Mt. Gaofeng Daoist Temple (Pengxi County, Sichuan)

Lying 20 kilometers north of the Pengxi County seat, Sichuan, the elegant Mt. Gaofeng (High Peak) is also called the High Phoenix Mountain, for its shape looks like a resting phoenix. Originally there was a Buddhist temple named Guangjiao Temple or Gaofeng Temple built in the early Tang. At the end of the Qing, Daoist priest Wang Yuanqing and his disciple Fan Mingqing (Dao name: Yunfeng or Cloudy Peak) lived here as guests. In October 1932, Li Weiru, Commander of the 29th corps, collected all public properties in Xichong and Pengxi, and the temple was in the list of the properties to be sold. Daoists Wang and Fan raised money by all means and succeeded in a bid for the temple and changed it into a Daoist temple. Fan Mingqing expanded this temple twice from 1932 to 1947 with money raised. The temple ten has over 200 rooms and over ten halls, such as the Hall of the Numinous Officer, the Hall of the Three Pristine Ones, the Hall of the Jade Emperor, the Hall of the Patriarch, the Hall of the King of Medicine, and the Hall of the Three Teachings. The general arrangement of the constructions set four gates in the east, west, south and north according to the trigrams Qian, Kuan, Kan, Li. Simple and natural, the temple has its unique style. The temple has preserved over 300 tablets written by famous persons from the end of the Qing till the Republican period. At its prime the temple housed over 400 priests and workers.

After the founding of the People’s Republic, the government attached great importance to Mt. Gaofeng Daoist Temple and issued documents many times to protect it. Though suffering some damage in the Cultural Revolution, the temple has still preserved over 230 rooms covering 4,800 m2, over 5,000 scenic trees and 1300 fruit trees.

In 1986 the Suining People’s Government approved the temple to open as a site of Daoist activities and returned it to the hands of the Daoists. 高峰山道觀（四川蓬溪縣）