Mt. Heming Daoist Temple (Dayi County, Sichuan)
Mt. Heming, which is also known as Mt. Huming, is located in Yuelai Town, Heming Village, Dayi County, Sichuan Province. In the period of Emperor Shundi of the Eastern Han dynasty, Ancestral Celestial Master ( 祖天師 Zu Tianshi ) Zhang Daoling founded The Tradition of the Mighty Commonwealth of Orthodox Oneness ( 正一盟威道 Zhengyi Mengwei Dao ) on the mountain, which is therefore honored as the cradle of Daoism. Records show that the earliest Daoist temple on the mountain is the Temple of the Highest Clarity ( 上清宮 Shangqing Gong ) built by founder Zhang Daoling. Enlarged through different dynasties, the temple already had over a hundred halls such as the Hall of the Highest Clarity, the Hall of the Celestial Master, the Hall of Ziyang, the Hall for Welcoming Immortals, the Hall of Wenchang, etc. in the period of the Republic of China. Mt. Heming Daoist Temple was destroyed severely during the "Cultural Revolution". In 1987, it was reopened as a place for Daoist practice. Today some halls, such as the Pavilion for Welcoming Immortals, the Temple for Inviting Auspiciousness, the Big Dipper ( 斗姥殿 Doumu Dian ) Hall, the Temple of the Three Sages, and the Hall of the Celestial Master have been renovated or built.
The three-floored Pavilion for Welcoming Immortals is the entrance to Mt. Heming Daoist Temple. Behind it is the Temple for Inviting Auspiciousness. Up along the steps from it there are very tall old trees and a great number of steles. Above the Temple for Inviting Auspiciousness is the Big Dipper Hall, which is linked to subsidiary towers on its both sides. Behind it are first the Hall of Compassionate Salvation and then the Temple of the Three Sages, which was sponsored by the Hong Kong Buddhist-Daoist association of the Flying Crane Grotto ( 飛雁洞 Feiyan Dong ). Worshiped in the temple are The Supreme Venerable Sovereign ( 太上老君 Taishang Laojun ), Lü Chunyang, and Zhang Sanfeng. There is an old cypress outside the temple. As the story goes, it was personally planted by Zhang Sanfeng. About 100 meters behind the Temple of Three Sages is the Hall of the Celestial Master, sponsored by a local believer, Mr. Li Yaoheng. Enshrined there is a statue of Ancestral Celestial Master Zhang Daoling, and hung on the walls on both sides are pictures depicting his birth and his cultivating the Dao, attaining the Dao, and ascending to immortality on a crane.
The contemporary eminent Daoist Zhang Zhiyi was once the Abbot ( 住持 Zhuchi ) of Mt. Heming Daoist Temple. Reverend Daoist ( 道長 Daozhang ) Zhang was formerly chairman of Dayi Martial Arts Association. He enjoyed a reputation for Daoist martial arts among Daoists. After Reverend Daoist Zhang passed away, his fellow Daoists buried his relics on the mountain and built a pavilion for commemoration.