Song Stele on the Rebuilding of Taiqing Gong, Luyi鹿邑《大宋重修太清宫之碑》
- Type
- Steles and Inscriptions
- Location
- China · Henan · Luyi, Zhoukou · About 100 meters southeast of the Taiji Hall, Taiqing Palace
- First built
- 7th year of the Dazhong Xiangfu era, Northern Song (1014) · Verifiable sources record only that it was erected "by imperial decree" or "by imperial commission"; the author is unspecified. The claim that it was "composed by Emperor Zhenzong" lacks supporting evidence — the stele actually composed and written by Emperor Zhenzong himself is the separate Stele in Praise of the Empress Dowager of the Prior Heaven, erected in the same year and at the same site; the two are very easily confused.
- Heritage status
- Fifth Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level (2001, Taiqing Gong Site, Luyi)
Overview
The Song Stele on the Rebuilding of Taiqing Gong was erected in the seventh year of the Dazhong Xiangfu era of the Northern Song (1014), stands about 3.60 meters in total height, and bears a coiled-dragon crown of imperial rank; the inscription has weathered and is now difficult to read. In the seventh year of Dazhong Xiangfu, Emperor Zhenzong of Song personally traveled to Luyi to pay homage at the Taiqing Palace and bestowed on Laozi the further title "Supreme Lord Lao, Sovereign of Primordial Unity and Sublime Virtue"; on this occasion three steles were erected together: the present stele, the Stele in Praise of the Empress Dowager of the Prior Heaven, and the Record of the Huizhen Bridge, together forming a complete set of material evidence for Northern Song Daoist state policy. One point requires clarification: this stele is popularly said to have been composed by Emperor Zhenzong himself, but the verifiable sources record only that it was erected "by imperial decree" or "by imperial commission," with the author unspecified; the stele actually composed, written, and titled in seal script by Emperor Zhenzong himself is the separate Stele in Praise of the Empress Dowager of the Prior Heaven, erected in the same year and at the same site — the two steles are very easily confused, and this distinction must not be conflated in cataloguing. The stele belongs to the Taiqing Palace site in Luyi, and was listed as a fifth-batch Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level in 2001 (no. 5-0078-1-078). See the entry "Taiqing Palace, Luyi" for the parent temple.
Highlights
- Erected in the seventh year of the Dazhong Xiangfu era of the Northern Song (1014)
- Coiled-dragon crown of imperial rank
- Erected on the occasion of Emperor Zhenzong's pilgrimage to the Taiqing Palace and his further canonization of Laozi
- Must be distinguished from the Stele in Praise of the Empress Dowager of the Prior Heaven