Mount Lao (Laoshan)崂山
- Type
- Daoist Sacred Mountains
- Location
- China · Shandong · Qingdao · Laoshan District, Qingdao; the main peak, Jufeng, rises to 1,132.7 meters; a famous mountain by the sea
- Coordinates
- 36.19, 120.63 Map ↗
- School
- Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism, Longmen (Dragon Gate) Lineage of Quanzhen, Suishan Lineage of Quanzhen, Jinshan Lineage of Quanzhen
- First built
- Western Han, first year of Jianyuan (140 BCE); tradition holds Zhang Lianfu built the Taiqing Palace · Taiqing Palace was built by imperial decree in the early Song; in the Yuan, Qiu Chuji and Liu Chuxuan spread Quanzhen teaching at Mount Lao, making it a major stronghold of Quanzhen Daoism, giving rise to the account of its 'nine palaces, eight temples, and seventy-two hermitages'
- Heritage status
- Daoist Architectural Complex of Mount Lao — Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level (2013)National Scenic Area (1982)
Overview
Mount Lao is known as 'the foremost mountain by the sea,' and in Daoism as 'the dwelling of immortals and the abode of the numinous and marvelous.' Tradition holds that Zhang Lianfu built the Sanguan Hermitage here in the early Han (the predecessor of Taiqing Palace); Daoist priests gathered here in great numbers during the Tang and Song, and Emperor Taizu of the Song ordered Taiqing Palace built by imperial decree as the place of practice of the Perfected Huagai, Liu Ruozhuo. Around the Jin–Yuan transition, Qiu Chuji, Liu Chuxuan, and Wang Chuyi, three of the Seven Perfected of Quanzhen, came in succession to Mount Lao to preach, and Taiqing Palace thereby became the ancestral court of the Quanzhen 'Suishan Lineage'; Zhang Sanfeng of the Ming also once traveled to Mount Lao, and during the Ming and Qing the mountain, with its 'nine palaces, eight temples, and seventy-two hermitages,' was home to several hundred Daoist priests, becoming an important base of Quanzhen Daoism in the north. In the Qing, Pu Songling visited Taiqing Palace and wrote such tales as 'The Daoist Priest of Mount Lao' and 'Xiangyu.' Surviving today are Taiqing Palace, Shangqing Palace, Taiping Palace, Mingxia Cave, Hualou Palace, Baiyun Cave, Weizhu Hermitage, and others; the 'Daoist architectural complex of Mount Lao' was designated a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level in 2013. The Daoist music of Mount Lao is a National Intangible Cultural Heritage item.
Highlights
- Taiqing Palace
- Shangqing Palace
- Taiping Palace
- Mingxia Cave
- Hualou Palace
- Pu Songling's 'The Daoist Priest of Mount Lao'