Wuxi Yuntai Temple

Wuxi Yuntai Temple

Wuxi Yuntai Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Yuntai Temple stands tall by the Ning River, forming a scenic sight in itself. Surrounded by rugged rocks and suspended in mid-air with a prominent peak rising from the surrounding cliffs, it appears differently from various angles when viewed from afar. Some say it resembles a breast, hence it was called Ruitai Mountain in ancient times; others claim it looks like a cloud, thus named Yuntai Mountain. Nowadays, people unanimously refer to it as Yuntai Mountain. This mountain is regarded as a feng shui treasure land, featuring an "ascending dragon" and a "descending dragon," with a turtle shape in front, making it a vivid Xuanwu (Black Tortoise) landform. It closely resembles the renowned Wudang Mountain and is often called "Little Wudang," serving as a natural abode for immortals.

In the past, Yuntai Temple was called Yuntai Guan (Observatory), first built in the second year of the Kaihuang era of the Sui Dynasty, which is 583 AD. Legend has it that a Taoist priest chose a site by the Daning River to build the observatory. He prepared all the construction materials and a large bell, but after sleeping overnight, he woke up to find both the materials and the bell missing. Alarmed, he searched everywhere without success until he looked up and saw them all piled on a protrusion atop Ruitai Mountain. He then realized it was the work of divine beings selecting the location, so he proceeded to construct the observatory there. However, due to the steep terrain and towering cliffs—with one misstep leading to a plunge into the Daning River—construction could only proceed during heavy fog and had to stop once the mist cleared to prevent any height-fearing workers from falling.

After years of construction, the temples on Yuntai Mountain became resplendent and numerous, with the most iconic structure being the one on the rocky protrusion. At Yuntai Guan, the morning bells and evening drums could be heard clearly throughout the old county town of Wuxi. The original structures of Yuntai Guan were completely destroyed during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, when Red Guards smashed the temples and drove away the Taoist priests. One priest jumped off a cliff to his death, yet mysteriously emerged unscathed without a single drop of blood. As the saying goes, “Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river”—fortunes change. In 2005, a deputy director of the Buddhist Association of China visited the site and selected it for temple reconstruction. With approval and support from the county government, construction of Yuntai Temple began. A statue of Guanyin (Goddess of Mercy) was brought from Jingzhou, and incense offerings resumed, bringing vitality back to Yuntai Mountain. The current Yuntai Temple, built atop the rocky protrusion and pointing towards the sky, houses a striking bell and features murals on all four walls, each depicting a Buddhist story. The mountain continues to be developed according to plan, and now includes temples dedicated to Guanyin and Ksitigarbha (Earth Store Bodhisattva), among others. A building on the back mountain has also been completed.

Historically, this was a place of thriving incense offerings, where many came to pray and fulfill vows, creating a lively atmosphere. Notably, the world’s most perilous Dragon Head Incense offering was especially marvelous—it hung halfway in the air over a sheer drop of a thousand meters, far more awe-inspiring than the one at Wudang Mountain. Legend says that kind-hearted people who burned incense here would remain safe and unafraid, while those with ill intentions might fall off the cliff. This may have been related to acrophobia, though no one knows exactly how many people fell.

Yuntai Guan was a sacred site of Taoism, attracting many worshippers, hence it was called “Little Wudang.” Taoism emphasizes harmony between heaven and humanity, going with the flow of nature, cultivating the body and mind, and ultimately ascending to immortality and eternal life. When Wang Chongyang founded the Quanzhen School, advocating equality among Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism and promoting their unification, one of his seven disciples—Qiu Chuji, the Taoist priest from Jin Yong’s novel “The Legend of the Condor Heroes”—founded the Longmen Sect. From the dragon, phoenix, and qilin engravings on the tombstones of Taoist priests on the back of Yuntai Mountain, it can be inferred that Yuntai Guan belonged to the Longmen Sect. The site originally had a Chunyang Hall, dedicated to Lü Dongbin, one of the Eight Immortals. Among the Eight Immortals, Lü Dongbin held the foremost status. While most people are a combination of yin and yang, Lü Dongbin alone was said to possess a pure yang body. Locals used the ash from incense offerings dedicated to him as fertilizer to grow a special herb known as Chunyang Cao (Pure Yang Grass), believed to have miraculous effects on enhancing male vitality and kidney health.

Chinese witchcraft directly gave rise to native Taoism. Taoism's aspiration for achieving immortality in the present life proved largely unattainable. Though Taoism adheres to natural laws and holds a degree of reasonableness, it failed to gain widespread popularity outside China. In contrast, Buddhism, which spread to China from India during the Eastern Han Dynasty based on self-awareness and karmic causality, advocated doing good deeds to secure happiness in future lives. It proved highly appealing and rapidly flourished after the journey to retrieve Buddhist scriptures by Xuanzang. Wuxi is the birthplace of witch culture, where people have long worshipped deities, ancestors, and nature, making it naturally receptive to Buddhist and Taoist ideologies. Yuntai Guan has always been a sacred site integrating both Buddhism and Taoism, with the Laojun Hall and Guanyin Hall maintaining continuous incense offerings. In the early days of New China, Wuxi had the highest density of Taoist temples and Buddhist shrines in Chongqing and even across the nation—among a population of just tens of thousands, there were over 3,000 places of worship. Ancient witch culture gave rise to religions such as Buddhism and Taoism, which in turn profoundly influenced modern witch culture. Existing folk practices such as “duangong” rituals and witchcraft incorporate Buddhist and Taoist concepts. Witchcraft has long served as the bridge between the real world and the mystical realm. The Quanzhen School believes all religions stem from a common origin, which is essentially witchcraft. Wuxi is the birthplace and cradle of witch culture, where folk witch traditions remain prevalent, and witch culture has become a typical example of intangible cultural heritage.

Nowadays, during festivals, holidays, and Guanyin events, Yuntai Temple bustles with people. Tourists, incense burners, and vow-makers come with diverse hopes and leave with new aspirations. It is said that during one Guanyin event, the Goddess of Mercy appeared in the sky in her true form, surrounded by auspicious clouds and radiant light for over two hours. Over two hundred devotees witnessed the miracle. At Yuntai Temple, as long as you offer a sincere stick of incense, your wish may come true. Everyone, make a wish—or don’t. Either way, the bodhisattvas will bless you.