Shangqing Palace, Qingcheng青城山上清宫
- Type
- Temples and Abbeys (Gongguan)
- Location
- China · Sichuan · Dujiangyan, Chengdu · On the sunny side of Gaotai Hill on Mount Qingcheng, near Laoxiao Summit
- Coordinates
- 30.9, 103.556 Map ↗
- School
- Longmen (Dragon Gate) Lineage of Quanzhen
- First built
- Jin dynasty · Rebuilt under Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and again by Wang Yan of the Former Shu during the Five Dynasties; the surviving structure dates from a reconstruction during the Tongzhi reign of the Qing, with repairs in the 1980s
- Heritage status
- Ancient Building Complex of Mount Qingcheng — Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level (2006)Component of a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2000)
Overview
Shangqing Palace stands beneath the First Peak of Mount Qingcheng, beside Laoxiao Summit, and is the highest temple on the front range of the mountain. It was first built in the Jin dynasty, and rebuilt successively by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and by Wang Yan of the Former Shu during the Five Dynasties; the surviving main structure dates from a reconstruction in the eighth year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing (1869), and the three characters 'Shangqing Gong' on the mountain gate were written by Yu Youren. The palace contains the Hall of the Three Pure Ones, the Jade Emperor Hall, the Hall of Civil and Martial Officials, and the Daodejing Hall, with the Three Pure Ones, the Jade Emperor, and other deities enshrined within; in front of the palace are ancient sites such as the Mandarin Duck Well and the Magu Pool, and behind it Laoxiao Summit offers views of the sunrise and a sea of clouds. The walls of the palace are inscribed with the full text of the Daodejing along with poems by Huang Tingjian and Zhang Daqian; Zhang Daqian lodged at Shangqing Palace for several years during the War of Resistance against Japan, painting there and leaving behind numerous works on Daoist themes.
Highlights
- Hall of the Three Pure Ones
- The Mandarin Duck Well
- The Magu Pool
- Laoxiao Summit
- Remains associated with Zhang Daqian