Mount Yiwulü and Beizhen Temple医巫闾山与北镇庙

Type

Daoist Sacred Mountains

Location

China · Liaoning · Beizhen, Jinzhou · West of Beizhen City; the Beizhen Temple stands at the eastern foot of the mountain

Coordinates

41.61, 121.75 Map ↗

School

Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism

First built

The Shrine of Mount Yiwulü was built in 594, the 14th year of the Kaihuang era, Sui · The Northern Peak of the "Five Marchmounts," sacrificed to by successive dynasties from the Jin through the Qing; the surviving Beizhen Temple is a Ming–Qing structure; the mountain also has Daoist sites such as the Great Guanyin Pavilion and the Sacred Water Basin

Heritage status

Beizhen Temple: Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level (1988)

Overview

Mount Yiwulü is the Northern Peak among the ancient "Five Marchmounts" (the five great guardian mountains). In the fourteenth year of the Kaihuang reign of Emperor Wen of Sui (594), an imperial edict ordered the building of the Shrine to the Spirit of Mount Yiwulü; from the Jin and Yuan onward the court repeatedly offered sacrifices there, the Yuan dynasty granted it the additional title "King of Zhende Guangning" (Zhende Guangning Wang), and Ming and Qing emperors dispatched officials to conduct sacrifices, with Qing emperors often visiting during their eastern tours. The Beizhen Temple, at the eastern foot of the mountain, survives as a Ming–Qing architectural complex, with a stone memorial archway, mountain gate, Hall of the Divine Horse, Hall of Imperial Incense, Main Hall, Robe-Changing Hall, Inner Incense Hall, and Sleeping Chamber; the temple preserves more than fifty steles from the Yuan, Ming and Qing, making it the best-preserved of the temples of the Five Marchmounts. Daoist activity on the mountain flourished from the Jin and Yuan onward, with remains including the Great Guanyin Pavilion (originally a Daoist temple), the Sacred Water Basin, and the Laoye Pavilion; the Longmen Lineage of Mount Qian was also transmitted here in the Qing. The Beizhen Temple was designated a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level in 1988.

Highlights

• Beizhen Temple
• Yuan, Ming and Qing steles
• Northern Peak of the Five Marchmounts
• Scenery of Mount Yiwulü