Taiyuan Travel Guide to Chunyang Palace

I have visited Taiyuan many times this year (2024), but I have never had the chance to visit Chunyang Palace! Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Taiyuan again and was fortunate enough to tour Chunyang Palace. I am sharing this experience with my friends! Chunyang Palace in Taiyuan, also known as Lüzu Temple, is located at No. 1 Qifeng Street, Qifeng Street Community, Liuxiang Subdistrict Office, Yingze District, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, covering an area of about 10,000 square meters. It was originally built to honor Lü Dongbin, a Taoist immortal from the Tang Dynasty. The name 'Chunyang' comes from Lü Dongbin's title, and the palace is named after him. Chunyang Palace in Taiyuan is a five-courtyard complex that integrates temple and garden styles, with pavilions and towers within the courtyard. Along the central axis from south to north are the Gate of Morality, the Offering Hall, the Lüzu Hall, the Nine Kilns and Eighteen Caves, and the Jade Emperor Pavilion. In front of Chunyang Palace in Taiyuan, there is a wooden archway with four pillars and three floors, featuring unique shapes and colors. The main buildings inside include the Lüzu Hall, the Corridor Pavilion, the Wei Pavilion, the Side Rooms, the Brick Vaulted Caves, and the Guan Gong Pavilion. The main building, Lüzu Hall, has three bays and originally housed a statue of Lü Dongbin. Behind the hall are two courtyards, each with pavilion-style buildings of varying heights. The Wei Pavilion in the rear courtyard is the tallest building in the palace. Chunyang Palace in Taiyuan is an excellent example of Taoist architectural culture, with distinctive Taoist architectural features, providing important references for the study of Chinese Taoist architecture and culture. The exact founding date of Chunyang Palace in Taiyuan is unknown. It is said that Song Defang, a disciple of Qiu Chuji, a famous Taoist of the Yuan Dynasty, once presided over the palace (a stone coffin still exists). Therefore, the founding date would not be later than the time of Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty. The existing buildings were expanded by Zhu Xinchang and Zhu Bangzuo, brothers of the Jin branch of the Ming Dynasty, during the Wanli period (1573-1620). During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty (1736-1795), Taoist Gao Lianchang added three floors to the Wei Pavilion. It is now the second part of the Shanxi Provincial Museum, housing special exhibitions of unearthed and other cultural relics from Shanxi Province. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, rockeries, the Guan Gong Pavilion, and the Stele Gallery were added, forming the current scale. The first courtyard was formed after the founding of the People's Republic of China by enclosing the open space outside the original palace gate. In the center of the courtyard stands a graceful and ingeniously structured wooden archway with four pillars and three floors. The plaques in front and behind the archway, 'Lü Tianxian Temple' and 'Penglai Wonderland,' reveal the essence and scenery of the place. On the east side of the first courtyard is a stone mountain made of Taihu stones. Climbing the steps along the path, you can see the stone coffin of Xuantong Hongjiao Piyun Zhenren and a bronze statue of Guan Gong from the Ming Dynasty at the top of the mountain. On the west side, along the wall, is the Stele Gallery, with more than twenty ancient steles embedded, including stone Buddhas, stone beasts, and stone scriptures from the Han and Tang Dynasties. Among them, the Nirvana Transformation Stele is a relic from Dayun Temple in Linyi County, carved in the second year of the Tian Shou period of Wu Zhou (691 AD). Passing through the 'Gate of Morality,' you enter the second courtyard. On both sides of the gate are stone couplets written by the famous Taoist Sun Yiyuan of the Ming Dynasty. Above the back wall of the second courtyard gate is inscribed with the nine-fold seal script 'Penghu Jiarui.' In the second courtyard, ancient trees tower, with lush branches and leaves. Bypassing the Maitreya statue in the second courtyard, you come to the third courtyard. The Lüzu Hall in the center of the courtyard, built in the Ming Dynasty, is the main hall of the palace. This building, with its simple and robust yet delicate and exquisite design, is of high standard and is a precious example of existing Ming Dynasty architecture. The gate of the fourth courtyard is the 'Void Cave,' with the brick-vaulted archway inscribed with 'Void Cave' and 'Another World' above it. The plaque 'Yingzhou Wonderland' hangs under the eaves of the cave. Chunyang Palace has more than seventy halls, with the most