Brief Introduction of Taihe Palace and Zixiao Palace in Wudang Mountain (danjiangkou city, Hubei)

Wudang Mountain, located in danjiangkou city, Hubei Province, is the Dojo of the Taoist God Zhenwu the Great. There are many temples on the mountain, the most famous of which are the Hall of Supreme Harmony and Zixiao Palace.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony is located on the mountainside of Tianzhu Peak, the main peak of Wudang Mountain. The palace was built in the 14th year of Yongle in Ming Dynasty (14 16) and was awarded the title of "Da Yue Taihe Palace". At that time, * * * built 78 halls, which were expanded to more than 500 during Jiajing period. Today, there are only the Hall of Great Heroes, the Hall of Worship, the Bell and Drum Tower and the Bronze Hall. The main hall is the Hall of Supreme Harmony, which contains the bronze statue of Zhenwu the Great and the statues of the four marshals, the two generals of fire and water, and the golden couple. There is a bronze monument on both sides of the temple gate. One is that in the 29th year of Ming Jiajing (1550), a golden statue tablet was built in Tan Lei, Heilongling, and the other is that in the 31st year of Ming Jiajing (1552), Lu Shu, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Industry, and others were sent to sacrifice the tablet. In front of the temple is a worship hall surrounded by stone tablets. On both sides of the Hall of Great Heroes are the Bell and Drum Tower, and a huge bronze bell is hung in its bell tower, which was cast in the 14th year of Yongle in Ming Dynasty (14 16). There is a transshipment exhibition hall on the Feng Xiaolian opposite the main hall, including a bronze hall built in the 11th year of Yuan Dade (1307) and moved from the top of Tianzhu Peak in the 14th year of Yongle (14 16).

On the lower right of the main hall is the royal classroom rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty, with the words "Bai Yujing Bell" engraved on it, dedicated to Sanqing, Jade Emperor, Dou Lao and other gods. The temple is painted with stories of Taoist immortals, and the doors, windows and lintels are embossed with stories of Taoist characters, all of which are very beautiful. There is a theater, a chef and three official halls in front of Yujing Hall. The whole building of the palace is located under a lonely peak, and the main hall and pavilion are surrounded by rocks. The layout is reasonable, magnificent and exquisite.

Zixiao Palace is located at the foot of Zhanqi Peak in Wudang Mountain. It was built in the 11th year of Yongle in Ming Dynasty (14 13). There are more than 860 primitive buildings of different sizes. The existing buildings are divided into east and west roads. There are Dragon and Tiger Hall, Tang Shifang, Zixiao Hall and Parents Hall in the middle road, East Palace in the east road and West Palace in the west road. The Dragon and Tiger Hall is dedicated to statues of dragons and white tigers. Tang Shifang devoted himself to the statue of Lingguan. There are two stone pavilions around Tang Shifang, which stand the imperial tablet of Emperor Yongle of Ming Dynasty and the stone tablet of Taihe Mountain Road Palace rebuilt by Da Yue during Yongle period. Zixiao Palace is the main hall of Zixiao Palace, with five rooms wide and deep. The hall is dedicated to the bronze statues of the old, middle, young, literary and martial groups of the Ming emperor Zhenwu Emperor. There are four precious lanterns in the temple, and the incense burner, candlestick, Aquarius and sea lamp on the incense table were also given by the emperor. There is also a model of Wudang Mountain in the center of the main hall, which was cast in the forty-fourth year of Wanli in Ming Dynasty (16 16). The Parents' Hall behind Zixiao Hall is a pavilion-like building. The upper floor is dedicated to the Jade Emperor and Dou Lao, and the lower floor is dedicated to the parents of Zhenwu Emperor.

Zixiao Palace is magnificent, and it is the largest and most well-preserved temple in Wudang Mountain. The temple is now the seat of Wudang Mountain Taoist Association. On February 23rd 1982, the State Council was announced as the second batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Taoist Association of China: Dictionary of Taoism, Huaxia Publishing House, 1994, page 6 17-6 18, articles "Zixiao Palace in Wudang Mountain" and "Taihe Palace in Wudang Mountain". China Taoist Dictionary (Beijing: China Social Sciences Press, 1995), p. 1672, articles "Purple Palace in Taiyuan" and "Taiyue Taihe Palace".