7. The New Sanctuary
Although the Laozi temple had been repeatedly renovated under the guidance of Liu Yuan and his disciples during the Qing dynasty, it was again in need of repair in Republican times. In 1918, Liu Xianjun, Liu Yuan’s grandson and fourth patriarch of the Liumen movement, initiated the complete reconstruction of the temple complex. Liu Xianjun, who was teaching in Chengdu, could count several noted public figures and leaders of the army administration among his disciples. One of the eminent Liumen adherents at that time was the calligrapher Yan Kai who also supported the project and wrote the fund-raising notice. The majority of promoters were locals of Xinjin District, most of them adherents of the Liumen tradition (13b-14b).
The reconstruction of the Laojun miao brought about a significant change to the whole architectural arrangement of the sanctuary, which had to do with a predictive reading of the above-mentioned Jiangyuan Xingjia poem. Considered the product of a revelation of Lord Lao, the text reportedly originated as follows:
I heard in former times that, when the temple was being constructed, an old man hobbled by and took a writing brush that was placed on a table. He left this poem behind and vanished without a trace. His writing was kept by locals, and after the construction work had been finished, a busybody engraved the poem on stone. (28b)
昔闻，建庙时一老叟蹒跚来游，持案头笔留此诗遂杳。其墨迹为县人所藏，有好事者事竣刻之于石。
The mysterious appearance of the old man who wrote the poem most likely occurred during the renovation of the temple in the late 18 th century. The original stone tablet, engraved with the poem in 1799, has been preserved in the main hall of the Laojun miao. Originally, the buildings of the Qing dynasty temple faced south (gui shan ding xiang 癸山丁向 ; 11b). Now, the temple halls of the new sanctuary,constructed under the aegis of the Liumen community, were designed to face west (yi shan xin xiang 乙山辛向 ) 29 in order to conform to the assumed meaning of the Jiangyuan Xingjia poem. This means that the orientation of the temple Laojun miao was rotated exactly ninety degrees.
Fortunately, I had the opportunity to discuss the reading of the Jiangyuan Xingjia poem from the perspective of Chinese geomancy (fengshui 风水or kanyu xue 堪舆学) with the practising fengshui architect Howard Choy (Cai Hong 蔡洪). 30To him, the poem in question is first and foremost a statement on the fengshui features of Mt. Laojun formulated by an expert of the Form School (xingjia 形家 ),which explains why the temple buildings should have a westward orientation. The following is a summary of the most convincing arguments of the poem’s fengshui reading.
The “stone chamber” (shishi 石室 ) in the third line of the poem stands for the sacred cavern Laojun dong, the alleged retreat of Laozi on the mountain. This cavern, which is either a Han dynasty cliff tomb or a natural cave, 31 and two adjacent cliff tombs all face west: it is indeed striking that the halls of the Laojun miao point in the same direction. The orientation of the temple halls obviously follows that of the caverns. The term“throne of Great Peace” (taiping zuo 太平座 ), according to Choy, refers to the level plot of land in front of the sacred cavern,representing auspicious “open space” or a“focus” referred to as mingtang 明堂 by fengshui specialists. This is the location of Laozi’s “cinnabar furnace” (danzao 丹灶
) mentioned in the fourth line. Today, a large gourd-shaped furnace for the incineration of sacrificial paper money and incense has been constructed there to commemorate the sojourn of Lord Lao. The fifth line of the poem describes the watercourses surrounding Mt. Laojun, indicating that the mountain faces the Qiong River 邛水 (commonly called Nanhe) like a belt to the west and is embraced by the Minjiang like the collar of a garment.