exquisite part being the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Courtyard in the fourth courtyard. The entire courtyard layout is square, with chamfered corners forming eight sides, built according to the Taoist Eight Trigrams 'Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, Dui' directions, plus a 'square three-bay two-story pavilion' in the center, forming the 'Nine Palaces System.' Each of the eight sides of the courtyard has brick-vaulted caves, commonly known as 'Nine Kilns and Eighteen Caves,' reflecting the Taoist pursuit of 'cave heavens' and 'blessed lands.' Since 'immortals prefer to live in towers,' Taoist buildings often have pavilions. The upper layer of the 'Nine Kilns and Eighteen Caves' is a wooden structure, with four towers and four fan-shaped corner pavilions, connected by corridors. In the two-story corridor pavilion of the fourth courtyard, the first floor houses a gilded bronze statue of Pilu Buddha from the Ming Dynasty, and the second floor houses a bronze statue of Zhenwu Emperor from the Ming Dynasty. The fifth courtyard features a building that integrates caves, towers, and pavilions, with wooden two-story buildings on the east and west sides. Inside the Qianzhen Cave below the building is a statue of Changyang Tianzun. The statue of Changyang Tianzun is one of the 'Three Treasures of Chunyang.' It is said that 'Changyang Tianzun' is Laozi, the founder of the Taoist school of thought in the late Spring and Autumn period. In legend, he is also known as 'Taishang Laojun.' Because the Tang royal family had the surname Li, they recognized Laozi (Li Er) as their ancestor, built Taoist temples, and created Taoist statues. Taoism flourished during the Tang Dynasty. The statue of Changyang Tianzun, one of the Three Treasures of Chunyang Palace, was sculpted in the Kai period of the Tang Dynasty (719 AD), with a total height of 2.56 meters and a statue height of 2.2 meters. It consists of three parts: the stone statue, the base, and the pedestal. The stone statue is made of white marble, while the base and pedestal are made of gray limestone. Tianzun wears a lotus-shaped crown, with a plump face, narrow eyes slightly closed, a long beard hanging down to the chest, and a serene expression, typical of Tang Dynasty statue styles. Tianzun holds a fan and a duster in his right hand, and rests his left hand on a table. He wears a wide Taoist robe and sits cross-legged on a rectangular stone seat. The front of the base is inscribed with a twenty-two-line inscription and preface of Tianzun's statue, with the sides and back engraved with images of disciples and donors' names. The surroundings are engraved with lotus flowers, honeysuckles, and cranes. The statue of Changyang Tianzun is one of the first 64 cultural relics prohibited from being exhibited abroad. The Nirvana Transformation Stele, one of the Three Treasures of Chunyang Palace, is located in the Stele Gallery of Chunyang Palace. The Stele Gallery houses inscriptions from the Han, Northern Wei, and Tang Dynasties, many of which are national first-class cultural relics. The Tang Dynasty 'Nirvana Transformation Stele,' with a dragon head and turtle base, has a top carved with a heavenly palace and Mount Sumeru. This stele depicts the scenes before and after the Buddha's death and the story of the Buddha teaching and saving people. The central relief on the front of the stele shows the disciples mourning the Buddha's death. The upper part depicts 'Final Instructions,' 'Coffin Placement,' 'Cremation,' and 'Funeral Procession,' while the lower part shows the offering scene of Chunda. The back of the stele depicts the construction of a stupa in the heavenly realm and the division of relics by the Eight Kings, with the lower part showing the three Maitreya statues and inscriptions. The sides are carved with heavenly kings, children, and lions. The inscription on the stele reads, 'This Nirvana Transformation Stele was respectfully created by Dayun Temple for the Holy and Divine Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty.' It is said that the purpose of depicting the Nirvana story was to align with the prophecy in the 'Great Cloud Sutra' that a Pure Light Heavenly Maiden would descend to rule the world after the Buddha's Nirvana, thereby creating public opinion for Wu Zetian to ascend the throne as the female emperor. This stele was originally a relic from Dayun Temple in Linyi County, Yuncheng, Shanxi Province. The temple was long destroyed, and the stele was moved here in 1957. In 2002, as a national first-class cultural relic, the 'Nirvana Transformation Stele' was listed by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage as one of the first 64 cultural relics prohibited from being exhibited abroad.