[Travel Notes of Yunxi Mountain Man] Qingcheng is a quiet place in the world

 

I visited Qingcheng Mountain once in late autumn many years ago. It was a group tour. I visited Dujiangyan in the morning and did some shopping in the afternoon. The tour guide euphemistically called it helping the remote mountainous areas in the west. By the time we finished shopping, there was not much time left, so the tour guide asked us to We will gather back at the mountain gate in an hour and a half. I almost rushed up. When I arrived at Shangqing Palace, the sun was setting. There are two ginkgo trees in front of the Shangqing Palace, one on the left and one on the right, standing straight up into the sky. Wherever the wind blows, golden apricot leaves fly everywhere like butterflies. The leaves seem to be composing musical notes. The ground is covered with apricot leaves, and the top and bottom are golden. The Taoist temple is silent, and under the sunset, it seems like a mythical world. Looking closer, the two ginkgo trees are 1,700 years old. In an instant, I seemed to have traveled through 1,700 years of history. I sat alone, lingering, reluctant to leave, until the last traveler in the group had gone down the mountain for a while, and then I hurried down the mountain. Since then, I rarely travel with travel agencies for fear of encountering similar situations.

This summer, I went to Qingcheng Mountain again, and this time I visited almost every part of the front mountain from beginning to end. Different from the green and red colors in the green in late autumn, wherever you go, the entire Ershan is faintly green. Walking in the mountains, the green of the world seems to be surrounding you, the green of pines and cypresses, the emerald green of metasequoia, the light green of nanmu, the different shades of green of maple trees and various deciduous trees, and thousands of miscellaneous trees. The trees are layer by layer, piles upon piles, piles upon layers, covering the ground and the sky, covering the entire mountain. Old vines are hanging on the cliffs, and on the tree trunks and stone walls, there are streams and streams. The rocks and stones are also covered with a layer of green moss. Even the edges of the rocks and the flowing landscape are full of deep green and tranquility. I have been to many places famous for their greenness, including Hupao in West Lake, Meiyutan in Xianyan... none of them are as green as here. The green here, in addition to the green itself, is also secluded and silent.

It is this kind of secludedness and silence that is different from other places, which is destined to make the famous Taoist mountain pattern of "Qingcheng Tianxia secluded". Qingcheng Mountain is almost equated with Taoism and has become synonymous with Taoism. Qingcheng Mountain is one of the four famous Taoist mountains and the five fairy mountains. It is the "fifth cave in the world" of Taoism. It is said that during the time of the Yellow Emperor, Ning Fengzi lived in Qingcheng Mountain to practice Taoism. He once taught the Yellow Emperor the "Dragon Ascension Technique" to control the wind and clouds. The Yellow Emperor built an altar to worship which was called "Five Mountains Zhangshan", so Qingcheng Mountain is also called Zhangren Mountain. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Yin Changsheng, one of the "Eight Immortals of Sichuan", went to Qingcheng Mountain to practice Taoism. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Daoling went to Heming Mountain to practice Taoism, and founded the Chinese native religion "Five Pecks of Rice Tao" - Tianshi Tao. Later, he went to Qingcheng Mountain to teach Taoism and became immortal in the mountain. After that, Taoist celebrities came one after another. In the Tang and Five Dynasties, there were Sun Simiao, Xue Chang, Yang Tongyou, Xu Zuoqing, Du Guangting, Peng Xiao, and Chen Tuan. Among them, Du Guangting combined the Tianshi Tao tradition with Shangqing Taoism in Qingcheng Mountain to promote the practice. After attaining the Tao, one can ascend to the "Shangqing Heaven", which is higher than the "Tai Qing Realm" of the old Tianshi Tao; In the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhang Jiguang, the 30th generation grandson of Zhang Daoling, founded the Tianshi Daotian sect here. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Dongyuan, Li Shaowei, Nanbi Dao founded the Tianshi Dao Qingwei sect here; In the early Qing Dynasty, Taoist priests Chen Qingjue, Mu Qingfeng, Zhang Qingqing, and Zhang Qingyun of the Quanzhen Longmen sect in Wudang Mountain founded the Dantai Bidong Sect here, which was then passed on to Peng Chunxian and Yi Xin. Ying, Fu Yuantian, Master Fu Yuantian served as the fifth president of the China Taoist Association before becoming immortal. The Taoist temple in Qingcheng Mountain is now known as the Dantai Bidong Sect of the Longmen Sect of Quanzhen Taoism. Taoist activities in Qingcheng Mountain were most prosperous during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. It is said that Princess Yuzhen, the daughter of Emperor Ruizong of the Tang Dynasty and the sister of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, once practiced Taoism and sought immortality in Tianshi Cave.

