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| The entrance to
Qingyang Gong Tao Temple is crowded with bikes. Visiting the
temple is a social outing enjoyed by all ages. |
| The Octagonal Ba Gua
Temple surrounded by the beautiful yellow leaves of Ginko trees. |
| Above and below,
local visitors make offerings to a pantheon of Taoist deities. A
maze of temples can be found by wandering around the complex
including Lao Tzu, the famous Chinese philosopher and author of
the Tao Te Ching. It is claimed that Lao Tzu was born near
the platform pictured below. |
On Your Visit
- Buy plenty of incense at the front gate to make offerings in the
various halls and temples.
- Rub the nose of the magic animal in front of the Hall of the Three
Purities.
- Listen and watch for Taoist ceremonies and local shaman rituals.
- Visit the birthplace of LaoTzu.
- Relax and drink tea at the Tea shop.
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QingYang Gong
Taoist Temple, Chengdu
Chengdu is an ancient
capital city located in Sichuan province, Southwest China. The city and
surrounding area has many historical temples and a rich heritage
including the first use of natural gas (618 BC), one of the world's
earliest still functioning irrigation systems (250 BC) and the world's
first relief printing system (680 AD). The province is also famous
for hot and spicy food and is considered the birthplace of tea
culture. QingYang
Gong or the 'Grey Sheep' temple bustles with activity especially on the weekends. Local people come
to burn incense, light candles, make prayers, take part in ceremonies,
visit psychics, drink tea all day long and chat with friends.
| The tea shop inside
the Tao Temple is a popular place to catch up with friends. |
The temple
itself dates from the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD). It is considered
the birth place of the founder of Taoism, LaoTzu and a variety of sitings
of red and purple holy illuminations have been recorded in Taoist Canons
at this temple since 883.
There are a maze of buildings and terraces to explore. The octagonal Ba
Gua Pavilion near the tea shop is decorated with the 8 trigrams of the I
Ching while one of the largest buildings, The Hall of Three Purities,
houses three towering golden statues of the Celestial Worthies and smaller
statues of illustrating Taoist stories. Other temples and shrines house
gods and goddesses, lucky animals and auspicious artworks.
| The Hall of the
Three Purities, one of the three great Tao masters looks down on a
young boy and his grandfather. |
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