Qingyang
Temple is located in the northwest of Chengdu, Sichuan Province. It is
one of the most famous Taoist temples in China. The temple was first built
in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), a period when Taoism was flourishing. It
is one of the oldest and most extensive Taoist temples in Chengdu area.
Most of the parts of the temple today were rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty
(1644-1911), such as Lingzu Hall, Sanqing Hall, Doulao Hall, Hunyuan Palace,
the Eight Trigrams (Bagua) Pavilion, and Wuji Palace. The Eight Trigrams
Pavilion is the most grand of these buildings. Built on square foundations,
with a colored glazed dome on top, this structure reflects the ancient
Chinese philosophy that "the sky is round and the earth is square".
There are eight pillars with dragons drawn in relief in the corridor,
and colorful caissons and the symbols of eight trigrams are ornately arranged
across its ceiling.
The other important building is Sanqing Hall. Beside the altar of Sanqing
Hall, two bronze goats will attract you. People said that they were taken
from Beijing during the Qing Dynasty. One of the goats is actually a strange
creature. It has a mouse's ears, an ox's nose, a tiger's claw, a rabbit's
mouth, a dragon's horns, a snake's tail, a horse's face, a goat's beard,
a monkey's neck, a chicken's eyes, a dog's belly and a pig's thighs. It
was said that this goat has some supernatural powers and anyone who touch
it could survive from illness and mischance.
Many important exhibits of Taoist cultural relics are also on display
in Qingyang Temple, such as the wooden engraving of the Dao Zang Ji Yao
(Abstract of Collected Taoist Scriptures) and the stone sculpture of Patriarch
Lu Dongbin, who was one of the Taoist Immortals in Chinese History.
On February 15th of Chinese lunar calendar, temple fair would be held
here to celebrate the birthday of flowers.
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