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White Cloud Taoist
Temple
The White Cloud Temple is in
southwestern Beijing, directly behind the
Broadcasting Building. It was called the
Temple of Heavenly Eternity during the Tang
Dynasty and the Temple of the Great Ultimate
during the Jin Dynasty. It is the largest
Daoist architectural complex in Beijing
and was the headquarters for the Dragon
Gate sect. Although historical records indicate
that there were Daoist temples in Beijing
during the Tang Dynasty, it was not until
the early Yuan Dynasty that they came to
be built on a large scale. The Yuan Emperor
Shizu (Kublai Khan), whose reign lasted
from 1260 to 1293, appointed a Daoist priest
from Shandong province to the position of"National
Teacher,"which nominally put him in
charge of all Chinese Doaist affairs. This
priest's name was Qiu Chuji, but he was
commonly known as the Sage of Eternal Spring
(Changchun Zhenren). While Qiu Chuji was
in Beijing, he resided in the Temple of
the Great Ultimate, which he expanded and
renamed the Temple of Eternal Spring (Changchungong).
From then on, it became the center of Daoism
in northern China. It was not until the
Zhengtong era (1436-1449) of the Ming Dynasty
that its current name was adopted.
The extant temple was rebuilt
in the Qing Dynasty and exemplifies the
Daoist architecture of the period. The complex
is composed of multiple courtyards set out
on a central axis. From front to back the
structures are as follows: a memorial archway,
the main gate, a pool, a bridge, the Hall
of Officials of the Heavenly Censor ate
(corresponding to the Buddhist Hall of Heavenly
Kings), the Hall of the Jade Emperor and
the Hall of Religious Law (corresponding
to the rear hall of a Buddhist temple).
In the center of the rear courtyard
is the Hall of the Patriarch Qiu, devoted
to the worship of Qiu Chuji, and behind
this, the Hall of the Four Heavenly Emperors,
the second story of which is the Hall of
Three Purities (corresponding to the Sutra
Repository of Buddhist temples and housing
the Daoist Tripitaka). Here one can see
the similarity between Daoist and Buddhist
temple architectures, though the decorative
details and paintings make use of specifically
Daoist motifs such as lingzhi fungus, specifically
Daoist immortals and cranes, and the Eight
Diagrams.
The temple contains a stela
with calligraphy by Emperor Qianlong recording
in detail the history the history of the
temple and the life of Qiu Chuji.
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