Taoist Holy Land - Mount Wudang Part 1

📍 Gold Coast · 👁 1 reads · ❤️ 73 likes

In the golden autumn of October, I visited the famous Taoist mountain, Mount Wudang. We flew directly to Shiyan Wudangshan Airport, which has buses to Mount Wudang. It's over 20 kilometers to the foot of the mountain, which is the Mount Wudang Tourism Economic Special Zone (formerly Wudangshan Town). When there are few people, they run minibuses. Only the four of us got off the plane, so they dispatched a minibus. It cost 15 yuan per person, and after more than half an hour we arrived at the terminal, the Mount Wudang Mountain Gate. If you're staying in the town, you can get off nearby. The departure times of these airport shuttles are quite flexible. On our return trip, we asked the driver, who said the last bus was at 4:00 PM. We called her to wait for us on the road, but when 3:00 PM came, she called us back. We were still out sightseeing, so the bus left. When we later went to the airport, there were no airport shuttles, so we had to take a taxi, which cost 92 yuan.

Shiyan Wudangshan Airport

The hotel we stayed at was on Taihe Avenue, the main street in the town center, about a kilometer from the main gate of the Mount Wudang Scenic Area. When I did my research, a business room with breakfast for two was over 160 yuan, but on the day of our stay the price had risen to over 300 yuan. However, the facilities were adequate, except that the bathroom was at the window end, leaving the room windowless. Their checkout time is 2:00 PM, which was quite good.

Hotel in Mount Wudang

Night view of Yuxu Street (pedestrian street) about a mile from the hotel

Night view of Yuxu Street (pedestrian street)

At the end of Yuxu Street (pedestrian street) is the gate of Yuxu Palace

Wudang Museum, located in the Wudang Special Zone Cultural Square, is the only museum in the country dedicated to Taoist culture. I visited it in my spare time. It covers a total area of 5,820 square meters, with an exhibition hall area of 4,418.7 square meters. It has three floors and features eight exhibition halls: Wudang Architecture, Immortal Mountain Celebrities, Wudang Taoism, Taoist Statues, Wudang Temple Music, Martial Arts and Health Preservation, and Wudang Folk Customs. The museum displays nearly 420 pieces (sets) of exquisite cultural relics, including imperial gifts and artifacts. Among them, the golden dragon, jade bi, and mountain slips from the reign of Emperor Jianwen of the Ming Dynasty are particularly precious and are being shown for the first time. Among the exhibits, the heaviest is a bronze statue of Zhang Sanfeng weighing over one ton; the lightest is a golden dragon weighing only 16 grams. In addition, the museum has nearly 2,000 pieces in its collection, 70% of which are national first-class cultural relics.

Collection: Bronze model of the entire Wudang Mountain, cast in miniature landscape art, with the Golden Hall at the top, condensing Wudang's natural landscape and architectural heritage. The middle and lower parts depict five dragons and figures, symbolizing the five dragons carrying a saint to ascend. The overall composition is concise and refined, integrating legends, reality, and artistic imagination. It is a unique and precious artifact preserved at Mount Wudang.

Collection: Architectural components

Model of the actual construction of Wudang Taoist temples

Collection: Architectural components

Collection in the Wudang Martial Arts Hall: An imperial statue of Zhang Sanfeng weighing over one ton, commissioned by Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty in 1459. The casting quality, sculpture art, and craftsmanship are comparable to the Zhenwu statue group in the Golden Hall. The sculpture weighs over one ton and is a fine art piece from the Ming Dynasty, a national treasure preserved at Mount Wudang.

Wudang Martial Arts Hall: The hall cleverly constructs a cave where Taoists practice Tai Chi, Bagua Boxing, Taiyi Five-Element Boxing, Qiankun Hunyuan Boxing, Bagua Sword, etc. Every movement is vivid and lifelike.

Collection in the Wudang Martial Arts Hall

Collection: Statue of the Great Emperor Zhenwu from before the Ming Dynasty

Collection: Holy Tablet of the Supreme Emperor of Mount Wudang, made in 1524 by order of Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty for the Nanyan Palace on Mount Wudang. The tablet has a five-color glaze with yellow, green, and blue as the main colors, plain and elegant, known as 'plain three colors.' The tablet is crafted with three techniques: openwork carving, pierced carving, and relief carving, making it exceptionally delicate. The entire holy tablet consists of seven pieces: five on top and two on the base. The base is in the shape of a waisted sumeru throne. The lower part of the tablet is decorated with two phoenixes and a sun, with the phoenixes soaring in the clouds. The central plaque has blue background and white characters in regular script, reading 'Holy Tablet of the Supreme Emperor of Mount Wudang,' written in the Ming Dynasty 'Tai Ge style,' dignified and elegant. On both sides, four dragons are set among auspicious clouds. The top piece is shaped like a ruyi and decorated with a seated dragon, resembling the character 'Xuan,' forming five dragons carrying a saint, symbolizing Zhenwu's cultivation at Nanyan Palace and his ascension with five dragons at the Feisheng Platform. This holy tablet has extremely high artistic value, a top-quality piece specially fired for the Ming imperial court by the Jingdezhen official kiln to honor the Supreme Emperor of Mount Wudang, and is a national treasure.

Collection: Lotus lantern

Calligraphy and rubbing: The calligrapher Mi Fu inscribed 'First Mountain' for Mount Wudang.

Wudang Grand Theater opposite the Wudang Museum in the Cultural Square