Photo Essay: A Taoist Temple at the Foot of the Mountains
Photo Essay: A Taoist Temple at the Foot of the Mountains
On the same Saturday that we toured the Confucius School and an ancient village, we spent some time at a Taoist temple and palace complex. It differed from the usual Buddhist-type temples that we have seen. I can’t contribute much narrative, because I’m not that familiar with Taoism.
1 The main entrance gate. As you can see it's a dull day.
2 The "yin-yang" is a common symbol is Taoism.
3 Although that looks like a mat, it's an inlay of different shades of pebbles.
4 While walking towards the temple we cross a river.
5 This small pagoda is to our left.
6 And in front of us is the main plaza, with LIngzu Palace of up front.
7 This statue is on the left of the plaza.
8 And this one is on the right.
9 The palace of the god who protects the Taoist religion and Taoists.
10 As you can see he is a fierce protector, a warrior god.
11 There are many verdant paths to wander and meditate. You will note that the night lights each bear the yin-yang symbol.
12 There are many matching-style buildings leading to the temple that you see in the background.
13 These appear to be pictures of many deities or sacred monks - unfortunately there was no English explanation.
14 To the side, these ribbons are used to hang from the trees as a sort of blessing. You will note that the tree behind the ribbon rack already has many ribbons hung from it.
15 Inside the temple sits the Taoist warrior god. The crane appears to be an important symbol. One of the statues previously shown above featured cranes, and there is one on the floor on each side of the deity.
16 This sign is to the side of the temple, almost hidden in the underbrush. Bamboo is growing around it.
17 Beside the Temple is a golden wall.
18 Detail of part of the golden wall.
19 I was not going to climb the pathway up to the top of the mountain. After all, it was a "stiff slope".
20 I really don't know what these are for, unless to hang like ribbons on trees.
21 This is an ancient tree. I have seen in other places where they are wrapped in ribbons like this, and ribbons hung from them.
22 And so farewell to the Taoist Temple and its deities.
23 On the way home we passed a lovely spot with a small waterfall and a shrine on the side of a very steep hill.
24 And just outside of it I saw a number of butterflies. This big blue-black one was one I mistook on Emei Shan as a hummingbird. But here I could see it up close.
The most ironic thing of the day is that when we proceeded home, which took a couple of hours, the sun came out.
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