Dongyang Palace

　　 Dongyang Palace, a provincial-level cultural heritage site, is located atop a mountain peak northeast of Laozhuang Town in our county, about 25 kilometers northwest of the county seat. It was originally built before the Northern Wei Dynasty.

　　 In the first year of the Tianshun era (1459) during the Ming Dynasty, the renowned Taoist priest Zhang Sanfeng, who was conferred the title of “Tongwei Xianhua Zhenren” (Permeating Subtlety and Manifesting Transformation Real Person) by the emperor, practiced here and rebuilt Dongyang Palace. During the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong era, it was restored again by the Taoist disciple Chen Benxiu, who also built a large city wall about a hundred zhang in length and planted over 3,000 pine and fir trees. A stele was erected in the 50th year of Qianlong (1785). In the third year of the Xuantong era (1911), the Taoist disciple Liu Zongde oversaw the construction of a 360-step stone stairway, a carved stone water vat, and in 1937, another disciple, Wei Chengxin, built three rooms at Lingguan Cliff, four rooms at Zhangye Cave and Taibai Temple, and one room at Black Tiger Spring. In 1985, the Three Pure Ones Hall, Jade Emperor Hall, Ten Kings Hall, and Earth God Temple were restored. Dongyang Palace is divided into upper and lower courtyards, comprising 64 rooms and covering seven to eight hundred acres of mountain land. Here, peaks surround the site like a crown, lush pines brim with emerald greenery, the location nestles against the Qinling mountain range, and faces spiritual cliffs and ancient temples. With uniquely beautiful scenery and picturesque landscapes, the area is still home to popular legends such as Zhangye Cave, Bihuo City, Bachi Xianhua (Plucking Flowers from the Pool), and Tiantai Yunshi (Moving Stones from the Heavenly Terrace). Cultural relics such as the Jiajing Incense Burner, Wanli Iron Bell, plaques, inscriptions, and stone stairways used for climbing still remain. It is one of the oldest Taoist sacred sites in southern Shaanxi.