The sixth line is the most cryptic part of the poem. Tang Jicang only identified two bridges in his interpretation of this line (48b-50b), the Wufeng qiao 舞 凤桥(Bridge of the Dancing Phoenix) and the Yingxian qiao 迎仙桥 (Bridge of Welcoming Immortals), and recorded two relevant stele inscriptions, which, however, do not refer to Mt. Laojun. By contrast, Howard Choy holds that the verse outlines the overall setting of the sacred site, referring to Mt. Laojun and four surrounding hills known to locals of Xinjin and listed in informative material of the temple:Woniu shan 臥牛山 (Mt. Crouching Ox; said to be the grey ox, Laozi’s mount, transformed into a hill), Xuanyuan shan 轩辕山 (Mt. Xuanyuan; referring to the Yellow Emperor, also called Xuanhuang tai 轩黄台 ), Songzi shan 送子山(Mt. Giving Sons [to pious people praying for offspring]), and Chaqi shan 插旗山 (Mt. Planting Flags; the place where Zhang Daoling reportedly erected banners and exorcized demons). Thus, the five phoenixes (wu feng 五凤) in the poem stand for Mt. Laojun and the four hills that collectively constitute, in Choy’s words, “a bridge-like link to welcome the immortals, with a lower mountain in front (Mt. Crouching Ox), a higher one at the back (Mt. Xuanyuan), a male mountain to the left (Mt. Giving Sons)and a female one to the right (Mt. Planting Flags; i.e., a female being penetrated),forming a cross in the cosmology of the landscape” (names of the hills adjusted).This interpretation of the mysterious sixth line matches the actual geography of Mt.Laojun very well. But let us return now to the history of the new temple.
In 1919, work began with the construction of the Hall of Chaotic Origin (Hunyuan dian 混元殿). It took more than one year to complete the building, which was equipped with a statue of Hunyuan zushi 混元祖師 (Ancestral Master of Chaotic Origin), a precelestial manifestation of Lord Lao representing the Dao itself. At that time, a certain Chen Baoyu 陈宝玉 (style: Mengjie 孟阶rom Xinjin complained that the new orientation of the temple hall was wantonly chosen by the Liumen adherents to contribute to the flourishing of their community. The actual reason for Chen’s enragement was that a grave of his ancestors was situated near the new temple hall, and Chen thought that the Hunyuan dian had a negative geomantic influence on it. Chen Baoyu tried to persuade leading figures of the military administration in neighbouring Dayi 大邑 District to demolish the temple hall, arguing that the Hunyuan dian, which indeed faces Dayi, exerted a baleful influence on their home district. However, these military leaders from Dayi—Liu Chengxun 刘成勋 (style: Yujiu 禹九 ; 1883-1944), Liu Xiang 刘湘 (style: Fucheng 甫澄 ; 1890-1938), Liu Wenyuan 刘文渊 , and Liu Wenhui 刘文辉 (style: Ziqian 自乾 ; 1895-1976)—were all adherents of the Liumen tradition and ignored Chen. 32 Chen Baoyu then publicly threatened to burn the temple hall down, and the construction work on Mt. Laojun came to a halt (14b-15a).
All of a sudden, on the 18 th day of the 10 th month in the 12 th year of the Republic of China (November 25, 1923), the whole temple burned to the ground, and only the [newly built] Hunyuan dian, the old mountain gate,the Sanhuang dian (Hall of the Three Sovereigns; dedicated to Fuxi 伏羲 ,Shennong 神农 , and Xuanyuan 轩辕 , the Yellow Emperor), and a part of the refectory were spared. Was it Chen Baoyu who set fire to [the sanctuary]?It was not him. It happened that devotees, who had gathered in the mountain temple to pray to the Mother of Soil, made offerings to Heaven, lighting candles and fire crackers, whereby bundles of firewood for the temple’s kiln were ignited. Since a strong wind blew on the high mountain and the place is short of water, [the fire] burned more than three days before it was finally extinguished. (15a-b)
忽于中华民国十二年十月十八日，全庙烧尽，仅存混元殿与老山门及三皇殿和斋房少许。这是否陈宝玉烧的？不是。是善男信女们在山庙内祝地母会供天燃烛放炮，将庙上窑柴捆子惹燃。山高风大，水也困难，烧了三天多才熄。
The devastating fire of 1923 was the most drastic incident in the modern history of Mt. Laojun. The ninth verse of the Jiangyuan Xingjia poem, which mentions the destruction of the temple by fire in a “new decade,” was consequently understood as a fulfilled prophecy (chenyu 讖語 ) alluding to this incident. This is at least the interpretation recorded by Tang Jicang (51a-b). I would still prefer to link that verse to Zhang Xianzhong’s ravage of the temple, since the mysterious piece of writing obviously celebrates the reconstruction of the sanctuary in the Qing dynasty. The diction of the relevant verses also gives no hint that the destruction of the Laojun miao will occur in the future. Furthermore, according to the sexagesimal cycle, 33a “new (or first) decade”(xinxun 新旬 ) should be designated by a pair of cyclical characters including the first Celestial Stem: jia 甲 . 1923 was a guihai 癸亥 year,and only the following year was designated by the character pair jiazi 甲子 . By contrast, the year 1644, when Zhang Xianzhong destroyed the temple, was a jiashen 甲申 year, which exactly matches the poem’s statement “in the first (or new) decade [the temple] was ravaged” (盖新旬中遭燹烬). It should be noted that the jiashen year 1644 belongs to the transition period between the dynasties Ming and Qing and could, depending on the choice of a given author, be designated either as the last year of the Ming dynasty Chongzhen era or as the first year of the Qing dynasty Shunzhi 順治 period.
