Ancient palaces in Wudang Mountain
By admin on 2014-12-22

Located in the southwest of Danjiangkou City in the northwest of Hubei Province, Wudang Mountain is also known as “Xuanyue Mountain”. It is a famous holy land of Taoism in China. According to legend, the great Emperor Zhenwu worshiped by Taoists cultivated himself here and rose into the heaven. It is also the birthplace of Wudang Boxing. The name of the mountain “Wudang” means "It is only emperor Zhenwu who really deserves it".

The ancient Taoist palaces and temples in Wudang Mountain have long been known for their magnificence and large scale. These buildings can be regarded as miracles in the history of world architecture. The grand and imposing humanistic landscapes in the mountain include buildings constructed in the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Taoism of Wudang Mountain enjoyed increasingly booming development in the Zhenguan Period of the Tang dynasty and lots of Taoist temples were built. But most of the temples were damaged in wars in the late Yuan Dynasty. Palaces left today are mostly those built in the Ming Dynasty. uring Emperor Yongle’s reign in the Ming Dynasty, nearly ten years’ time was invested in the construction of the main building complex of 33 palaces and structures, including the Golden Palace, Fuzhen Temple, the Yuxu Palace, the Grand Purple Cloud Palace, the Yuzhen Palace and the Palace of Harmony etc. The majesty of the ridges and peaks as well as the precariousness and depth of the caves were adequately used to place each and every palace or temple in the most suitable spot among the mountain ridges and caves, blending in well with the surrounding trees, rocks and streams and adding radiance and beauty to one another. The gorgeous landscape is just like a painting created by nature.

As a famous Taoist mountain, Wudang Mountain is still popular with pilgrims. Palaces and temples that witnessed ups and downs, melodious Taoist music, numerous legends and myths and pious pilgrims are combined to define the age-old cultural profoundness of the mountain.