Worshippers touching a wall with Zodiac Animals for good luck. The White Cloud Temple. Beijing. China
The White Cloud Temple is a Daoist temple located in Beijing, China. It is one of "The Three Great Ancestral Courts" of the Complete Perfection School of Taoism, and is titled "The First Temple under Heaven". The White Cloud Temple was first founded in the mid-8th century during the Tang Dynasty, and was initially called Tianchang Abbey (Abbey of Celestial Perpetuity). During this period, the abbey was state sponsored and staffed by an elite clergy. From 1125-1215 when what is now Beijing was controlled by the Jin Dynasty, the abbey served as the Daoist administrative headquarters and played an important role in state religious cults. In 1148, the abbey was taken over by the Quanzhen patriarch Qiu Chuji, and became the headquarters of the Quanzhen movement until the establishment of the Ming Dynasty. He renamed the abbey Changchun Gong (Palace of Eternal Spring). Qiu’s successor Yin Zhiping (1169-1251) built a memorial shrine over Qiu’s grave. This shrine became a temple in its own right called Baiyun Guan. The abbey was damaged when the Mongols took over in the late 13th century, and during Ming times the Changchun Gong disappeared. However, Baiyun Guan survived and took over the functions of Changchun Gong.[1] During the Ming, monks from the Zhengyi school took over operations of the abbey, but continued Quanzhen traditions and ordination ceremonies. Zhengyi control over the temple continued until the 17th century, when their monopoly ended and the Quanzhen master Wang Changyue (?-1680) took over. To this day, White Cloud Temple remains Quanzhen controlled.[2] During the 20th century, the abbey was without an abbot for the 1940s, and was closed when the communists came to power in 1949. Unlike many other historical sites which were damaged during the Cultural Revolution, Baiyun Abbey was well-protected and remained safe. Today is again a fully-functioning temple and is the seat of the Chinese Taoist Association
Size: 5190px × 3438px
Location: The White Clud Temple. Beijing. China
Photo credit: © Felix Stensson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: asia, beijing, china, cloud, religion, temple, temples, white
