Page 247 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

208 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAO ISM A-L

Fig. 21. Entrance arch to the Baiyun guan (Abbey of the White Clouds), Beijing
(February 1985). Photograph by Julian Pas.

observance, maintained the abbey's prestigious tradition of Quanzhen train-
ing in asceticism and meditation. In early Qing times, when the Zhengyi mo-
nopoly over Taoist administration was questioned and the Quanzhen fortunes
improved, the reformist Quanzhen monk *Wang Changyue (?-1680) gained
control of the place and turned it into the main center of his own *Longmen
lineage, which continues to supervise the whole of Quanzhen's institutional
life to this day. The Baiyun guan hosted a permanent community of monks
(no nuns were admitted before 1978, except during ordinations), numbering
around 200 under the late Qing and the Republic.
The Baiyun guan as it can be visited today is not very different in shape from
late imperial times; only some conventual buildings have been demolished.
However, the names of several halls, and the divinities they house, have changed
since its reopening. The north-south axis passes through the main gates and
the hall of the tutelary god. One then successively enters the Yuhuang dian
:li~~ (Pavilion of the Jade Sovereign), the Laolii tang ~ft1it (Hall of the
Discipline of the Elders), the Qiuzu dian Jim~ (Pavilion of Patriarch Qiu),
and a multistoried building on the second floor of which is the Sanqing dian
.=: i11J ~ (Pavilion of the Three Clarities). An unusual feature for a Taoist abbey
is that the main hall, where the community holds its twice-daily office, is not
a Sanqing dian but the Laolii tang, which is actually devoted to the Quanzhen
patriarchs; a similar configuration is also seen in Shenyang's tt ~ (Liaoning)