Tai Gong Mountain in Qijiang District

Tai Gong Mountain in Qijiang District

Tai Gong Mountain is a natural large mountain located in the northwest of Qijiang, spanning three districts and five towns including Wenlong Subdistrict in Qijiang District, Yipin Subdistrict and Anlan Town in Banan District, as well as Dushi Town and Guangxing Town in Jiangjin District. The "Tri-district Boundary Monument" of Qijiang, Banan, and Jiangjin stands on Tai Gong Mountain. With an elevation of nearly 1,000 meters, the mountain features excellent forest vegetation, a pleasant climate, beautiful surroundings, and is filled with birdsong and floral scents.

The Great Buddha Temple is located in Jinchai Village at the junction of Qijiang, Jiangjin, and Banan districts. Covering an area of over 60 acres, the temple is built against the mountain with an ingenious and well-arranged layout, exuding solemnity. It sits at the highest point of Tai Gong Mountain, surrounded by towering trees and misty clouds, offering picturesque scenery.

The Great Buddha Temple was formerly known as White Horse Temple. Legend has it that long ago, at dusk, people often saw a pair of white horses chasing and playing joyfully in the mountain forests. However, the moment anyone approached, the horses would vanish suddenly. One day, a high monk passing by witnessed this and was delighted, saying, “This is the White Horse Cave, where celestial steeds frolic—truly a blessed land.” Thus, he built a temple here and named it White Horse Temple.

By the late Ming Dynasty, the Great Buddha Temple flourished with a continuous stream of worshippers. A 3-meter-tall statue of the Great Buddha was enshrined in the temple. It is said that this statue was brought from Mount Fanjing by an accomplished monk, and due to the bodhisattva’s miraculous powers, the temple was renamed the Great Buddha Temple. During the Qing Dynasty, the temple expanded to include the Mahavira Hall, Yuantong Hall, and Tongming Hall, with more Buddha statues added, attracting even more monks.

In the 8th year of the Republic of China (1911), the Great Buddha Temple underwent renovation again. The temple shone gloriously, featuring upper, middle, and lower halls, along with left and right courtyards.

The temple had majestic skywells, library towers, and surrounding walls. Every year during the three major festival periods (the birthdays of Guanyin Bodhisattva on the 3rd, 6th, and 9th lunar months) and in spring

and autumn, worshippers from hundreds of miles around flocked to the temple to burn incense, pray for peace, and pay homage. During the Guanyin Festival, lay devotees and pilgrims numbered up to 8,000.

After a century of vicissitudes, the Great Buddha Temple still preserves 73 exquisitely crafted Buddha statues, including Sakyamuni and Thousand-Armed Guanyin, as well as Buddhist murals such as “Shaving the Head and Changing Clothes” and “Guanyin’s Appearance,” all in remarkable condition.

Tai Gong Mountain boasts numerous natural landscapes, to which people have added many legends over the centuries.

“Tai Gong chases Tai Po, Rooster chases Goose, Two Dragons fight over the Treasure on the 15th, and a Felt Hat lands in Dushi Tuo.” This long-circulated Qijiang folk rhyme connects the natural scenic spots and folk tales of Tai Gong Mountain with those of the Qijiang urban area. Today, ancient legends such as “White Horse Cave,” “Golden Hairpin Well,” “Twin Breast Mountain,” and “Tai Gong Rock” are deeply rooted in local culture. Natural attractions like the Tri-district Boundary Monument, celebrity head carvings, the Turtle Worshiping the Buddha, Incense Burner Rock, and Guest-Greeting Pine are also mesmerizingly beautiful.

Before liberation, Tai Gong Village was called Fuli Jiujia. During the Great Leap Forward in 1958, it was renamed Tai Gong Brigade after the nearby Tai Gong Mountain. It is now known as Tai Gong Village, covering an area of 4.99 square kilometers with a population of 1,726, 512 households, and 8 villager groups. Groups 5, 6, and 7 border Hongtang Village in Jiangjin across Tea Forest Ridge.

On either side of Wanxing Mountain lie two major mountain ranges: to the left is Tai Gong Mountain stretching from Chundeng Village to Tai Gong Village, and to the right is a ridge extending from Hongqi Village to Jinchai Village. Tai Gong Village is mountainous and densely forested, with a forest area of over 3,100 acres.

The Xuefeng pears grown on Wanxing Mountain are fragrant, juicy, sweet, refreshing, and have good storage qualities. There are 10 farming households cultivating over 10 acres of these pears each.

Wanxingchang on Tai Gong Mountain was built in the 15th year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty (1835), and is a truly ancient market town. In its heyday, it thrived with bustling commerce and merchants. The old market town's charm remains intact to this day, giving visitors a sense of traveling back in time.

Adjacent to Wanxingchang is the Wanxing Hongqi Farmer New Village, completed in May 2010. Featuring classic East Sichuan residential architectural styles surrounded by blooming flowers and pastoral scenery, it presents a thriving scene. This village is part of a farmer new village project under the “Urban-Rural Integration and Coordinated Development” initiative. The main road is paved for 1.2 kilometers, with 2 kilometers of sidewalks, and 26 dilapidated houses were renovated nearby. The Bashu-style residences include supporting facilities such as a village-level public service center, police station, convenience store, clinic, public toilet and garbage station, biochemical treatment pool, farmhouse library, fitness area, and small plaza.

The surrounding areas of the new village have 100 acres of nurseries, 200 acres of vegetables, 200 acres of citrus groves, and 1,000 acres of suburban forest greening. There are also 5 local farmhouses nearby, making it a great spot to “taste rural flavors and enjoy the scenery of Qijiang.”

The new village is just 5 kilometers from downtown Qijiang and offers a commanding view of the city from above, with breathtaking scenery. Visiting Tai Gong Mountain allows you to experience Buddhist culture, taste fresh produce and authentic farmhouse dishes, explore ancient forests and historic market towns, and discover the charm of farmer new villages. Here, history and modernity intertwine, making it a place where visitors can truly lose themselves in delight.

Source: Dengkou County Tourism Bureau