Danxia Guan

　　Danxia Guan

　　Danxia Guan, also known as Tianshi Guan, is located at the foot of Baiyun Mountain in Tangbei Village, Gong’an Town. It was first built in the first year of the Yongshou era of the Han Dynasty (155 AD). Legend has it that it was the place where Zhang Daoling refined elixirs. The temple has been destroyed and rebuilt many times throughout history. It was reconstructed in the 25th year of the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty, and later, the “Yigong Ancestral Hall” and a theater stage were successively built beside and in front of the temple. All were destroyed in 1958. In 1986, local residents raised funds to rebuild Danxia Guan and the theater stage on the original site. Danxia Guan is situated against a mountain and beside water, facing east with its back to the west. It has two courtyards and three halls, is 11.7 meters wide, 23.3 meters deep, and 12 meters tall, built with a structure of brick, wood, and stone. The temple complex includes halls for enshrining deities, altars for prayers and rituals, and rooms for scripture lectures. On both sides of the courtyard are viewing platforms and pavilions. The halls house eleven statues of the Heavenly Master Zhang. The temple is surrounded by peaks, embraced by mountains and water, shaded by trees, with beautiful scenery and a tranquil environment.

　　The “Fuchuan County Annals” revised in the 16th year of the Guangxu era of the Qing Dynasty records: Zhang Daoling, courtesy name Fuhan, was the grandson of the Marquis of Liu from the Han Dynasty. He was born on Tianyue Mountain in Kuaiji and was skilled in healing with talisman water. He lived in seclusion in Baixia of Fuchuan. In the first year of the Yongshou era of Emperor Huan, he moved to Yuntaifeng, where he ascended to heaven in broad daylight. The locals then named the place “Danxia Guan” and “Dan Furnace,” where the medicinal mortar remains to this day. Song Dynasty’s Fan Chunren was exiled to Hezhou. Su Dongpo once wrote to him saying, “Are the legends true that Danxia Guan holds the relics of Zhang Daoling and some miraculous herbs?” “It has been passed down since ancient times.” This shows that even as early as the Song Dynasty, Su Dongpo inquired about Zhang Daoling refining elixirs here at Danxia Guan. Moreover, there are also two poems inscribed on cliff rocks in Biyunyan by poets from the Song and Ming Dynasties, such as “The immortal of the Han era has already ridden the great bird, leaving only the old cave in these mountains.” These suggest that such historical events may have indeed taken place.

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