Jintai Temple, Baoji宝鸡金台观
- Type
- Temples and Abbeys (Gongguan)
- Location
- China · Shaanxi · Baoji · Southern slope of Lingyuan Mountain, Jintai District
- Coordinates
- 34.38, 107.15 Map ↗
- School
- Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism, Sanfeng Lineage
- First built
- Late Yuan–Early Ming · The site where Zhang Sanfeng cultivated the Dao; imperially restored during the Yongle and Tianshun eras of the Ming; the surviving buildings are Ming- and Qing-dynasty cave-dwelling structures; converted into the Baoji Municipal Museum in the 1990s
- Heritage status
- Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level (2013)
Overview
The Jintai Temple stands on the southern slope of Lingyuan Mountain on the northern plateau of Baoji, where Zhang Sanfeng cultivated the Dao in the late Yuan and early Ming; the court ordered its imperial restoration during the Yongle and Tianshun eras of the Ming, making it an important site of the cult of Zhang Sanfeng. The temple is built into the loess plateau, combining excavated cave-dwellings with freestanding halls, including the Yuhuang Pavilion, the Hall of the Three Pure Ones, the Hall of Patriarch Lü, the Sanfeng Cave, and a stele bearing Zhang Sanfeng's 'melon-rind script.' The buildings are arranged on three terraces, a typical fusion of the loess landform of the Guanzhong region with Daoist temple architecture. The temple preserves more than ten Ming- and Qing-dynasty steles; it was converted into the Baoji Municipal Museum in the 1990s (the museum has since relocated) and Daoist activity resumed in the 2000s. It was designated a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level in 2013.
Highlights
- Sanfeng Cave
- Stele of the 'melon-rind script'
- Cave-dwelling-style halls
- Lingyuan Plateau