Huanglong Temple on Luofu Mountain

Huanglong Temple on Luofu Mountain

Huanglong Temple is located at the foot of Yannü Peak on the western side of Luofu Mountain and is one of the famous Eighteen Grotto-Heavens of Luofu. It is a renowned Taoist sacred site on Luofu Mountain, enjoying perpetual incense offerings and a steady stream of visitors.

Huanglong Temple

Huanglong Temple on Luofu Mountain is known as the largest temple in Guangdong. Located on Luofu Mountain in the northwest of Boluo County, although it has not been consecrated for very long, historical legends about Huanglong Cave can be traced back to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Currently, Huanglong Temple features two main halls, a Taoist college, an ancestral hall, a celestial garden, and other structures, along with pavilions, terraces, ponds, and waterfalls, all situated midway up Luofu Mountain.

According to historical records, Huanglong Cave was originally called Jinsha Cave. The name “Huanglong” (Yellow Dragon) originated with Liu Yan, the ruler of the Southern Han Dynasty. Liu Yan once carried out large-scale construction at Jinsha Cave, building the magnificent imperial palace Tianhua Palace. When he personally inspected the site, he was highly satisfied. That night, while resting, he dreamed of a yellow dragon soaring into the sky from beside the palace. Delighted, Liu Yan took this as an auspicious sign of enduring national prosperity and renamed Jinsha Cave to Huanglong Cave, also drawing on the meaning of “a flying dragon in the sky.” During the Qing Dynasty’s Kangxi era, the Taoist priest Zhang Miaosheng from the Mount Lao School of Shandong visited Huanglong Cave to pay respects to the ancient ruins. He discovered that the cave had a strong feng shui presence with auspicious purple air ascending from the east—making it an ideal grotto-heaven for spiritual cultivation, enlightenment, and philosophical discourse. As a result, he established Huanglong Temple on the site of the former Tianhua Palace.

However, Huanglong Temple did not escape the trials of history. During the Cultural Revolution, it suffered extensive damage, with its buildings completely destroyed, leaving only broken tiles and ruins scattered in the grass. It wasn’t until the spring of 1992 that the Taoist priest Hou Baohuan from the Hong Kong Ching Chung Taoist Temple, accompanied by officials from Boluo County Government in Huizhou City, inspected the former site of Huanglong Temple. Eventually, an agreement was signed with the Boluo County Government to rebuild the temple, with the Hong Kong Ching Chung Taoist Temple providing substantial funding for its reconstruction on the original site.

Construction began in April 1993 with a total investment of over 50 million RMB and was consecrated in October 1995. It is said that during the consecration ceremony, two strip-like clouds appeared in the sky, resembling dragons flying across the heavens, which slowly dissipated after about 10 minutes, leaving thousands of attendees in awe.

Subsequently, further investments were made to construct additional structures such as Huanglong Avenue, Cien Pavilion, and a large memorial archway, bringing the total investment to nearly 150 million RMB to date.

Luofu Mountain Management Committee: Since the Qin and Han dynasties, Luofu Mountain has been known as the “Mountain of Immortals.” It has long held reputations such as “One of China’s Ten Great Taoist Mountains,” “The First Mountain of Lingnan,” and “The Ancestor of the Baiyue Mountain Range,” and is revered in Taoism as the “Seventh Grotto-Heaven and Thirty-Fourth Blessed Land.” The great Han Dynasty literary figure Sima Qian regarded Luofu Mountain as a famous mountain second only to the Five Great Mountains, referring to it as “Yue Yue” (Guangdong Mountain).

Luofu Mountain is a national scenic area and a 5A-level tourist attraction in China, covering a total area of 214.82 square kilometers with 432 peaks, including more than 80 peaks over 1,000 meters in height. The main peak, Feiyun Summit... Luofu Mountain Management Committee detailed information++