Beijing...... my home for more than ten years.
From Forbidden City to Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace to Yonghe Lhama Temple,
Longqing Gorge, White Cloud Mountain, etc.
It is the place where the ancient and modern blend into one.
The White Cloud Temple, also known as Baiyun Temple or the Abbey or Monastery of the White Clouds, is a Taoist temple and monastery located in Beijing, China. It is one of "The Three Great Ancestral Courts" of the Quanzhen School of Taoism and is titled "The First Temple under Heaven. The White Cloud Temple was first founded in the mid-8th century during the Tang dynasty and was initially called the Temple of Heavenly Perpetuity (Tianchang Guan). During this period, the abbey was state-sponsored and staffed by an elite clergy. From 1125 to 1215 when what is now Beijing was controlled by the Jin dynasty, the abbey served as the Taoist administrative headquarters and played an important role in state ceremonies. After Beijing was taken by the Mongols in 1215, the abbey was taken over by the Quanzhen patriarch Qiu Chuji and became the headquarters of the Quanzhen movement until the establishment of the Ming dynasty. Qiu—who himself was known by the name Master of Eternal Spring—renamed the abbey the Palace of Eternal Spring (Changchun Gong). Upon being summoned by Genghis Khan, Qiu undertook a three-year trek from Shandong to give the great khan an exposition on Taoism, which he completed in October 1222. Qiu's successor, Yin Zhiping (尹志平; 1169-1251) built a memorial shrine over Qiu's grave. This shrine became a temple in its own right and became known as the White Cloud Temple. The abbey was damaged when the Mongols took over in the late 13th century and, during the Ming dynasty, the Palace of Eternal Spring was destroyed. However, the White Cloud Temple survived and took over the functions of its former parent. Qiu Chuji and Yin Zhiping appeared on wuxia novel Eagle Shooting Heroes 射雕英雄传 and Return of Condor Heroes 神雕侠侣 by Jin Yong. The White Cloud Temple is also mentioned in the historical fiction The Great Emperor Kangxi by Eryue He. In the story, it was said that Kangxi visited the temple in around 1658. The temple was not been fully renovated during the time after the destruction during the late Ming Dynasty. The book described, that there was a long corridor with the diorama of the story Journey to The West - but when I visited there, there's no diorama of Journey to the West. But inside one of the hall, there's a diorama which depicted Qiu Chuji's travel to the western region (probably current Samarkand) where he met Genghiz Khan. The corridor is now used as a gallery for painting and calligraphy. Also, in the book, it was said that the tripod or ding, was made of gold. Indeed there's a tripod/ ding with the golden bronze color, but it was not gold. To this day, the White Cloud Temple remains controlled by the Quanzhen school. The abbey was without an abbot for the 1940s and was closed when the Communists came to power in 1949. Unlike many other historical sites which were damaged during the Cultural Revolution, the White Cloud Temple was well-protected and remained safe. Today, it is again a fully functioning temple and is the seat of the Chinese Taoist Association.. It is very easy to go to White Cloud Temple. It's located not far from Beijing Subway line 2 (Changchun Lu). It was located outside off the old Beijing city wall. Therefore, it was actually considered as a suburb during Kangxi's time. In the novel, Kangxi rode a horse, or a chariot to go there. Since it is a taoist monastery, there I saw a taoist practitioner who played guqin over there as part of their worship ritual. It's so relaxing to be there. It's like a retreat place in the middle of metropolitan Beijing. A Taoist master was playing Taichi in a hall with the diorama of Qiu Chujiu met Genghiz Khan.
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Author:I am Kangxi's big fan. I read books about him, and I travel and visit places he visited before. D'oh!! :p Archives
February 2020
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