Taoist Buildings on Mount Wudang

Mount Wudang stands in northwestern Hubei Province. Its lush forestation, caves, grotesque rocks, springs, streams, and precipitous peaks provide many beautiful landscapes.

Mt. Wudang has 72 peaks enshrouded by clouds and mist the year round. Tianzhu (Heavenly Pillar) Peak is the highest and the others bend toward it, creating a spectacular sight. Legend has it that, Chenwu, the god of the northern lunar mansions, was born on Mt. Wudang and practiced austerities, attained immortality, and went up to heaven there. Historically, the famous Taoist shrine on Mt. Wudang has attracted many people.

Mt. Wudang is also the birthplace of Wudang wushu (martial arts), the most important school of martial arts in south China. (Shaolin is the most important school in the north.) In the past, the Taoist priests on Mt. Wudang would, in the course of their meditation, practice a routine set of exercises for fitness and self-defense. The exercises were systematized into Wudang wushu, which specializes in conquering toughness by gentleness and gaining mastery by striking only after the opponent has struck.

Mt. Wudang houses a magnificent Taoist architectural complex that was listed as one of the world cultural heritages in 1994 by the World Heritage Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Construction of the Taoist architectural complex on Mt. Wudang began during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The complex was expanded during the Song (960-1279). Yuan (1271-1368), and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties.In 1403, Zhu Di, the fourth son of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (the founder of the Ming Dynasty), seized the throne from his own nephew, an illegal action according to the feudal code of ethics. In order to justify his action and win over the people, Emperor Zhu Di claimed that he had acted on the order of the gods and that the god Chenwu of Mt. Wudang had blessed and protected him.

After Zhu Di ascended the throne, he launched an extensive construction project, including the Imperial Palace in Beijing and the Taoist architectural complex on Mt. Wudang, to express his gratitude to the gods and consolidate his rule. Emperor Zhu Di also proclaimed the god Chenwu to be the chief guardian angel of the imperial family. Under the rule of Emperor Zhu Di, Taoism on Mt. Wudang entered a period of great prosperity.

Succeeding emperors of the Ming Dynasty used the Taoist architectural complex on Mt. Wudang as the ancestral shrine of the imperial court. They supported the Taoism on Mt. Wudang and expanded the complex. Mt. Wudang became known as the No.1 Mountain Under Heaven, and the center of China's Taoism, and ever since those times, the Taoism on Mt. Wudang has had followers in all parts of China and in southeast Asian countries.

Records show that Emperor Zhu Di summoned 300,000 craftsmen to build Taoist structures on Mt. Wudang, containing a total of 8,000 rooms and halls, in 12 years. Many facilities inside the structures, including statues of gods, sacrificial utensils, musical instruments for Taoist rituals, banners, and curtains, were bestowals of the imperial family. Made of gold and silver, the facilities are beautiful and sumptuous.

The architectural complex was designed according to the Taoist stories of the god Chenwu's self-cultivation on Mt. Wudang for attaining immortality and according to the needs of the political and religious authorities. The complex embodies the solemnity, mightiness, abstruseness, and miraculousness that both the imperial and Taoist authorities needed.

From the foot of the mountain up to the Golden Hall at the summit of Tianzhu Peak runs a sacred stone stairway 70 kilometers in length. There are 8 palaces, 2 Taoist temples, 36 nunneries, 72 cave temples, 39 bridges, and 12 pavilions built along the stairway. During the 12 years of construction, Emperor Zhu Di issued more than 60 decrees on the dispatch of laborers, the design drawings, and the treatment of surplus building materials.

Emperor Zhu Di insisted that the construction of the Taoist architectural complex should follow the terrain of the mountain. All the buildings were built on high, precipitous peaks, slopes, and cliffs or in ravines and caves. The complex and its surroundings, including streams, abundant trees, and grotesque rocks, seem to form a natural landscape painting. Harmonizing with the surroundings, the Taoist architectural complex on Mt. Wudang embodies the Taoist principle of worshiping nature.

During the Ming Dynasty, the Taoist architectural complex on Mt. Wudang was known as A Grand Spectacle of All Ages. Today, the complex remains intact and has preserved many wonders, displaying the wisdom of the ancient people.

In the five-story Fuzhen (Truth Returning) Nunnery is a column supporting 12 roof beams. The Jiuqu Huanghe (Nine-Bend Yellow River) Wall carried sound in the same way as the Echo Wall in the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. When the bell in the Zhuanshen (Turning Round) Hall is rung, its sound lingers for a long time outside the hall but can hardly be heard inside. The Golden Hall at the summit of Tianzhu Peak is a bronze structure plated with gold. In the past, when the hall had no lightning rod, lightning would sometimes strike the hall and produce a wonderful view: flashing light with puffs of fire, but the hall was always undamaged.

With its Taoist architectural complex, beautiful Taoist music, and various legends, Mount Wudang, one of the famous Taoist mountains, attracts many pilgrims, and tourists.