time, many of the palaces and abbeys have burned or other-
wise been destroyed, including the Golden Hall. Many con-
sider the Purple Empyrean Palace, dedicated to the Jade Em-
peror, whose buildings rise step by step along the ascent to
the top of the peak, the most dramatic temple complex on
Mount Wudang.
Among urban temple compounds, Azure Ox (Qingy-
ang) Palace in Chengdu, Sichuan province, is exemplary.
Founded at the site where Laozi is said to have transcended
to immortality, the Tang emperor Xuanzong stopped there
to worship Laozi in 751. In addition to Laozi, civil and mili-
tary officials, the Eight Daoist Immortals, the Three Purities,
and Tang rulers are all focal deities in Azure Ox Palace’s
halls. The recipient of several later imperial visits, the temple
compound was destroyed and rebuilt in every successive
dynasty.
Today, Daoist temple compounds are especially active
in Taiwan. The Pointing Southward Palace (Zhinangong),
dedicated to Lü Dongbin and Quanzhen Daoism, floats on
a mountain above the village of Mucha. Yet in spite of the
large numbers of Daoist temple compounds throughout
China, individually they are more reflective of the architec-
tural concerns of their times of origin and locations than spe-
cifically Daoist features. Except for the occasional placement
of images such as the Three Purities on a roof ridge, little of
the exterior marks a temple compound as Daoist. Only upon
entering its halls and identifying deities such as the Three Pu-
rities, the Perfected Warrior, Jade Emperor and his entou-
rage, Eight Immortals, or Dragon King can one be certain
of the Daoist affiliation of a temple compound that in most
ways blends into the framework of traditional Chinese archi-
tectural space.
SEE ALSO Daoism, overview article; Iconography, article on
Daoist Iconography.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chavannes, Édouard. Le T’ai chan: Essai de monographie d’un culte
chinois. Paris, 1910. Outstanding investigation of the moun-
tain and related cult.
Goodrich, Anne Swann. The Peking Temple of the Eastern Peak.
Nagoya, Japan, 1964. Account of an active Daoist temple
complex visited by the author during her years in Beijing,
1930–1932. Includes details about the numerous Daoist di-
vinities associated with the site.
Jing, Anning. The Water God’s Temple of the Guangsheng Monas-
tery: Cosmic Function of Art, Ritual, and Theater. Leiden,
- Investigation of the Daoist temple Shuishenmiao
(Temple of the Water God, Temple of the Dragon King)
that proposes relations between its murals, ritual, and partic-
ularly supplications for water in the region.
Katz, Paul. Images of the Immortal: The Cult of Lü Dongbin at the
Palace of Eternal Joy. Honolulu, 1999. Study of the history
of Yongle Gong (Palace of Eternal Joy) that proposes links
between its siting and murals and Daoist ritual.
Steinhardt, Nancy S. “Taoist Architecture.” In Taoism and the Arts
of China, edited by Stephen Little and Shawn Eichman,
pp. 56–75. Chicago, 2000. Catalogue of the most spectacu-
lar and important exhibition of Daoist art ever mounted.
Yoshioka, Yoshitoyo. “Taoist Monastic Life.” In Facets of Taoism,
edited by Holmes Welch and Anna Seidel, pp. 229–252.
New Haven, Conn., 1979. Description of the author’s expe-
riences at Baiyun guan in Beijing from 1940 to 1946.
NANCY SHATZMAN STEINHARDT (1987 AND 2005)TEMPLE: CONFUCIAN TEMPLE COMPOUNDS
The architecture of Confucianism is built in honor of men.
It is dedicated to Confucius (551–479 BCE), sage, moral lead-
er, and philosopher of the ancient state of Lü in Shandong
province, or his disciples and their teachings. Confucian
monuments are distinct from other Chinese religious struc-
tures in their avoidance of images. Images may be enshrined
in a Confucian temple, and over time, the influence of other
religions in which deities are worshiped has led to limited use
of Confucian statues as icons. In the purest form of the reli-
gion, however, tablets on which the name of the Confucian
is inscribed serve as the focus of veneration and Confucius,
his relatives, or other Confucians are honored by a visit to
the site or by participation in a ceremony. Confucian temple
compounds can be dedicated to civil (in contrast to military)
officials in general, as well as to individual paragons of moral
or state virtue.
During his lifetime, Confucius (Kongzi [Master Kong]
or Kong Qiu [family name Kong, personal name Qiu] in
Chinese) established a school for the teaching of his princi-
ples of good government in Qufu, capital of his home state
of Lü. In 478 BCE, a year after his death, disciples built a tem-
ple in Qufu to honor their teacher. The few records about
this temple inform us that it was a three-part structure con-
taining Confucius’s clothes, instruments, carriage, and
books. For the next 2,500 years, Qufu would be the location
of many of China’s most important Confucian temple com-
pounds. Even today, it is difficult to walk down a street of
Qufu without coming upon architecture dedicated to Con-
fucius or his disciples, or commemorating an important spot
in Confucian history.
By traditional Chinese calculation, Qufu traces its asso-
ciation with the principles of Confucianism to the so-called
Yellow Emperor who lived in the twenty-seventh century
BCE. Legend records that the Yellow Emperor was born
about four kilometers east of Qufu. In the twenty-sixth cen-
tury BCE, the son of the Yellow Emperor made Qufu his capi-
tal. In the twelfth century BCE, the duke of Zhou, brother
of the emperor and the highest-ranking state official, was
considered a paragon of governance by moral virtue. His
principles of good government were highly regarded by Con-
fucius. A temple dedicated to the duke of Zhou has stood
in Qufu since the first millennium BCE.
In the second century BCE, the Chinese emperor offered
animal sacrifices at the temple built by Confucius’s disciples9058 TEMPLE: CONFUCIAN TEMPLE COMPOUNDS