At last, in 1926, the construction work on the Hunyuan dian was finished by adding a platform, a staircase, and side gates to the building. The next edifice to be erected was the main building on the summit of Mt. Laojun: the Hall of the Three Clarities (Sanqing dian), dedicated to the pre-eminent trinity of gods, who represent different aspects of the Dao. These were worshipped here together with a group of twelve Gold Immortals (jinxian金仙 ) and the Seven Perfected (Qizhen 七真 ), the latter being the most prominent disciples of Wang Chongyang 王重阳 (1113-1170),the founder of the Quanzhen order.
After the fire of 1923, Liu Wenhui, commander of the Twenty-fourth Division of the National Revolutionary Army (Guomin gemingjun ershisi shi shizhang 国民革命軍二十四师师長 ), who was appointed governor of Sichuan (Sichuan sheng shengzhang 四川省省长 ) in 1928, planned to rebuild the sanctuary on Mt. Laojun on a grand scale and to construct additional temple halls on all the hills surrounding the mountain. He reportedly had more than ten thousand donation lists (mujuan ce募捐冊 ) printed for that purpose. However, Liu Xianjun, the contemporary Liumen patriarch and patron of Mt. Laojun’s reconstruction, held his disciple back.He told Liu Wenhui that the mountain would again fall victim to fire ten times if he officially raised funds for the reconstruction in his capacity as provincial governor.It would be sufficient and more suitable to rebuild the Laojun miao on the basis of voluntary donations from the populace. Liu Wenhui burned the donation lists (16b-17a).
The construction of the Sanqing dian began in 1928 and was completed in 1931.This time, the fund-raising notice (1928) was authored by Liu Xianxin 刘 咸 炘(style: Jianquan鉴泉 , 1897-1932), a gifted scholar and grandson of Liu Yuan. 34Carrying timber and wooden pillars up the mountain was arduous work, and in cases of major difficulties, people sometimes complained to Sun Shaowei 孙绍维（style: Xingwu 星五 ) who directed the work on site. Tang Jicang describes Sun’s reaction and the situation at that time as follows:
Sun closed his eyes, concentrated his mind, folded his hands and prayed:“May the Most High [Lord Lao] lend us a helping hand that we can successfully complete the construction work in order to transform the world and reform the people.” Although it was not “scientific” to encourage [the workers] with this kind of spirit, [the building] was completed in the end.When occasionally an accident happened and someone was injured during work, [the person] recovered without medical treatment in most cases. All this was brought about by an utmost sincerity that even moves metal and stone. (17b)
孙闭目凝神， 拱手祷告 ： 「望太上助一臂之力， 达成修建，化世化民。 」以这种精神鼓动，虽然不科学，但是终于完成。间或现有工伤事故，大都不药而愈，精诚所致，金石为开。
In this way, Mt. Laojun gradually received a new face. The temple-complex, which was completely rebuilt under the auspices of the Liumen community, retained all characteristics of a typical Daoist sanctuary. Most of the new buildings as well as their arrangement were modelled after their counterparts in the Qingyang gong, the large Quanzhen monastery in Chengdu. 35
The Bagua ting 八卦亭(Pavilion of the Eight Trigrams) in front of the Sanqing dian is the architectural highlight of the Laojun miao. It was erected in 1926 and houses an image of Lord Lao riding his grey ox. The Hall of the Three Primes (Sanyuan dian 三元殿), dedicated to the rulers of the Three Offices (Sanguan 三官)of Heaven, Earth, and Water and various other saints, is the rear hall of the temple-complex and was completed in 1944. The Cavern of Lord Lao (Laojun dong), the spiritual heart of Mt. Laojun situated beneath the summit, was also embellished by the Liumen community. The walls of the cavern were lined with bricks, and a shrine with a statue of Lord Lao was set up inside this chamber. 36
