Huangting Temple, Nanyue南岳黄庭观
- Type
- Temples and Abbeys (Gongguan)
- Location
- China · Hunan · Hengyang · At the foot of Jixian Peak, Nanyue District
- Coordinates
- 27.25, 112.72 Map ↗
- School
- Shangqing (Highest Clarity) School
- First built
- Tang (according to one account, Jin) · Commemorates Wei Huacun, patriarch of the Shangqing School, who cultivated the Dao here; named "Huangting Temple" by Emperor Huizong of Song; present buildings from a Qing-dynasty reconstruction
- Heritage status
- Hunan Provincial Cultural Heritage Site
Overview
Huangting Temple was built to commemorate Wei Huacun (Lady Wei), founding patriarch of the Shangqing School; tradition holds that in her later years Lady Wei cultivated the Dao for sixteen years at the foot of Jixian Peak on Nanyue, where she obtained the Scripture of the Yellow Court (Huangting jing) and ascended. A shrine to Lady Wei was built in the Tang, and Emperor Huizong of Song granted it the name "Huangting Temple" during the Zhenghe era, taking its meaning from the Huangting jing. The temple has been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt; its present buildings date mainly from a Qing-dynasty reconstruction, with a mountain gate, transitional hall, Lady Wei's Hall, Feixian Rock, and Lidou Altar; the cliff behind the temple preserves Song- and Ming-dynasty cliff inscriptions. Huangting Temple is an important memorial site for the tradition of female cultivation in Daoism and for the Shangqing lineage's transmission at Nanyue.
Highlights
- Lady Wei's Hall
- Feixian Rock
- Lidou Altar
- Cliff Inscriptions