With the arrival of Taoist celebrities, Taoist palaces were completed one after another. The Taoist temples in Qingcheng Mountain are centered on Tianshi Cave, surrounded by dozens of large and small Taoist temples such as Jianfu Palace, Shangqing Palace, Zushi Palace, Yuanming Palace, Laojun Pavilion, Yuqing Palace, and Chaoyang Cave. The sites of these Taoist temples are all located in quiet and quiet places, and the most quiet ones are Tianshi Cave, Zushi Hall, Shangqing Palace and Jianfu Palace.

The Patriarch's Hall is located on Tiancang Peak, with Xuanyuan Peak at its back. It is also known as Zhenwu Palace. It was first built in the Jin Dynasty. The existing palace was built in the fourth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty. According to legend, there is Du Guangting's reading desk. Lu Wuguan's poem "Visiting Du Guangting's Reading Stand" reads: " There is still a reading stand in the mountain, and the wind sweeps the Qinglan painted barrier. The Huayue curling pot is still there. When will the Qinglian layman come? "There are towering ginkgo trees in front of the temple, and there is a trail leading to the mountain behind Qingcheng. The mountain people tried to walk for a while, and they met. The road is cut off and back. In the old days, there were roads connecting the mountains in front and behind Qingcheng, and there were roads connecting the mountains below.

The Shangqing Palace is located on the Qingcheng Mountain. It was built in the Jin Dynasty. The existing palace dates from the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty. The palace gate is a stone cave with a gate tower. The "Shangqing Palace" plaque is inscribed with "Chiang Zhongzheng" and "Twenty-nine Years" , handwritten by Chiang Kai-shek in the 29th year of the Republic of China (1940), the couplet reads: "Today Baicao inherits the Yuan Dynasty, and since ancient times famous mountains have been waiting for saints." Written by Yu Youren. What attracts me most about Shangqing Palace is the ancient ginkgo in front of the door, which is quiet, profound and inspiring to contemplate.

Jianfu Palace is located at the foot of Zhangshan Peak. It was built in the Tang Dynasty. The two existing courtyards and three halls were rebuilt in the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty.

Most of these palaces are built close to mountains and valleys, between palaces and palaces, and are hidden in green forests. They embody the Taoist principle of tranquility and inaction, and Taoism follows nature. Walking through the twists and turns of the mountain road, bridges, pavilions, pavilions, corridors and cliffs are often exposed in the green, and people are dependent on each other.

Climbing to Laojun Pavilion, the highest peak of Qingcheng Mountain at an altitude of 1,600 meters, you will be surrounded by 36 peaks of Qingcheng Mountain, like a blue city outline. Du Fu's poem "Zhangshan Ren": "As a guest of Qingcheng, I don't spit on Qingcheng. For the love of my father-in-law's mountain, the elixir ladder is close to the tranquility. The west of my father-in-law's temple has a strong atmosphere, and the clouds are like the highest peak. Sweep away the white hair and yellow essence. , You looked at him with a face of ice and snow. "Walking around Qingcheng Mountain, everywhere in the mountains is green, secluded, and silent. Even walking on the most dangerous mountain ladder is still treacherous.

I lingered in the mountains for a day, suddenly feeling like an immortal. I didn't go down until the setting sun set. After returning, I wrote a poem "Qingcheng Tianxia Quiet", which goes:

Qingcheng is secluded in the world

The ginkgo tree in front of Tianshi Cave

More than 1,800 years old

Immortal to this day

Zhang Tianshi who planted trees

Already turned into a wisp of smoke

The "Five Pecks of Rice Road" remains in the world

stayed together

And the meditation of the ginkgo tree

From the lush spring and summer

To the golden autumn evening

Those golden apricot butterflies

Feathered in the sky of time

sigh softly

Among those who have become immortals is Qingcheng Temple.

practicing Taoist priest

Zhang Daoling became an immortal

Become a heavenly master in heaven

Has Princess Yuzhen achieved enlightenment?

Has she met Zhang Tianshi?

Which of the Taoist priests can cultivate a wisp of clouds?

Floating in the mountains of Qingcheng

Poets are coming

Leave behind a series of immortal poems

The painters are coming

Leave behind fairy tales

They can't become immortals themselves

accidentally

Poems and paintings are spread throughout the world

Apricot leaves flying

I wandered the Qingcheng Mountain Road

inadvertently

Met Zhang Tianshi