Changchun Temple, Wuhan武汉长春观
- Type
- Temples and Abbeys (Gongguan)
- Location
- China · Hubei · Wuhan · No. 269 Wuluo Road, Wuchang District, at the south foot of Shuangfeng Hill
- Coordinates
- 30.545, 114.32 Map ↗
- School
- Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism, Longmen (Dragon Gate) Lineage of Quanzhen
- First built
- Yuan Dynasty · Tradition holds that a disciple of Qiu Chuji taught here, and the temple was named for his title "Changchun"; rebuilt in the Ming and Qing, and again by He Hechun in 1864; a Quanzhen Longmen public monastery.
- Heritage status
- Hubei Provincial Cultural Heritage SiteNational Key Daoist Temple (1983)
Overview
Changchun Temple is the largest Quanzhen Daoist temple in the middle reaches of the Yangzi; tradition holds that a disciple of Qiu Chuji of the Yuan propagated the Dao in Wuchang, and the temple takes its name from the patriarch's Daoist title "Changchun" ("Perpetual Spring"). It was destroyed and rebuilt repeatedly through the Ming and Qing; after being burned in the fires of the Taiping Rebellion, it was rebuilt in the third year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing (1864) with funds raised by the Longmen-lineage Daoist priest He Hechun, taking on the five-courtyard layout it retains today; a Hubei Daoist association was established there in the 1930s, and it was restored and reopened in the 1980s. The temple is laid out along the hillside, comprising the mountain gate, the Hall of the Numinous Official, Taiqing Hall, the Hall of the Seven Perfected, the Bridge of Meeting Immortals, the Hall of Patriarch Lü, the Scripture Repository and a Hall of Merit, among others; it holds Qing-dynasty woodblocks of the Essentials of the Daoist Canon. Its architecture blends the vernacular building forms of Hubei with the conventions of Daoist temple design, and it is known as "one of the great public monasteries of the Jiangnan region." It is today the seat of both the Hubei Provincial Taoist Association and the Wuhan Taoist Association.
Highlights
- Taiqing Hall
- Hall of the Seven Perfected
- Bridge of Meeting Immortals
- Scripture Repository
- Hubei Provincial Taoist Association