Yuanfu Wanning Palace (Seal Palace, Maoshan)元符万宁宫
- Type
- Temples and Abbeys (Gongguan)
- Location
- China · Jiangsu · Jurong, Zhenjiang · Midway up the southern slope of Jijin Peak, Mount Mao
- Coordinates
- 31.792, 119.322 Map ↗
- School
- Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Daoism, Shangqing (Highest Clarity) School
- First built
- Northern Song, first year of Yuanfu (1098) · Built by imperial order under Emperor Zhezong for Liu Hunkang, the twenty-fifth-generation patriarch of Mount Mao; Emperor Huizong bestowed eight treasures; repaired in the Ming and Qing; destroyed during the War of Resistance against Japan; rebuilt in the 1990s
- Heritage status
- Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Heritage Site
Overview
The Yuanfu Wanning Palace, popularly known as the Seal Palace, takes its name from the fact that it houses the jade seal bestowed by Emperor Huizong of Song, the 'Seal of the Lord of the Nine Elders' Immortal Capital,' among other mountain-guarding treasures. In the first year of the Yuanfu era of the Northern Song (1098), Emperor Zhezong built it by imperial order for Liu Hunkang, the twenty-fifth-generation patriarch of Mount Mao; during the Chongning era, Emperor Huizong changed it to its present name and bestowed treasures including a jade seal, a jade tablet, a Hazhou inkstone and a jade talisman, of which the 'Seal of the Lord of the Nine Elders' Immortal Capital' and others survive to this day at the Maoshan Daoist Academy. The palace's main buildings include the Duxing Gate, the Hall of Divine Officer Wang Lingguan, the Taiyuan Precious Hall, and the Mianzhai Daoist Cloister, most of them rebuilt in the 1990s; a 33-meter bronze statue of Laozi (completed in 1998) stands on the hillside before the palace and has become a landmark of Mount Mao. A stele corridor within the palace grounds preserves rubbings and inscriptions of steles from successive dynasties.
Highlights
- The Seal of the Lord of the Nine Elders' Immortal Capital
- Bronze statue of Laozi
- Duxing Gate
- Treasures bestowed by Emperor Huizong of Song