4th Grotto-Heaven: Mount Xixuan第四 西玄山洞（三元极真之天）
- Type
- Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands
- Location
- China · Shaanxi (presumed) · — · "Probably beyond the reach of human footsteps"; conjecturally placed in the Xixuan Valley west of Mount Hua or in the Zhongnan Mountains.
- Coordinates
- 34.3, 108.9 Map ↗
- First built
- Sima Chengzhen, Chart of the Palaces and Bureaus of Heaven and Earth (during the Kaiyuan era of the Tang); Du Guangting, Record of Grotto-Heavens, Blessed Lands, Marchmounts, Rivers and Famous Mountains (end of the Tang) · The Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands system took shape in the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties; the roster of names was fixed in the Tang by Sima Chengzhen and Du Guangting. Present-day identifications are conjectural.
Overview
The fourth of the Ten Great Grotto-Heavens, three thousand li in circumference and titled the "Heaven of the Three Origins and Ultimate Perfection." The Chart of the Palaces and Bureaus of Heaven and Earth states that it is "probably beyond the reach of human footsteps, and its location is unknown"; later tradition has variously placed it in the Xixuan Valley west of Mount Hua, on the Zhongnan Mountains, or at the Xixuan of Mount Kunlun. Within Daoist sacred geography this grotto-heaven leans toward the mythical.