain Gate, the Elders’ Hall, the Single Room, and the Dining Hall, along with twenty-one divine statues. Later, a Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars stele was added, and a Moral Teachings Lecture Hall was built. All necessary utensils and facilities were provided. Because the site was originally planted with Feicheng peaches—the earliest in the region—the Xuan Di Miao was renamed Taoyuan Guan (Peach Blossom Source Taoist Temple).

Source: Daoism Voice