Yuzhen Palace, Wudang湖北武当山遇真宫
- Type
- Temples and Abbeys (Gongguan)
- Location
- China · Hubei · Danjiangkou, Shiyan · North foot of the Wudang Mountains, east of Yuxu Palace
- Coordinates
- 32.49, 111.04 Map ↗
- School
- Wudang Daoism, Sanfeng Lineage
- First built
- Ming, tenth year of Yongle (1412) · Built by imperial decree of the Yongle Emperor in memory of Zhang Sanfeng; its main hall was destroyed by fire in 2003; in 2013 the whole structure was jacked up 15 meters on account of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project.
- Heritage status
- Ancient Building Complex of the Wudang Mountains, Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National LevelComponent of a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1994)
Overview
Yuzhen Palace was an imperially commissioned temple built by the Yongle Emperor of the Ming in the tenth year of the Yongle reign (1412) in memory of Zhang Sanfeng; it takes its name from the tradition that Zhang Sanfeng once built a hermitage there, and that the emperor repeatedly sent envoys to seek him out without success. The temple complex was complete, comprising the mountain gate, the Hall of the Dragon and Tiger Kings, the Hall of the True Immortal and other structures. In January 2003, while leased out as a martial-arts school, a fire destroyed its main hall, the Hall of the True Immortal; because the Danjiangkou Reservoir was raised as part of the middle route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project, the mountain gate and the eastern and western palace gates were jacked up as a single unit by 15 meters between 2012 and 2013 to keep them clear of the flood pool — a rare feat of engineering in which an entire historic structure was raised intact. Yuzhen Palace is an important surviving site for the study of the cult of Zhang Sanfeng and Ming-dynasty construction at Wudang.
Highlights
- Whole-structure jacking project
- Memorial to Zhang Sanfeng
- Ming-dynasty palace gates