YuanHe Temple

Please check out our course on TaiYi Swimming Dragon. We are extremely excited to be able to share this piece of history with our students, giving everyone an experience of what the authentic atmosphere of Wudang Mountains is like, if you can’t come to WuDang – then WuDang will come to you.

If you head east of WuDang Town for two kilometers, you will find YuanHe Temple. This marks the beginning of numerous ancient shrines located on WuDang Mountain, nestled between the trees and rocks once you pass XuanYue Gate. YuanHe Temple was originally constructed in the Yuan Dynasty (1271 AD – 1368 AD). Then it was rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty (1368 AD – 1644 AD), between the 11th and 17th year of the YongLe period, around 1413 AD.

In the 11th year of YongLe, Emperor ZhuDi of the Ming Dynasty issued an imperial decree that gave Wudang Taoists relatively independent judicial power. The imperial decree also declared that “if a Taoist priest causes harm to the group, or does not perform their teachings, he will be expelled from the mountain. Those who commit serious crimes will be strictly punished.”

WuDang Taoists then turned YuanHe Temple into a judicial institution. This allowed the temple to gradually evolve into a special place of punishement for Taoists who violated rules and laws, essentially making YuanHe Temple a Taoist Prison. Thousands of Taoist were penalized for violating regulations. The ones who got off easy had to kneel with incenses for very long periods of time, and the serious ones were harshly beaten, or even tortured. “Clean rules and moral standards are the criterion for immortals and sages. How can anyone dare to violate the rules?”

YuanHe Temple is not big, yet the walls are quite thick, it reflects the majesty of the divine power and the strict isolation of the prison from the outside world. The main hall of YuanHe Temple is built atop a high platform, giving it a very solemn look. In the main hall, there are statues of LiuJia gods standing on both sides, these are the guardians of the god XuanTian. Sitting in front is Wang LingGuan wearing armor and holding a golden whip. Wang LingGuan has three open eyes and a hideous appearance. There were those who dared to do evil against the will of the Heavens, and he acted with great force and swiftness to rectify the law. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, he has been regarded as the picket god of Heaven and Earth.

There is also a hall full of statues depicting demons torturing sinners in Taoist hell. After the reconstruction, three exhibition halls were left where you can find displays of ancient tools, including ancient scrolls, porcelain dishware, Fenshui compasses, training weights and weapons, and much more. These relics have given scholars a lot of insight into the lives and culture of Taoists in the old days.

For more than 10 years, the yard of Yuan He Temple was a training ground for the students of Master Chen ShiXing’s Kungfu school. However considering it’s enormous historical and cultural value, the WuDang government decided to turn in into museum completely.

Usually it is prohibited to record videos inside of YuanHe Temple, but Master Hao ZiXia is very well known and respected among WuDang Taoists, so the government gave us special permission to shoot our Tai Yi You Long Quan Course in YuanHe Temple.