Ganzhou Yuxu Taoist Temple

　　Legend has it that the late Tang Dynasty Taoist priest Shi Jianwu (also known as Huayang Zhenren) once traveled from Hongdu (present-day Nanchang)’s Western Hills to Ganzhou and stayed at this temple together with another Zhenren (Taoist master) Liu Jixian. During the Song Dynasty’s Zhili era (1064–1066), Emperor Yingzong granted the temple an inscribed plaque. In the Ming Dynasty’s Yongle era (1403–1423), the Hanlin academician Xie Jin wrote the plaque inscribed with “Yuxu Taoist Temple.” In the early Ming Dynasty, the eminent Taoist Liu Yuanyan (a native of Ganzhou County) established this temple as a place for spiritual practice, leaving behind four generations of practitioners (namely Liu Yuanyan, Liu Jixian, Liu Mingqing, and Liu Ziyi) who contributed to its development. Their practice motto was: “The superior practitioner ascends to the Heavenly Palace; the middling practitioner establishes immortality in the Southern Palace; the inferior practitioner prolongs life in the mortal world.” The temple housed an alchemy furnace, alchemy platform, and alchemy well. At that time, Yuxu Taoist Temple was managed by Taoist officials appointed by the emperor and was under the jurisdiction of the Celestial Master Zhang of Longhu Mountain. During the Qing Dynasty, Taoist priest Liu Ziyi designated Yuxu Taoist Temple as a prefectural temple, overseeing Taoist affairs in southern Ganzhou. He established the Yin-Yang Studies department to manage the Taoist moral code, with Taoist priest Jiao presiding over the temple’s Yin-Yang ritual practices. During the Republic of China period, an elementary school was established here. After the liberation, the site continued to be used as land for Shuidong Primary School. In 1985, the Ganzhou Municipal Government decided to return the land by compensation. In 1989, Yuxu Taoist Temple was rebuilt on Wansong Mountain (also known as Xianshan) in Shuidong, with Taoist priest Fang Yeru overseeing the reconstruction. In June 1990, after completion, it was approved for opening and Fang Yeru was appointed as the abbot. On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month that same year, Abbot Fang Yeru presided over a grand consecration ceremony for Yuxu Taoist Temple. Over 300 religious figures and devotees attended the event. After the consecration, the temple received over 3,000 Taoist followers from Beijing, Shanghai, Fujian, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the United States, and other domestic and international locations.

　　Source: Taoism Voice