Furthermore, the Liumen adherents constructed the aforementioned Rulin ci (Ancestral Temple of the Literati; a.k.a. Chongjing ci 崇敬祠 [Ancestral Temple of Noble Reverence]) in honour of Liu Yuan and other Liu family benefactors of theLaojun miao. They built a reception room, which was named Laihe xuan来鹤轩(Cranes’ Visit Studio), commemorating the miraculous appearance of seven cranes during the construction of the Sanqing dian. The Lingzu lou灵祖楼(Hall of the Numinous Ancestor), dedicated to the Daoist temple protector Wang lingguan 王灵官(Numinous Officer Wang), was completed in 1942. This building was destroyed during the “Cultural Revolution,” and today’s Lingzu lou was reconstructed in the 1990s. Finally, an old wooden image of the bodhisattva Guanyin 观音 (Avalokiteśvara) was conveyed from a Buddhist monastery, which had been converted into the Relief Agency (Jiuji yuan 救济院 ) of Xinjin District, to Mt. Laojun, where it was placed in a small building originally used for the reception of visitors. This is the origin of the Hall of Guanyin (Guanyin dian 观音殿 ), which is also called Cihang dian 慈航殿 (Hall of the Barge of Compassion). The tiny temple hall was also demolished during the “Cultural Revolution” and rebuilt in recent times. 37
8. Conclusion
Tang Jicang’s Tianshe shan zhi is a fascinating document that provides copious information on Mt. Laojun’s history, in particular the reconstruction of the temple Laojun miao in Republican times. Interesting details concerning benefactors of the sanctuary and other people involved in its modern history are disclosed in this gazetteer. Furthermore, all inscriptions, couplets, and poems, which have been engraved on steles or wooden tablets in the temple, as well as historical source texts concerning Mt. Laojun, have been meticulously recorded by Tang. The manuscript also gives a comprehensive account of the deities worshipped in the sanctuary.
In short, although the Tianshe shan zhi was written in the second half of the 20 th century, it is a perfect example of a classical Chinese monograph or gazetteer (zhi志 ) describing a locality of historical interest. As a consequence, many questions that today’s readers, especially scholars, may feel inclined to ask Tang Jicang are not answered in his Tianshe shan zhi. What were the concrete activities that the Liumen adherents used the Laojun miao for? Were Daoist clerics still living there or was the temple exclusively run by the Liumen community? I was informed by descendants of Liu Yuan that the sanctuary was used as a base for the Liumen community’s local charity work. What kind of charity work was carried out there? Tang’s gazetteer remains silent on these practical issues. However, we should keep in mind that after the reconstruction of the Laojun miao had been finished in the 1940s, there was not much time left for the Liumen community to develop and function in a normal way.
As to the temple on Mt. Laojun, the Liumen adherents did not convert it into a Three Teachings (Sanjiao 三教 ) sanctuary or adjust it to their Confucian credo,as one might suppose. The Laojun miao continued to be a standard Daoist temple,with its central hall dedicated to the Three Clarities and Wang lingguan being its guardian deity. It was therefore quite convenient to reopen the sanctuary as a monastery in the 1980s, now housing an officially approved community of Quanzhen clerics. Almost all of the temple’s divinities, which have been recorded in Tang’s gazetteer, are still worshipped in the original halls, their images moulded afresh after the reopening of the sanctuary.
It seems, however, that the Liumen patriarchs and their adherents based the hagiographic legitimization of Mt. Laojun solely on the alleged sojourn of Laozi on the mountain. In no way did the Liumen patrons refer to Mt. Laojun’s past as the centre of the ancient Chougeng Diocese of Celestial Master Daoism. Although the mountain’s early function as a Celestial Masters’ diocese is indicated in various scriptures in the Daoist canon and other historical sources, it is not mentioned in the writings of the Liumen tradition. It is therefore most likely that Liu Yuan and his successors were unaware of this tradition and that they left it to recent scholarship to rediscover Mt. Laojun’s roots in the realm of the Celestial Masters.
