Temple of Immortal Pan

　　The Temple of Immortal Pan is located on the east side of the Xian Tai Temple on Wenming Road in Gaozhou City. It was built to commemorate Pan Maoming, a pioneer of Taoism in Lingnan during the Western Jin Dynasty. Pan Maoming, a native of Panzhou (now Gaozhou), went into the mountains during the Yongjia era. There, he encountered an immortal who enlightened him and taught him the secret to eternal life. Following the immortal’s guidance, he gathered herbs and refined elixirs to help those in need, eventually ascending to heaven on a stone boat. After his ascension, local residents built over ten memorial structures of various styles in his honor. Notable examples include Dongshan Temple on Dongshan Mountain, Panxian Pavilion on Panpo, Panxian Pavilion on Bijia Mountain, Xianyi Pavilion in the western part of the city, and Panxian Hall on Guan Mountain. The Temple of Immortal Pan is a comprehensive memorial structure dedicated to Pan Maoming. Originally built as Panxian Pavilion in the first year of the Tianqi era during the Ming Dynasty (1621 AD), it was expanded into the Temple of Immortal Pan in the tenth year of the Chongzhen era (1637 AD).

　　The Temple of Immortal Pan was originally a single-courtyard structure. In front of the temple was the Guangfu Temple. In front of Guangfu Temple were the remnants of Pan Maoming’s stone boat and alchemy furnace. Originally, the Temple of Immortal Pan and the stone boat alchemy furnace were separated, hindering the flow of spiritual energy, and the temple entrance had to pass through the left side of the Xian Tai Temple, which overshadowed it. Later, to open the energy pathways, Guangfu Temple was relocated, and its site was incorporated into the Temple of Immortal Pan, dedicating the space solely to the worship of Pan. This helped gather the spiritual essence of the area. The reconstructed Temple of Immortal Pan consists of three courtyards, with a total depth of 47 meters and a width of 9.5 meters. The main hall is a two-story pavilion-style building, while the middle and front halls feature traditional post-and-lintel wooden structures. A corridor on the right connects to the Xian Tai Temple.

　　Outside the front hall of the Temple of Immortal Pan lies the remnant site of Pan Maoming’s stone boat and alchemy furnace. A pavilion covers the upper part of the alchemy furnace and is called the “Elixir Refining Pavilion.” The stone boat and alchemy furnace remnants form a unified architectural complex with the Temple of Immortal Pan.

　　The stone boat and alchemy furnace are key attractions within the Temple of Immortal Pan.

　　The stone boat moored beside the alchemy furnace on Panpo is eight feet five inches long and four feet wide. Its ends are raised while the middle is slightly concave. Having remained in the wild for years, the entire stone boat is covered with emerald-green moss. The fuzzy moss envelops the mysterious stone boat, creating a unique and striking landscape known as “Moss-Covered Stone Boat,” which was once one of the Eight Scenic Spots of Gaozhou.

　　Adjacent to the stone boat is the alchemy furnace, the remnant site where Pan Maoming refined elixirs. In the sixth year of the Xianhe era of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (331 AD), Pan Maoming returned to Gaozhou and lived in seclusion on Guan Mountain. Each day after gathering various herbs from Dongshan Mountain, he would build an alchemy furnace at the foot of the mountain to create various pills and ointments. Due to years of frequent use, the ground beneath the furnace formed a hardened, burnt layer over a foot thick. In the center of this layer is a cave opening about the size of a plate—this is the furnace’s mouth. To protect the ruins of the alchemy furnace, a pavilion was built over it, known as the Alchemy Furnace Pavilion. Legend says that if you stuff the furnace’s mouth with miscellaneous items, they will vanish by the next morning, returning to their original state. This mysterious site has attracted countless visitors. As a result, the remains of Pan Maoming’s alchemy furnace have also become one of the Eight Scenic Spots of Gaozhou, known as “Panpo Alchemy Furnace.”

　　The “Moss-Covered Stone Boat,” “Panpo Alchemy Furnace,” and the Temple of Immortal Pan form an inseparable and unified architectural complex, making it one of the famous cultural and tourism attractions. Kong Yong, the magistrate of Gaozhou during the Ming Dynasty, composed a poem about the stone boat and alchemy furnace:

　　They say cinnabar preserves youth—why then did the immortal not stay longer among men?

　　Year after year, moss clings to the stone boat; day after day, the alchemy furnace rests quietly under the clouds.

　　Pavilions have aged into new times, yet the world remains the same old land.

　　I came seeking the secret to eternal life—when will the crane from afar return across the sea?

　　

　　Pan Maoming (290~371)　　Pan Maoming (290–371 AD) was a recluse living at the end of the Yongjia era of the Jin Dynasty (307–313 AD). A native of Gaozhou, Guangdong, he was born at the foot of Fushan Mountain in Genzi, now known as Pan Village in Gaozhou. He studied the Book of Changes and was well-versed in the Book of Songs. One day, while in the mountains, he came upon elders playing chess and watched them for a long time. One elder asked, “Boy, do you understand this game?” Pan replied, “Entering through the serpent’s cave, exiting like geese in flight.” The elder was impressed and urged him to pursue the Tao, teaching him the arts of eternal life and night vision. From then on, Pan Maoming “drew water from the mountain springs at dawn, washed herbs in Mirror Water at dusk, gathered lingzhi from the golden fields, boiled marrow from white stones, chewed shoots of jade bamboo, and savored petals of green pears. Through diligent cleansing and refinement, he shed worldly impurities, extracting essence and discarding dross,” eventually refining the Great Elixir of Return and... More+